

CX-9 water pump issue years?

So we're looking to buy a used SUV, have it narrowed down to a v6 terrain/equinox,ford edge,cx-5 or cx9. Looking at 2015-2017 is about what our budget allows

We were leaning towards a cx5, as their engines are notoriously reliable, but we think it might just be a tad too small for us. So we started looking into a cx9. We were all for it but I started finding terrible info on water pump failures, in the ford/mazda 3.5 and 3.7

What years did these have the problems, and what years were they resolved? We love the reliability of the cx5, we were leaning towards an equinox or terrain in a 2.4 until I was reading their engines are basically junk, we dont want a turbo edge so we would want the gas engine, which apparently shares the water pump issues.

And help here guys? Thanks in advance!


Work In Progress..
'18 CX-9 Signature
The 2nd generation of the CX-9 starts at the 2016 MY. 2015 MY and previous are the 1st generation. All CX-9s in the 2nd generation share the same 2.5T engine, which is a completely different design from the 3.5 and 3.7 used in the 1st generation. As far as I know, there have been no widespread engine or transmission issues, and any major drivetrain issues appear to be very few and far between.

The 1st generation CX-5 has a bit more cargo space than the 2nd generation. Would you consider a 2016 or 2016.5 CX-5?
I read somewhere the 3.7 was offered till 17.. seems like that was incorrect info... not really a fan of forced induction engines (not knocking them just dont trust them real long term and too much to fail)

We are looking at a 16 cx5 AWD later this week..

So I'm assuming the 15 cx9 can have the water pump issue as well?
2010 CX-9 GT
All of the V6 CX-9s have the potential water pump issue. In the US, the V6 was offered from 2007 through 2015. The design was mostly unchanged aside from a displacement increase in 2008.

The likelihood of failure is not really clear at this point - although it is easy to find examples of failure, there are a ton of these engines in service in Ford Edge, Flex, Taurus, and various Lincolns too. In my opinion, the rate seems pretty low, but the consequences of failure are so high that it's not something to take a chance on, unless you can get one at a good price and replace the pump yourself.

Even then, there are no guarantees, as there have been failures with relatively low miles.
The failure on the V6s are totally unpredictable. It is not common enough to say most engines will suffer it, but common enough that it is a well known risk. I had a 10 year old ford edge with 120 000km with no water pump issue. But to some other it occurred before that. Keep in mind that it is otherwise a tried and true reliable engine design, that was in used in almost all the ford vehicle with a V6 of that era. But as mentioned before, the gravity of the failure when it happens is enough to make people think twice about it.
2009 Mazda CX-9 GT
2011/2012 they changed to a dual sprocket pump, which also has less chance of failure compared to the single sprocket design. 254,000km and no water pump issues here. <knock on wood>
Ottawa, Ontario
17 Mazda 6 GT
I was just going to ask about this in a separate post, and then ran across this thread.
I'm contemplating buying a used Explorer with the V6 engine.
I logged onto an Explorer forum to do some research, and saw on there a discussion on the water pump issues.
The problem is the design and lack of space under the hood of the Explorer.
Normally a water pump is mounted externally, but Ford needed to save space, and somehow figured out how to mount the pump inside the engine.
Apparently if the pump leaks, it leaks water into the engine, and if not caught in time, will destroy the engine.
This is the same engine in the earlier CX-9's.
I am having serious second thoughts about buying a Ford with this engine.
Even if the engine is not destroyed, the cost of replacing the water pump is ridiculous.
I'm curious if any CX-9 owners with this Ford engine have experienced this issue.
The short answer is yes. But there are so few cx-9 sold compared tonford explorers that it is likely “less experienced” on cx-9. This is pretty much the same engine design. The reason the cost is so high is also because the pump is running on the timing chain, which is not cheap to get to and retime after. As mentionned before, the same engine was used on ford edge, ford flex, ford mustangs, and a lot of others. Both in 3.5 and 3.7L configuration. If you visit these forums you will find people with the exact same experience, but the thing is that for every horror story with the water pump there is a story of a ford v6 lasting forever. Maintenance and good care doesn’t really seem to factor in to the equation. My best recommandation is to check the oil regularly for sign of water dilution to prevent catastrophic failure.