2008 MazdaSpeed3 Engine Replacement

2008 MazdaSpeed3 Drivetrain Removal/Engine Replacement

The MazdaSpeed series of vehicles has produced a few interesting rides over the years, with the most successful model being its Speed3. Running a variant of Mazda's MZR power plant called the L3-VDT, this car is a proper hot hatch. This engine is shared with its big brother, the far less common MazdaSpeed6. Once paired with a limited slip differential and 6-spd transmission, it creates a great driving and tuning platform that was received well.
Unfortunately, this particular Speed3 stopped running not long after its timing chain was replaced at a different shop. Let's take a look.

The L3-VDT

Investigation Time

The vehicle arrived in a state of partial disassembly as the previous shop had investigated the failure, noted some damage, and decided not to proceed further. Let's follow-up and see what we find.

While not as obvious, we can see signs of valve damage to this intake valve.

This cylinder's valve damage is far more easy to spot, as the valve has completely broken in half, with this portion pounding around inside the combustion chamber ruining anything in its path.

So the news is not good. It seems unlikely that this happened as a coincidence to a timing chain service, but what's done is done. While we expected bent valves, further poking around indicated the catastrophic nature of the valve damage scarred up the cylinder walls and the area of the head that forms the combustion chamber on the related cylinder. At this point it would be cheaper to simply go with a different motor, whether new, rebuilt, or used.

Removal

The owner has elected to get this beast running again, so time to get the old motor out. Let's get to work. Follow along with the pictures for more details.

Assessment and Reassembly/Other Stuff

While a vehicle is this far apart it only makes sense to inspect it for other areas of maintenance. If an owner has elected to have a service this large performed, there's no reason to skip out on easy to access and necessary maintenance items only to pay the shop more money later to come back and fix it.