Mazda3 Maintenance & Repair

kyfdx

What color is your MZ3?

ridendubs05

i just purchased a 05 Mazda3 s color blue....black interior build date 01/05...... i have to say my a/c works like it should.... but it doesn't have that tsb for the a/c should i get it any ways its free right.

Are all Mazda3's made in japan.....i heard canada too

bala77

Hi all,
I just bought a brand new 2005 Mazda3s Hatch - Lava Orange Mica I'm not sure if I should get the paint protection (clear film or whatever they call it). The regular price is $1095, but my dealer is offering it for $600 after negotiation. I read about Mazda's inferior paint quality elsewhere in the forums... does anyone have any experience with it? Is this protection really helpful?

Thanks,
Bala
San Jose

m3gt

I would advise Not to take this very expensive protection...

Your car is just fine coming out of the garage - You then have to wax it, say at least once a year... hey maybe you'll like it and do it twice.

In your local region or any region you then may want to protect from rust.
After doing a quick search online in the yellow pages - you want to find a garage that completely rust proofs your car - this means even the inside panels.

For a yearly treatment like this they should be charging you 150$ American or less.

Worth the investment? If your keeping the car like me for 15+ years - Definitely.

mdaffron

Meade

silver3i

I bought my Mazda 4-door 3i about two months ago and have been really impressed with its performance. However, when I bought my car, my dealer didn't offer any maintenance package. My two questions:

1) Do I really need a maintenance package? I have been advised to try to get one.
2) And if I really need one, where can I find one in the SF area?

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

sandman46

We paid $407. plus tax for this Package. We get:
(1) 15 free oil changes
(2) Tire rotations every other oil change
(3) Tranny fluid changed out at 30k miles
(4) Radiator fluid changed out at 18k and 36k miles
The policy we bought lasts for 36 months or 45k miles. The wife drives about 17k miles a year so we decidede to get this policy. This way I know that the car will have Mazda specified parts and fluids. Maybe this is a little much, but I always change the oil between 3k and 4k miles and the other services will hopefully give us added protection. Another great thing is the dealership is right outside our development...it's about 1.6 miles from our house. Talk about convienent and this way, the wife knows we have to do these maintenance things. The F&I guy said there will be no other charges since we paid in advance. Good insurance for us, as I never ever buy any kind of warranty. But we added up all the #'s, and it was a no brainer for us.
Any comments?

The Sandman

mazda6s

Sandman - It's good to hear that the F&I guy is earning his commissions. These guys usually make more money than anyone else at the dealership thanks to generous customers like you! There is no need to change the trans fluid at 30K miles or the coolant every 18K miles. This is overkill and is harmful to the environment since that old fluid has to be disposed of (or hopefully recycled). IMO this is a total waste of money as well. At least you got 15 oil changes and some tire rotations for your $407, and the F&I guy got a commission on the sale.

z71bill

My Mazda3 is black - with cloth seats. No doubt that that color combo is the hard to keep cool (compared to a lighter color). But that is still not a valid excuse for the weak AC system.

The forecast calls for 98 degrees and sunny in Houston today - so I should get a chance to test out the window tint.

leowin

I have put in just 700 kms ( app. 500 miles) in my new Mazda 3 5 door and have noticed that the car is pulling to the right side constantly. I have to keep on correcting the course so much that my hand starts paining after driving about 30 to 40 kms! Talked to service department of the dealer and have booked the appointment for next Friday.

After taking delivery, I havent exceeded 80 kms per hour, and have been driving carefully... did not bang to curb or anything like that..My initial feeling is that either it is the problem originating to Factory or when the car was at the dealer before they sold to me, somebody must have handled roughly...Will find out soon whether it is the problem of alignment or with the tires..

Anyway, I am feeling very bad about the car.. problem of this sort in a new car... unbelievable...

autonomous

car is pulling to the right side constantly. I have to keep on correcting the course so much that my hand starts paining after driving about 30 to 40 kms

You may want to check each tire's pressure with a tire guage. Two weeks ago as I was checking mine I noticed one rear tire had a slow leak and lost half its pressure (down to 15 PSI!); it turned out that I had run over a tack. Even with the leak, the car continued to perform in a very controlled manner.

mazda6s

Could be:
Tire pressure
A bad tire
Alignment

This is a common problem with new cars.

namiboy

i bought a mazda 3 on june 25th that was built 05/05 and today is the second time i took it in for it drifting to the right side. the first time they said the alignment was off and they re-aligned it, next morning still drifting to the right. not as bad as yours, on mine i cant even tell unless i let go of the wheel. after the first alleged fix my wife said it was still doing it so i went to a smooth flat road and checked it. so it is in the shop for the second time right now and we havent even had it 2 weeks. i'll let you know what happens.

z71bill

This problem should be easy to fix and will be covered under warranty. I would not be that concerned at this point. I would trade the problems I have had with my Mazda3 for a bad front end alignment in a heart beat!

toguy

Yep, fixing alignment should be free, for one month or so from the date of purchase. I had the same problem with my corolla and I barely made the one month cutoff for the free fix, the dealer said. This problem is apparently more common than you think, a friend of mine also had to fix alignment on his brand new Civic!

backy

One month seems awfully short. I'm more used to one year/12,000 miles for adjustments. What is Mazda's policy?

z71bill

Mazda warranty -adjustments including wheel balance and alignment are 12 months or 12K miles - which ever comes first.

chestluck

I have the same prob, with the radio settings erasing along with the trip odometer resetting. Also, the radio occasionally has turned on and off while listening to it. And I have noticed that when I press the remote "lock" button the 2nd time the horn occasionally does not work, nor do the side lights. Took it to the dealer, but of course it worked fine for them...has any one experienced these problems and has had any luck. Thanks,

namiboy

okay friends well i got my wifes car back after being in for the second time in the first week of ownership for "drifting to the right" condition i mentioned above. as i already said the first time they did an alignment, still went right, so after this time, get this: they said they switched the front tires and it drives straight now, they said sometimes a tire doesnt like turning a certain way. sounds like a bunch of bull to me, but i took the car out in the city and the highway, drove all speeds up to 90mph and it definitely does not drift right anymore. i checked as much as i could swerving it side to side and whatever, it SEEMS fine. knock on wood. time will tell, but i have two repair write-ups that say the same problem in 1 week, so if anything else happens, hello lemon law.

autonomous

radio settings erasing along with the trip odometer resetting. Also, the radio occasionally has turned on and off while listening to it. And I have noticed that when I press the remote "lock" button the 2nd time the horn occasionally does not work, nor do the side lights. Took it to the dealer, but of course it worked fine for them

You're right that this kind of infrequent problem is hard to diagnose because it's hard to reproduce. Try to keep a written record of when the problem occurs and whether there's an event that is special or different or related to the problem. For example, you may notice more electrical problems after rain storms due to condensation. By keeping a record you'll be able to "predict" the next occurrence and perhaps get the service rep to reproduce and solve it.

The remote is sensitive, so you may find it does not appear to work in certain situations but actually is not malfunctioning.

z71bill

Hard to accept the reason they gave you - "sometimes a tire doesn't like turning a certain way" - that is totally crazy. Since you drove a while with the front end out of alignment the front tires may have wore a little making them want to track to the right - this could be solved by switching them. If you look at the tread does one side of the tire show a little bit more wear?

The important thing is it tracks straight.

namiboy

well theres only 600 miles on them right now, they both look fine. of course it had way less than 600 miles when we first noticed the problem. i was thinking just now that maybe they boosted tire pressure up on the right and lowered it some on the left, maybe that would help it from drifting right. when i examined the car after i picked it up yesterday the tires LOOKED the same as far as pressure, but i have a real gauge pressure gauge i'm gonna check that when my wife gets home.

mip57

What a great car!

I've been reading these posts since #300 or so and I was becoming discouraged when reading the '04 posts. I decided to hold-off until '05, yet, found that there were re-occuring problems with this model, as well. It wan't until Meade pointed out the manufacturing date that I realized I could find an '05 with some of the issues resolved. For the most part, I've been more than happy with my car. z71bill has a point with the A/C, yet mine is more than acceptable. I decided to pick one off the lot that had the coldest A/C. I went on the hotest day of the summer to test out some of the claims that were made on this forum. I found some A/C's were definately colder than others, and they both had the same manufacturing date (march/05 - the same as mine). I settled with a silver Maz3 hatch with tinted windows. The car runs great, and I haven't had any issues that some have pointed out, except for the terrible fuel economy (knock on wood); my fathers '02 V6 camry has better mileage. I find the interior scuffs rather easily - even with my knuckles - and the pedals (automatic config.) are too close to one another. Overall, I've been happy. Fuel econ. has been 8.0L/100km HWY and 12.5L/100km city - whatever that converts to MPG.

ivan_99

Close pedals; I too have noticed this. It does make heal-toe shifting easier, but when I wear sandals if my right foot is not pressed against the center tunnel it’s hitting the brake.

My foot is only an average width size 12.

8L/100km i think is 30ish, 12.5 is 19ish...

mip57

I have a size 12 foot which is relatively wide (I don't know the actual width size). Anyway, unlike you, I can't seem to find a comfortable spot for the heal-toe shifting. I'm actually afraid to "drive" the car as I can't shift from brake to gas and back to brake quickly enough. I'm used to driving Camry's, so I have plenty of pedal space to work with. I think it will take awhile to get used to, as my first car was an '89 chevy caprice classic (I still have fond memories of that car).

mazda6s

Hard to accept the reason they gave you - "sometimes a tire doesn't like turning a certain way" - that is totally crazy.
Yes, it really sounds crazy but it's not. I have had this very same thing happen to me. I switched the tires front to back on the "pulling" side and the problem went away. I can't explain it, but yes, sometimes you can get a tire that diesn't like to roll in a certain direction and it will affect the steering. If someone told me this I probably wouldn't believe it either, but I have seen it myself.

leowin

My appointment with the dealer is scheduled for tomorrow.

I will be glad if the pulling problem goes away just by rotating the tires. Maybe I can suggest to the dealer if they come up with nothing. I have noticed that the car pulls to the right especially starting from the lights when I press throttle and also if there is broken pavement or speedbrakers or just unevenness. If the road is smooth, then the car goes straight!

And, exactly at this point of time, Mazda decided to send the ''Survey" to know my opinion on the buying process and first impressions on the car. No prizes for guessing what I have put in there.

namiboy

wouldnt switching the tires front to back on the pulling side keep it turning the same way? i think you have to switch right and left side to make it turn the opposite way. anyway, i checked the pressure with a quality gauge and it showed a couple of pounds more in the right side then the left so i started spitting nails and was ready to go back to the dealer and demand to see the top boss that was there at the time and get something done, but i put the tires all at the same pressure and it still feels fine, my wife drove it and thinks it is okay also. i will be keeping a sharp eye on those tires, believe me. also when it is time for the rotation i will be doing another 'drift to the right' test, and if it happens i will bundle that prob with the first two, and tell them i am going lemon law. i will be satisfied, no matter what i have to do. updates to come.

mazda6s

No, in my experience the "pulling tire" just causes problems on the front. My guess is that this is because the front is where the steering happens.

z71bill

This still sounds a little bit "off balance" to me - but why not just agree with it - if Mazda claims one tire doesn't like turning a certain way fine - ask them to replace the tire with a new one. I doubt Goodyear thinks it is normal for one of their $160+ tires to only turn one way.

mazda6s

Like I said, when I prove something to myself I usually believe it.

z71bill

I understand that with tires something very minor can make a big difference.

I has a shimmy in a car once - right after getting new tires. Took the car back in and they checked the balance. Three checked out good - one needed the addition of a very small weight to get it into balance - like 1/8 of an ounce - I though no way that small of a change could solve my problem - but it did.

All I am saying is even if this is real - wouldn't it mean this tire is defective?

What would cause a tire to not turn "true" in one direction? Will this problem return when you rotate your tires?

namiboy

i am definitely kicking myself right now that i should have made them give me new tires, but at the time i was just so glad that i drove it and it felt fine that i didnt even think about it, you know i was just happy to get out of there and back to work. by the way, the tires arent goodyear, they are 'TOYO PROXES A05', with the 16 inch alloys.

wireedm

I have a 3 Hatch, 5spd manual with about 11k miles on it. Several months ago it developed a whining noise noticeable when decelerating in first - third gears (the lower the gear the louder the noise), and even louder with the A/C on. This tells me that the more resistance the engine is placing on the trans the louder the whine. It is not much unlike the whine a manual makes when put into reverse.

I've also noticed that the engine makes a popping sound when starting in reverse sometimes, and seems to have a direct role in how loud the whine is. The dealers (two) have just said it was a loose motor mount, but of course that doesn't fix the problem.

Any Suggs?

P.S. Any speculation on what the 3MPS will cost? As long as the tranny can take the power, I can't wait!

z71bill

I understand how you feel - I have had many many many problems with my 2004 Mazda3 - It does feel good to get your car back and have it fixed. I have lost track of how many trips to the dealer - think it is 14 now - the last time they had my car for 12 days. I am almost to 14K - average one trip every 1,000 miles must be some kind of a record.

The good news is I think they finally solved most of my problems. They removed the burrs from my rear brakes (this is the second time) and they no longer make loud grinding noise at every stop, they replaced the mount rubber in my front end - so the loud thump thump clunk sound I was getting on every little bump is now gone, had my fuel pump replaced - no more hard starts and has not stalled once since the repair, they even did some good with my defective AC system. Invoice said they adjusted the MCC - don't know what that is - I am guessing maybe it is the Mix Control Cable - but it does seems to cool better now - plus I had the windows tinted - and that also helps the weak AC handle the 98 - 102 degree heat Houston has had the last few days.

Now my Mazda3 feels and drives like a new car should. Plus I think the window tint looks real nice.

kyfdx

Good to hear things are looking up for you... I'd guess the tint looks good?

regards,
kyfdx

qujaqer

That's great news! What degree of tinting did you get? All windows, including the windshield? What did that run you?

namiboy

question friends: is it uncommon for people where you live to get their windows tinted? the reason i'm asking is because i see a lot of posts about tint. i live down in south florida and pretty much everyone has their windows tinted. we bought my wifes mazda 3 on a saturday and tuesday it was in the tint shop, the same one that has done 5 other cars for us since 1994. maybe because of the hotter weather down here, but i think a few of you are from texas or arizona, no? anyway, our car looks way better with the tint, we got as usual: llumar brand tint, which is pretty much the best, the shade just below limo. it was $125, including a strip across the top of the windshield which helps in the morning big-time. llumar brand tint is guaranteed not to fade, and in our experience it hasn't. get the tint boys and girls.

chavis10

I got a 20% tint all the way around for $185 with no windshield strip, but I live in Philly where tinting is probably more expensive. I agree, car looks way better (Gray 5-door).

z71bill

Got Solar Gard brand High Performance charcoal color -

Rear side & back windows 13%, front side windows 32% - no tinting on windshield. The guy that tinted my car has been tinting windows for more than 20 years and knows from experience - if I go darker on the side I will get pulled over for sure - he could use any % on the rear - Texas does not care. He also said that he has never had any legal problem with this dark of tint (my rear side is not exactly legal - limit in Texas is 25% on side windows).

The cost was $195 - and includes a - as long as I own the car warranty backed by the dealership - I shopped around a little and could have got it for less - one place quoted $100 - and had a 1 year warranty - But I just got the feeling that if I ever had a problem the guy would be long gone. Before I got my car done I got the chance to see a few cars that were tinted by the guy that was doing mine - they looked like they came tinted from the factory.

ex_tdier

Looks like this is my problem with the A/C. It is hard to notice when it happens but I traced it to the compressor shutting down very early and then restarting. This is what appears to be causing the crappy A/C flow. How one can tell is once the compressor stops working you will smell a musty odour coming from the vents and then once the compressor restarts the smell goes away and cooling resumes. Otherwise, the blower is pumping out the air that's left in the vents. This process repeats every 20 -120 seconds or so. If it is not very warm outside it will be even more difficult to notice.

The dealer says this is normal. Anyone else notice this and had it resolved?

z71bill

I got the same story - my AC compressor cycles more that any car I have ever owned. Normally when it is real hot out - like over 95 degrees - the compressor in my other cars does not cycle off until the car is starting to cooled off - the Mazda3 cycles constantly no matter how hot the inside of the car is. With other cars the hot air flowing across the evaporator keeps the temperature of the evaporator high enough so that the compressor does not shut off.

The design flaw (I have even heard SOMEONE call it a defect) with the Mazda3 is the evaporator is way to small - the flow of refrigerant from the compressor cools it down (like it should) - once it reaches a set temperature point a temperature probe located in front of the evaporator then tells the compressor to shut off - in order to protect the compressor from damage caused by starting under load - it has a time delay built in - so the compressor can not turn back on right away no matter what the temperature of the evaporator is. This time delay causes the vent air to go from cold to cool to almost warm before the compressor kicks back on. If the Mazda3 had a larger evaperator the compressor would run longer between cycles and you would have a much better system.

I guess Size does matter!

bluem6i

they even did some good with my defective AC system. Invoice said they adjusted the MCC - don't know what that is - I am guessing maybe it is the Mix Control Cable - but it does seems to cool better now

I hate to say "I told you so", but I told you about the cable adjustment several months ago after the dealer did the same on my Protege. It made a huge difference on my car.

z71bill

I recall that post -

I did these tests:

I turned on the AC - max cold with recirc on - and put a thermometer in the vent -after letting the car run a few minutes I then turned the temp control one click off 100% cold setting - the thermometer reading did not change - not even one degree. I then turned it one more click and the thermometer jumped 8 degrees warmer - and every additional click to the warm side caused the temperature to rise even higher.

It seemed to me at the time that the air mix door was 100% closed - even when the control knob was one click off of 100% cold setting.

I also did a second test - with the engine cold I tested the AC air vent temp - then as the engine warmed up left the thermometer in the vent. I thought if the air mix door was leaking the air temperature would start to go up as the engine coolant got hot. Since the air coming out of the vent did not change - I assumed the air mix door was not part of my problem.

Now I am wondering if maybe the problem was between the fresh air and recirc setting. So that even when I had the button for recirc turned on some air was leaking in - like it was part way on the fresh air setting. I know that my vent temp drops like a rock when I turn the recirc off - so I never really thought that was my problem -

Not sure what Mazda means by mix control - is it warm VS cold air or is it inside VS outside air?

kagedude

It was raining the other day and when this truck passed me, I guess there was some debris that got into my windshield wiper. Now, I have this wiper streak that I can't seem to get off using Windex or my fingernails. Any advice on what I can use to get this off? Thanks.

z71bill

Try using a product called Soft Scrub - it is for cleaning kitchen and bathroom surfaces without scratching them it has a very mild abrasive. I used quit a bit of elbow grease and it has not ever scratched the glass. It works great for cleaning the scumy crud that gets on windshields. The only down side is if it gets on your paint it is hard to wash off - so I always use it just before I plan to wash the car.

kagedude

Wow. I have that at home and will try it later. Thanks!

richml

A few years ago my father wanted to remove RainX from his windshield - he thought it was blurring the view. He spoke with the president of the company, who recommended using Bon-Ami - it has a very fine grit.

z71bill

I got the Soft Scrub idea from the RainX web site - under FAQ - How to remove RainX.

redmazda3

They are doing some work on my 04 3 hb rear brakes and have had to order a number of parts. I have the grinding noise but my wifes 04 3 hb does not. One of the things they told me that my calipers are not releasing all the way. The mechanic that was working on mine had an emergency to attend to and since they ordered parts, they told me to take the car with me and use it till this week. The loaner car was an 04 Pontiac Grand Am which I was happy to give back. My tank was on empty as was my wife's car. We filled them up at the same time. At a half tank gone, her mileage was approx. 180, mine was 112. We both were averaging 24 mpg on in town driving. Maybe your rear brake calipers are not releasing properly and restricting your gas mileage.