— A Mazda water pump lawsuit has been dismissed after the class action went from nationwide, to seven states, then to five states and now zero.
The class action lawsuit includes 2008-2015 Mazda CX-9 and 2009-2013 Mazda6 vehicles allegedly equipped with defective water pumps that fail.
According to the Mazda class action, the internal water pumps are driven by timing chains connected to the pumps which then circulate coolant through the engines.
Leaking coolant allegedly enters the oil pan and combines with engine oil before it moves through the engine. This is what allegedly destroys the Mazda engines and leads to expensive repairs.
In addition to failed water pumps, the plaintiffs claim the Mazda engines lose power, fail to accelerate and then finally completely fail.
Mazda occupants and others are allegedly in danger because of the damage the water pump defects can do. And the plaintiffs also assert it can cost thousands of dollars to repair or replace the MZI Cyclone engines.
Mazda Water Pump Lawsuit Dismissed
The judge previously dismissed claims based on expert testimony for the plaintiffs. An expert in engineering, he admitted he didn't know if the Mazda water pumps failed at higher rates than water pumps in other vehicles.
And while the Mazda class action lawsuit alleges a modern engine should last up to 300,000 miles, the expert for the plaintiffs testified the Mazda engines should last half that life, up to 150,000 miles.
The judge had also ruled the plaintiff did not provide evidence regarding Mazda water pump failure rates.
And even though the plaintiffs claimed Mazda's expert was wrong, the plaintiffs couldn't show how the expert was wrong.
Mazda's expert testified the water pump failure rate for the Mazda6 is less than 2%, and the pump failure rate for the CX-9 is less than 3%. The expert also concluded the total water pump or engine failure rates at the most were 9.54% for all the vehicles.
The judge ruled Mazda water pump failures are "rare" and the "vast majority of the Class Vehicles’ water pumps do not fail prematurely—i.e., before they reach 120,000–150,000 miles."
By the end, the judge ruled an expert for the plaintiffs failed to provide evidence the alleged defect caused the water pumps to fail. Based on an order from the judge, the lack of proof was enough for the remaining classes to be decertified and all remaining claims to be dismissed.
The Mazda water pump lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California: Sonneveldt, et al. v. Mazda Motor of America, Inc., et al.
The plaintiffs are represented by Kiesel Law, Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, The Miller Law Firm, Keil & Goodson, and the Edwards Firm.