Mazda North American Operations recalls 580,455 Mazda3, Mazda5 cars and CX-3, CX-5 crossovers going back to the 2012 model year because the Showa supplied liftgate gas struts can fail from corrosion. Showa discovered the deft on another unnamed client’s vehicle line.
In the required NHTSA filing just made public, Mazda said the liftgate stay dampers may corrode by salt water due to improper coating of the outer tube at the end cap. Continued use causes corrosion to advance. which leads to outer tube swelling and eventual end cap cracking. In the worst case, the outer tube may get thin, resulting in breaking off.
Owners of record will be notified of this safety defect and instructed to take their vehicles to a Mazda dealer for repair. The repair will be to replace both the left and right side liftgate stay dampers with modified parts. The liftgate repair will be performed free of charge to vehicle owners, as required by U.S. law.
No Replacement Liftgate Struts
Mazda said it will conduct the field action for this safety recall campaign in two phases: First, Mazda will notify all vehicle owners that a recall campaign will be conducted; Second Mazda owners will be re-notified to have the recall performed when modified parts are available, likely in November of 2016.
