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Just installed the Cobb SRI on my MS3 but wasn't aware of the bracket/engine movement breaking things. Any suggestions for the long run?
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Mar 18, 2009 05:27
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| # ¿ May 8, 2024 23:43 |
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A story for you all. On July 4th, 2008 I bought my 'speed3. The car has been great fun, and I had no problems worth mentioning with it in the first year of ownership. Or, well, almost a year... July 3rd, 2009: my wife and I decided to go up to a gambling town in the foothills and we took the Mazda. It was about a 50 mile drive to our destination, and while there was traffic we were still doing posted speeds. Once we hit the foothills things slowed down to a crawl, and as it was warm out I diligently watched the temperature gauge; it was steady the entire slog up to about 8000 ft. which while slow took less than half an hour. We exited on a 2 lane frontage road; as we exit the offramp my wife says she hears a noise, and I killed the radio and listened but didn't hear anything. As I turn right from a complete stop, I feel a massive drop in power, hesitation in first gear, and ... big vibration through the wheel. My wife asks if we have a flat, but I tell her I doubt it as I realize it's rev-dependent. We pull over - the car is definitely making a massive cyclical thumping noise and there's no doubt it's coming from the engine compartment when stopped. I kill the motor and sigh. If I were to guess, something had gone very wrong. I have a Cobb SRI and iridium plugs in my car and that's it - so I know there's no way in hell whatever's gone wrong is my doing. I've had every oil change done at the Mazda dealership I bought the car new at (and had 4 or 5 done in those miles, the first at 1k) and the car only has 15,795 miles on it. I checked the dipstick and there was oil in it, and it wasn't leaking anything, but I've never experienced anything like this in any car I've owned. I called Mazda roadside assistance and (after a 2+ hour delay for the tow truck driver to find us) they towed the car to the dealer (40+ miles away) upon my request. That was the Friday before the 4th, and the dealership has had it ever since then. The week following the holiday the service writer called to tell me that yes, Mazda USA was going to cover the problem under warranty. At the time they didn't know the actual issue. Upon teardown, they found a spun bearing on whichever cylinder is the left-most one when looking at the car. I got to inspect chunks of bearings in the oil pan later on. Supposedly the car is getting a long block (still no information on whether that includes the turbo or not), and while the dealer has had the new engine in their possession for a week, they are missing a mechanic to do the work as they had sent said mechanic to classes that had already been scheduled. I must admit - I'm wary about keeping the car. Other than this, the car's been essentially flawless. But this is a big deal in my book. I seek your opinions as to what to do with the car. Tremek fucked around with this message at 04:39 on Jul 31, 2009 |
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Jul 31, 2009 04:25
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Looking back I had it changed at 1k, 6k, and 12.5k. The 1k change was to lose the break-in period oil and because I was anticipating driving 1000 miles over a weekend immediately thereafter, so I was wrong about 4-5 times. I've been changing it a bit early due to the reports on various MS3/6 boards of fouling seen on the 7500 mile interval changes. Here's my real dilemma: I essentially have the green light to toss the 'speed3 and pick up a G8 GXP. I'm so torn.
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Jul 31, 2009 05:03
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My engine failure does seem to be a rarer problem than all the full load + < 3k rpms = boom reports out there for the MZR DISIs - we're looking at the other end of the engine here. The car had something like 120 miles on it when I bought it... I wonder how hard it was flogged before I owned it. I'm definitely not an abusive driver, so I feel pretty justified in thinking the failure wasn't my fault. The mechanics indicated bearings between the crankshaft & conrod doing that are a result of lack of oiling, but who knows.
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Jul 31, 2009 19:46
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FortifiedTumor posted:The reason I purchased a MS3 is Rocky Mountain two lane highways. I have a few favorite spots. Only driven around CO, UT, and WY so far. The car is good for that. In September '08 we took the MS3 up to Steamboat for our anniversary; passing cars on I-40 at 8-10,000 ft. with ease made me giggle (and made the wife squirm.)
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Aug 12, 2009 00:25
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Lilbeefer posted:Anyone on AI had a blown engine yet? Spun bearing on mine at 15k, but the consensus is something was out of spec from the factory and may be more of an outlier.
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Aug 17, 2009 15:32
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So things ended up working out and, alas, I no longer am in the MZR club.... Traded into the LS3 club though.  Will miss the turbo kick but I can't argue with 415 ft/lbs in the new ride.
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Oct 5, 2009 00:54
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GET EM SLUGGER posted:Welcome to the dark side. I didn't realize you had also made an (evil) conversion. I miss some things about the MS3 but the GXP is an entirely different, more sinister beast that I can love as much if not more. Only 800 miles so far but the LS3 snarl above 4k is just as intoxicating as 3-5k was in the MS3.
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Oct 20, 2009 04:24
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Kynetx posted:I've done it once or twice, but it was a really sloppy shift and totally my fault. I remember grinding between first and second, but the worst was that during fast shifts from 2nd to 3rd I seemed prone to hitting the detent between first and third... Which makes you look pretty awesome when you're trying to go fast and bounce off the rev limiter. (haven't experienced anything like this in the new car)
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Oct 21, 2009 21:45
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SiB posted:So I heard that Mazda is going to be watching large warranty repairs closer... For example if your car needs an engine and its on warranty, the dealer has to get approved to change the engine rather than just doing it. Mazda wants to approve each large warranty claim as they come, regardless of the dealer level (A, B or C dealer). When my '08.5 MS3's motor popped the dealership had to take pictures, talk with Mazda techs on the phone more than once, etc. to get authorization to replace it. That was in July '09. GET EM SLUGGER posted:Don't get the wrong, the G8 is an absolute blast. When the weather is good. It really sucks in winter weather, and I don't live in an area that gets enough snow/ice to warrant snow tires. I'm sure my mind will change again once the roads thaw out Bah, man up and fishtail around some corners and that feeling will go away. As much as I liked my MS3 the G8 is every bit as much fun, albeit... different. Your MS6 was a different sort of car... What about it do you miss? Tremek fucked around with this message at 08:13 on Feb 7, 2010 |
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Feb 7, 2010 08:08
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I totally appreciate the fast AWD car thing. Even sometimes I question whether I should have picked up an Evo or STI instead of the G8, but there are definitely advantages in having the larger car, plus it's fun having a car that virtually no one else has. It's about 20 degrees here, roads are iced up, and it's been snowing all day at about 6,000 ft. I had the choice of our Xterra or the G8 to take to a Superbowl party... I took the G8. Snow tires and heroic traction control go a long way. Even at a full stop on a hill I had very little trouble getting going on the Blizzaks. I got the impression that you're still on the stock rubber; do you have summer or all-seasons? Hopefully the sand helps but there's no way in hell I would be out in this on summer tires. 
Tremek fucked around with this message at 05:44 on Feb 8, 2010 |
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Feb 8, 2010 05:41
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Tig Ol Bitties posted:Hello everyone. It's not different in any appreciable way that should make someone not overly familiar with manual transmissions wary. There's 6 speeds plus reverse, and the shift pattern may be a little different than what you may have learned to drive on, but you will figure it out in seconds. Is it the best shifter ever? No, it's a little rubbery with the stock bushings, but that's cheap and easy to fix. Things to look for: don't buy mine? Any car you're looking at owning should hopefully have little pre-ricing done to it and be clean. Carfax etc. before you buy.
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Mar 26, 2010 17:20
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FortifiedTumor posted:Has anyone sold/traded in a newer MS3? I'm thinking about getting a 370Z and was offered 15k for trade in value. 2009 GT w/ 14000 miles. I was offered 17.5k and ended up getting closer to 19k in trade on my 08.5 GT with 14k miles at the end of September '09. You might be able to do a little better but not by a lot, obviously depends on the circumstances. Tremek fucked around with this message at 12:10 on May 6, 2010 |
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May 5, 2010 04:04
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I did 17" Mazda6 wheels on my '08.5 MS3 + Conti WinterSports and the car felt unstoppable in the winter, plus it was cheap (like $150 for the set of wheels off of Craigslist, maybe? Something inexpensive.) You can likely find OEM alloys for the same or less than 16" steelies from TireRack.
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Oct 28, 2010 17:35
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| # ¿ May 8, 2024 23:43 |
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I know there are some interesting replacement units but I don't know how well they work. http://www.autodvdgps.com/products_all.html?disp_order=5&page=35
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Nov 1, 2010 03:42
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