Victor Shack (Victor Shack) is a mechanic known for his outspoken comments on TikTok about certain makes of engines and for criticizing “lazy” dealers for not trying to find the underlying issues in problematic vehicles.
Many viewers commented that they appreciated Shaq’s foul-mouthed candor when assessing the vehicle’s damage and workmanship quality, as well as the educational nature of the TikTok user’s post, with many thinking it’s clear he knows his job.
But even he seemed surprised by the extent of the damage done to the engine of his 2023 Mazda after a customer put the wrong type of fuel in the car. He documented how badly the engine was damaged after the error in a popular video that has garnered more than 6,700 views.
Shaq shows part of the engine on camera and explains what happened to the driver’s Mazda after he put the wrong type of fuel in it.
Mazda fuel accident
“’23 Mazda 2.5. This is what happens if you don’t put the right fuel in the tank and don’t check the engine. [expletive] “If it starts to misfire, start the engine,” he said, holding up a greased section of the engine for the audience to see.
“One cylinder ruptured and completely melted… [expletive] “Look what comes out of these pistons,” he said, giving the audience a closer look at the engine.
Even though the engine has only 200,000 miles on it, it’s in bad condition, but Shaq Engines, especially Mazdais nowhere near reaching the mileage threshold.
“It has 17,000 miles on it. What happened is [expletive] I can’t do it…it seems to be leaning quite a bit. [expletive] That in itself is really thorough…wow.”
As he walked over to another section of the engine, Shaq continued, he’d “never seen” one in such bad shape – even though it’d been “burned on the barbecue,” he said, it still looked like new.
He speculates that the engine might be “fine” with replacing one of the pistons. “I’ve never seen a piston seize up like this. It’s surprising,” he said, holding up the part he shared at the beginning of the video, suggesting it’s a “rod bearing.”
Commenting on the reliability of modern engines, Shaq said “drivers need to be careful with new engines.” [expletive]” and called the 2023 Mazda engine a “joke.”
One commenter asked why the dealer wouldn’t fix it, to which Shaq responded in capital letters, “I DON’T KNOW.”
Another user thought the issue was a fundamental design flaw in this particular engine, claiming that Mazda was trying to squeeze too much horsepower out of the four-cylinder design: “They keep trying to squeeze 300 horsepower out of these little four-cylinder engines and this is the problem people are having to deal with,” they wrote.
Yet another user speculated about what may have happened to the car, saying that the “lean” nature of Mazda cars makes them more susceptible to such issues: “Mazdas run very lean, I imagine the injectors do too. I think something metal may have clogged the injector holes in the high pressure fuel pump.”
Some people thought this was a very strange incident: “This is unusual. The new Skyactiv Mazda is a very sturdy car.”
What kind of fuel does a ’23 Mazda need?
Another question on many people’s minds is what octane rating the Mazda owner should have used to avoid this happening?
One person speculated that the engine may have been damaged because the driver was using 87 octane gasoline, while another said 91/93 was the appropriate fuel type.
However, according to this Mazda dealer, the 2023 Skyactiv 2.5-liter engine will be compatible with either 87 or 93 octane fuel. “The 2023 Mazda3 features an improved naturally aspirated Skyactiv-G 2.5-liter engine that delivers 191 horsepower and 186 pound-feet of torque on regular 87 octane or premium 93 octane fuel. The updates provide a 5-horsepower increase and improved overall fuel economy,” the dealership said. The company wrote on its website:.
Some people have noticed that the Skyactiv 2.5-liter engine performs better when using higher octane fuel. Posted by Redditor Findings from a post uploaded to the site’s r/mazda3 sub.
Others have also reported having problems with the engine rod bearings in their Mazdas. CX5 Driver Someone saying that engine failure would probably be covered under that brand’s warranty.
another The Mazda driver also posted on the forum:Damage occurred to the rod bearings, but the manufacturer said they would not cover the repair under warranty.
Victor Shack Mazda Mazda is the best 17,000 The rest walk
But what exactly is the “wrong” fuel that the Mazda owner in question put in his tank in Shaq’s video? Reddit user As long as you aren’t putting diesel where gas should be, or vice versa, I don’t think the difference in octane rating would necessarily cause such catastrophic engine failure.
There was another user in the application who thought the problem was with the oil and not the fuel.
The Daily Dot reached out to Shaq in the TikTok comments, and to Mazda via email, for more information.
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