The injector in my Mazda 3 has failed - is this due to using supermarket fuel?
Whilst driving along, my 2012 Mazda 3 1.6d (39,000 miles) suddenly juddered and went into limp mode. I cautiously negotiated to the hard shoulder with the dashboard lit up with maintenance, ABS, and warning lights on. The breakdown service diagnosed an injector problem and reset the fault code indicator. We cautiously drove home, only to have the fault reappear in town the next day. The Mazda dealer has the second injector coming up faulty on their diagnostic equipment. We paid £400 worth of repair work and the car was running fine again. The service manager at Mazda said the injectors could go at any time and, if one had gone, another occurrence could happen at any time on the others. The fault he said was down to the electronics in the injector itself. My local garage reckon supermarket fuel could be responsible. I find this hard to believe as I don't hear of reported cases due to this. I've also been using supermarket fuel for 20 years, adding Redex to the fuel most times I fill up. What are your opinions, as I know this engine is used in Ford and some French cars too.
The 1.6 TCDI/HDI Ford/PSA engine in this Mazda is notorious for injector failure and you may have put your finger on the reason. If the type of person who buys these cars tries to run them on the cheapest diesel, then that is what causes the problem. You need to use superdiesel that is higher cetane in the first place and has a complete package of additives that Redex alone does not provide.
Answered by Honest John on
