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Stock battery in my 08 3 lasted until Jan 2014, was pretty happy with that. The only problem I had when the battery was showing signs of dying was that sometimes it wouldn't crank over right away. I think my hood has that same dry spot on the hood also. Might've always been like that though. I'll check tomorrow morning if I remember.
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May 17, 2015 01:31
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Is the dry spot above where the intake for the intercooler is?
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May 17, 2015 01:38
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I just had to replace the battery in my 2008 3 last month, and it was less than 4 years old. I can't imagine a battery lasting seven years, but I live in Texas where it's eleventybillion degrees in the summer.
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May 17, 2015 01:50
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Bandire posted:I can't imagine a battery lasting seven years. Edit: popped the throttle body off today to clean it. The inside was black but I can't say it was really hurting anything. It just seemed like a good idea to clean and replace the gasket after 100,000 miles. Star War Sex Parrot fucked around with this message at 01:59 on May 17, 2015 |
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May 17, 2015 01:53
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Mazda 2 cabin air filter. I mean it is nice they installed a door, but drat, they forgot that some peopke have adult sized hands. On the other hand, the engine air filter was even easier than most engine air filters. Also, 30k mi filter change intervals appear to have been very optimistic. My fan now actually works.
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May 17, 2015 22:35
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I think I managed to do a bit of an end-run around the finance guy at the dealer I bought my Mazda 3 from. When I bought the car, I intended to just pay cash, but since the dealer refused to match the $1000 incentive for financing if I did that, I put 60% down, and financed the balance, with the intention of paying it off as early as possible. The finance guy insisted that there was a requirement to make at least six months of payments before paying off the loan, but since none of the paperwork I signed said anything about that, I figured he was probably trying to BS me. When the first statement from Mazda Finance/Chase showed up, it specifically stated that the loan could be paid off at any time without penalty, so I made the first payment the payoff, and I got the lien release from Chase a couple days later. According to the paperwork I have, the total interest I paid on the loan was $14, which seems like a pretty good deal for a $1000 discount on the car.
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May 18, 2015 10:44
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I finally finished installing all the new parts I got back in March to my MS6. I now have a set of Sonic Tuning MS6 Coilovers, Corksport rear motor and differential mounts, a Whiteline rear sway bar with new endlinks, and OEM replacements for all four front lower control arms and the passenger side motor mount. I was going back and forth for a while as to whether or not I wanted coilovers at all, but ultimately decided to get the Sonics since people on the mazdaspeed and mazda6 forums seem to love them. Supposedly they were designed for the MS6 instead of the regular 6 like most, though the rear springs ended up a bit softer than I would expect from a set of coilovers. They're definitely an improvement over blown stock suspension even though they are a little lower than I was wanting. It's impressive how much the sway bar and coils reduce the understeer on the car. I haven't really gotten a chance to take it anywhere fun yet, but I'm hoping to drive to the coast (from PDX)in the next couple weeks to see if I need any more adjustments. I think I may still need to replace the trans mount, but I'm not sure if I want to go with stock or aftermarket or if I even need it; kind of depends on price and whether I can get approval from the wife. I'm also considering the Corksport adjustable upper control arms since my bushings are on the way out, but I might just replace the arms for now and get the SPC adjustable joints if I feel like I need to get dat hella-flush look (also so I can get a better alignment). stoko fucked around with this message at 17:57 on May 18, 2015 |
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May 18, 2015 17:33
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No idea there was a thread here. 2009 genwon about to get paid off this month, and might be selling it some time in the future. Gonna try to get a 12.xx second pass at higher than 115 before that though, just to see if I can (as a driver, I know the car is capable).
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May 20, 2015 01:25
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Replaced the factory spark plugs in my brother's 08 MS3 today. They were in surprisingly good condition for being 7 years old/63.5k miles... 
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May 20, 2015 07:33
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Is anyone interested in me doing a write up of the fs-de to fs-ze swap I'm in the middle of on an 02 protégé5?
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May 23, 2015 04:15
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I'd read it. 
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May 23, 2015 05:23
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ChewedFood posted:Is anyone interested in me doing a write up of the fs-de to fs-ze swap I'm in the middle of on an 02 protégé5? Absolutely.
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May 23, 2015 06:57
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Roger that, I'll start taking more pictures and write it up once it's back in hopefully by Sunday.
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May 23, 2015 07:58
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ChewedFood posted:Roger that, I'll start taking more pictures and write it up once it's back in hopefully by Sunday. A guy at work asked me for a ride to the shop to get his car. He had been driving when "the engine caught on fire" and "it turned itself off." Gathering that he didn't know anything about cars, I asked the mechanic that was at the counter what was wrong with the car and all he said was 'blown motor' over and over again. I offered my friend $400 for it right there because it had all it's glass and had no visible body damage and I figured he had just overheated it or never changed the oil or something and I wanted a new project anyway.  Got it towed to my house for $50 (that he paid for) and eventually I got around to looking at it. Valve cover was removed by the shop. Cam lobes looked fine. That's good, I figure if there is an oil delivery problem the cams are the first thing to go. Timing belt in tact and looks healthy. At this point I didn't know if it was an interference engine or not. Drained the oil, expected to find water or metal but it looked pretty decent. Dropped the pan, nothing to see there either! Drained the coolant into a bucket (mostly on everything else tbqh) and now the problem is apparent. The smell that came off that oily water was very... unique. So now I know there was a head gasket failure and just for shits and giggles lets do a compression test. From left to right: 10#,15#,10#,10#. Well that's weird, I've never seen all 4 cylinders be that low on compression. Must have been interference and that belt jumped some teeth? Lets pull the head and find out! So I had a friend come over and we pulled the head in a night. Didn't look as bad as the compression test made it seem.   After we cleaned the surfaces (B-12 Chemtool!), check it for straight and the block is straight as an arrow but the head is at least .005" off. After removing the valves, springs, and seals, it went off to the machine shop to get shaved. The pistons all pass leakdown test. The valves look like poo poo. All the exhaust have this crystal coating that must have been from the coolant burning (this was also found in the intake from EGR). I bought brand new valves. I've never done that before but I didn't feel like cleaning 16 of them and they are way cheaper than the titaniums that go in dirtbikes. When they showed up, I lapped them all in to the now straight head first with coarse compound then with smooth compound. I got a nice unbroken circle on every single seat and valve. Neat-o. Got that friend to come back over and put the new valves and seals in with the old springs and we get to one that doesn't quite fit perfectly. There is the smallest sliver of light coming through. This is where I hosed up. It was 2am and we were more than a few beers deep and I made the call to just finish up, throw the head on, and see what happens. There aren't seats to buy as far as google can tell so replacing them was not likely. There are a few more that gave us that sliver of light but we are committed at this point. New felpro software and new felpro head bolts, hooked everything back up, filled it with coolant and oil, and cranked it. Nothing. Check to make sure everything is plugged in. All vacuum hoses are routed, plugs are plugged in, spark plugs are giving a strong spark. Hmmph. Ooooh that gas has been sitting there for like 6 months now. I'll just fill it with the gas for the lawn mower! Sweet now we're sitting at half a tank of half-fresh gas now it should work. Crank it. Still nothing. At that point it was almost 4am so he went home, I cleaned up and slept on it. Next morning, my roommate asks what happened and I told him all about it. He then reminds me that the gas has been sitting in that tank for at least 5 months. I went and got another 4 gallons of gas and poured a whole bottle of octane booster in there to try and make that old gas closer to combustible. Now it will probably start! Crank it. Nothing! Crank it with foot on gas. Blows the intake cover off! But that could only happen if it ignited with the intake valves open. Holy guacamole the timing is 180 degrees off! Fix the timing and finally it's gonna run. Crank it. Nothing. It's gotta be those valves. Compression test from left to right: 0#0#0#0#. What? This drat thing is broken! Should never have let that one guy borrow it. Let's test it on my DD. 170#. FFFFFFFFF At that point I was about $1050 total expenditures on this car. I need to make profit on this to start another project or break even to keep eating lunch every day. I had to make the decision to take the head off and try again or maybe order a remanufactured head or the one thing that is guaranteed to make this car go zoom-zoom again: a new motor. I knew about forced obsolescence so I knew I could get a low mileage imported motor with a warranty pretty cheap. So I did that. $972 after tax and it shows up at my house the next day. Only problem: It's an fs-ze and the motor I took out is an fs-de. The people at the motor store say that it will definitely work they've sold at least 100 for this exact swap. That's pretty reassuring. So now I'm about $2100 into this car. I'm hoping to break even. Luckily for me these ugly little cars sell for way too much in the PNW.   That's where I'm at now. I would have had the new one in today but I threw my back out getting out of bed this morning. P.S.: I like to call engines 'motors' and yes, I did in fact use 550 paracord to lift two different engines. Hate me.
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May 24, 2015 07:54
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So I got the transaxle mounted and the engine in. Then we plugged in all the plugs except one. The fs-ze used a single wire knock sensor and the harness from the fs-de has a two prong connector. The car won't start. Alternator has been removed and tested by being jumpered. Solenoid actuates and motor spins just fine. Battery was a little dead so we were jumping it from my DD. We jiggled the tranny cable a bit and got it to actually engage the starter one time. But it just clicked rapidly (we weren't hooked up to my DD at this time). We could not get it to actually move the starter again. Just goes 'click' once and all the lights turn off until you take the key back to run. I've got the battery on a tender for the night, but I don't think that is the cause because we tried to start it with it jumped. The only problem we have run into between the fs-ze and fs-de is that knock sensor. Could that prevent it from starting? Can I wire that up?
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May 25, 2015 07:57
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That's not just a no start, that's a no crank. If the car sat that long, I'd assume a dead battery.
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May 25, 2015 20:13
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Yeah that sounds like a dead battery. If you can only thump the starter relay and can't spin the starter you probably don't have enough zoot to make it start to crank. You did get some spin out of the starter, so try to get back to that state. Can you turn the engine by hand or is something jamming it?
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May 25, 2015 20:33
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I've got it turning over now. However, I've got no spark. Coil packs check sat with multimeter. Same coils and plugs two weeks ago made pretty blue sparks. So I think some sensor is preventing it from sparking. Obd2 says no codes even though check engine light is on. I don't think obd2 gets any info unless the car starts, though.
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May 26, 2015 01:23
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I could see a crank/cam position sensor causing a no spark. Have you tried swapping the sensors from the old motor in case the new ones use a different impedance or something than what the FS-DE computer is expecting? Maybe try swapping the knock sensor too so you can plug that in. Assuming they fit, of course. I don't really have any familiarity with the ZE.
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May 26, 2015 01:30
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The valve covers swap over so the cam is the same. Guess Ill swap the crank now and report back with results. We got the old knock sensor on.
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May 26, 2015 02:03
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Woo! Twenty minutes later it runs. Crack sensors are identical but the pulleys are not.
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May 26, 2015 02:45
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It runs very well. Drove it to get air in the tires. I'm very pleased. Very much recommend the ze swap. I'll do a legitimate write up of things to do when swapping tomorrow, it's game of thrones time!
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May 26, 2015 06:47
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This site has a chart of the different engine types. http://protegefaq.net/ Don't know the FS specifically but the ZE variants are usually minor changes, like camshafts, ignition timing (ECU), maybe different exhaust or intake manifolds, but not big structural differences. ZE is always the high-output version. Looks like the FS-ZE was used in AWD cars by the transmission type (G25MX-R), except for the Mazdaspeed variant. Not sure if that's a separate model or a version you could order.
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May 26, 2015 23:43
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CharlesM posted:This site has a chart of the different engine types. The Mazdaspeed Protege (North America only) used the FS-DET. I don't think the ZE ever got certified in the states, and Mazda US wasn't gonna cert it for a single low-production end-of-model sport edition (03 was the last year of the Protege/Familia/323), so they slapped a turbo kit on the -DE to get the same output, albeit at a weight penalty. It's possible the "Mazdaspeed" listing on that page was a crate motor, looking at the cam specs (specifically overlap) it look more performance-oriented than a typical road engine. You're right that the G15M-R is a FWD transmission.
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May 27, 2015 06:00
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Is there an adjustable suspension out there for a first-gen 3 that would allow me to raise up higher than stock? :P
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Jun 24, 2015 08:39
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Is this the right place for general Mazda chat or just 2/3/6 chat? Any idea when dealerships will start slashing prices to get rid of Mazda 5 inventory? A mini-minivan that is pretty much my '08 3 with a fat rear end and sliding doors would be great for my wife/kids. I would like to buy a car right now but if I have a chance at grabbing a new GT soon in the high teens instead of buying a slightly used Sport for 12-14K that would be great.
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Jun 26, 2015 06:26
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Urrgghh just attempted to go out to pick up some delicious takeaway curry only to find my MS3 completely dead. It has been cold, and I hadn't driven it for a week, it usually I'd have expected some warning between a car which works completely fine and one that doesn't have any juice whatsoever (not even enough for the central locking or dome light)
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Jun 26, 2015 10:15
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Just dropping in to tell automotive engineers in general and the team that worked on the first-generation MS3 in particular to go get hosed. I just installed a set of adjustable rear camber arms on my brother's 2008, and some loving idiot decided it would be a good idea to locate the fuel filler neck and part of the vapor purge system less than an inch behind the excessively long bolt that holds the top of the camber arm in place. And to rivet the bracket that holds everything in a such a manner that you can't drill it out without dropping the entire rear suspension assembly out of the car. I had to bend the bracket out of the way and then slowly extract the bolt with a ratcheting wrench, 1/4 turn at a time. Driver's side was a breeze, one long 1/2" extension on an impact wrench took the bolt out in short order, but the passenger side was a goddamn nightmare.
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Jun 26, 2015 23:58
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dissss posted:Urrgghh just attempted to go out to pick up some delicious takeaway curry only to find my MS3 completely dead. And it turns out I'd left a map light on like the idiot I am.
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Jun 27, 2015 01:23
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I put an LED in mine since I've done that 3 times; haven't found out yet if that helps.
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Jun 27, 2015 03:37
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dissss posted:And it turns out I'd left a map light on like the idiot I am. Lead acid batteries do a have a shelf life of sorts as the plates within them can start to develop sulfate crystals even if the car sits in a garage for most of it's life. You can never be sure what little or much it'll take to push an older battery over the edge. If your 1st gen MS3 had the OEM battery then it's time.
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Jun 27, 2015 07:03
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Map light for one week will kill a healthy battery.
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Jun 27, 2015 07:20
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Not sure how old the old battery was but it definitely wasn't OEM (some questionable looking Aussie brand). Whether it was necessary or not it's been replaced anyway because I needed the car back in action right away.
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Jun 28, 2015 01:55
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Anyone with an older 3 run into a "tapping" caused by the valves in the intake manifold not functioning properly? Apparently it's fairly common and I'm trying to figure out if it also applies to the 2.0l engines as well. I have a 2005 3i that is making a noise that sounds exactly like the one described with the intake valves malfunctioning but I'm not sure how to test/rule that out before moving onto the "poo poo is my engine dying" part. Generally it still runs fine and I can't hear the noise from inside the car, just from the outside. Most noticeable at idle since the rest of the engine noise doesn't drown it out
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Jun 30, 2015 04:41
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Been looking into small things I can to my 2014 Mazda 3. I am eyeing the corksport front strut tower bar and hood strut kits since they both look easy enough to do as someone who has at most changed oil and replaced spark plugs in a car. I would like to lower the car perhaps just 1 to 1 1/2 inches in the future as well. Anyone have experience with corksport parts? From what I can tell they are one of the go to places for mazda custom parts? Also anyone have recommendations on what other easy modifications I could make.
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Jun 30, 2015 16:02
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I'd skip the strut tower bar, they're largely show pieces on modern cars - the towers are only a handful of inches ahead of the firewall and the bar really isn't going to add much rigidity. I just finished installing corksport adjustable shocks/struts, their lowering springs and sway bars on my brother's '08 MS3. To say the car handles like it's on rails is an understatement...if you have about $1000 to throw at suspension I highly recommend it.
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Jun 30, 2015 17:23
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Levitate posted:Anyone with an older 3 run into a "tapping" caused by the valves in the intake manifold not functioning properly? Apparently it's fairly common and I'm trying to figure out if it also applies to the 2.0l engines as well. I have a 2005 3i that is making a noise that sounds exactly like the one described with the intake valves malfunctioning but I'm not sure how to test/rule that out before moving onto the "poo poo is my engine dying" part. Generally it still runs fine and I can't hear the noise from inside the car, just from the outside. Most noticeable at idle since the rest of the engine noise doesn't drown it out To answer my own question, seems like something is hosed with the variable air intake valve since unplugging the solenoid for that makes the noise go away. Good news, engine seems OK and isn't about to explode in a shower of parts. The valves in question seem to mainly be about emissions or improving performance a bit depending on the rpms, rather than being critical engine components. Bad news, not sure if I need to replace the entire intake manifold or maybe just get away with replacing the solenoid or actuator (not sure if the actuator can be replaced). So if anyone has run across this problem I'd be interested in hearing your solution or if you have an older Mazda that seems to be knocking, take a look at possible intake manifold issues before engine valve issues.
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Jul 1, 2015 21:12
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Googling your problem turns up a lot of hits about replacing the "variable intake solenoid valve," I'd probably start there.
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Jul 1, 2015 22:40
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Yeah, that's my thought. Can't seem to gently caress anything up too bad by dong that and seeing what happens. It already isn't working correctly anyways. Just happy it wasn't the engine valves!
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Jul 1, 2015 22:50
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'12 MS3, been starting harder lately - it's gone from "crank crank crank VROOM" to "crank crank crank crank crank crank crank VROOM". Real fuckin' scientific there, Phy. Anyway, suggestions on things I can check myself? I have a multimeter, a set of metric wrenches, and no garage. Also, I did my last oil change myself and switched from whatever bulk oil the dealers've been using, to Rotella T6. It seems pretty quality and I use it in my bike, anyway. But I've definitely noticed a hit in fuel consumption, at least 50 km per tank. Is that normal for the heavier weight? e: I will say that having completed a good half of a move using only my car (hired movers for the furniture) I am totally sold on the hot hatch concept. Phy fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Jul 1, 2015 |
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Jul 1, 2015 23:16
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