DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Steve...gonna need an addi and a phone number for Sat. I can tell you right now I'm gonna get lost :P

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Ryan, I'm assuming you still haven't heard anything from Ray about when they expect to ship your coils.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Anybody know the best place to find cheap brake pads for a Mazda3?
Yulia has 35k on her car and I know how she drives.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Could try that ebay store I sent you. I'm pleased with the posi-quiets so far. Can't beat those prices.

Other John: 330-316-9311 is my cell.

Shop address:

CnD Industries
4520 Southway st SW.
Canton Oh 44706.


Now that class is done, I'm going to work on the 8 this week and do some of the simple fixes before you all get here.

Think autozone will have proper MAF cleaner? Throttle bottle and carb cleaner? That will be there I'll start.

RK

iTrader: (1)

Nada.

Hopefully I have them before my trip even if I don't install them before the track. Always worried about my plugs after the cars has sat cold for 2 1/2 months.

Machiavelli

Better late than never. Definitely an AWD.

Liking it a lot so far, except after being used to the tight fitting 8 there's so much space in front of me under the immense sharply sloping windshield I at first got this weird, mildly uncomfortable, almost agoraphobic feeling. The distance between the driver and the base of the passenger side A pillar is enormous.

Anyway it handles really well for a vehicle that size, and it's quick enough to get out of its own way. I stuffed our Christmas tree into the back yesterday (no roof rack) and it swallowed it up. Now I just need to get out the shop vac to suck up the millions of pine needles everywhere.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Thoughts on the engine? Correct me if I'm wrong, but this has the same turbo 4 banger that the speed 3 has, correct?

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Ordered zoom zoom engine cleaner today... that looks like it will be fun. . . . . .


Also... per the previous owner's throttle body mod.
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...le+body+bypass
- - How hard would this be to un-do? Get coolant running back into the throttle body? It doesn't look too bad.

Also. I read that intake build up could be caused by oil blowing back in there... does anyone on here have a catch can or has hooked one up before? Worth it? Or pointless?

Also... sort of to touch on what I asked before... what will autozone or advanced have that I should use to clean the MAF and try to clean the intake and throttle body?

Machiavelli

Yeah, same engine as the MS3 and MS6 but detuned to 244 hp and 258 torque (vs 263/280 for the MS3). It's only available with AT.

The engine is pretty responsive, though with a 3900+ lb curb weight you're not going to scream off the line. But it never feels under-powered. It feels much more car-like than any SUV I've ever driven. I've only driven one other crossover - a new Murano - and the CX-7 feels much faster (though from what I've read the Murano might be just a smidge faster from 0-60). It handles MUCH better than the Murano, imo.

The throttle does take a little getting used to. If you're too heavy on the gas when you first get rolling there is the briefest moment of hesitation, then it suddenly kicks in with a "whomp" and you're launching faster than you intended. But other than at initial tip-in I haven't noticed anything that hints at turbo lag. In fact, once you get the knack of easing into the throttle off the line it's smooth as silk and the acceleration seems pretty linear.

The engine note is typical for a turbo four - you don't get a bass rumble. I like the way it sounds, but some might find it on the manic side; not what you'd expect to hear coming out of a crossover. It's excellent from the standpoint of harshness and vibration. There's a lot of little things that I would've like to see them do differently, but the engine and suspension setup work really well. All in all, I'd say it's pretty Mazda-like.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

http://cleveland6club.com/phpBB2/vie...?p=43280#43280

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Doesn't appear to be too hard... though I've never had to do it (or undo it).

Either one of those should have MAF or contact cleaner.
And get shop towels for wiping the TB (if its dirty).

I have never installed a catch-can, but its a real basic installation.
Definitely worth it... especially if you over fill your oil.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

So I'm pissed.... had a long list of crap to do before going back to work tomorrow.
One was moving my car in preparation for winter and to give it its weekly run for 1/2 hour to keep the fluids moving and the battery charged.

I went to start it... and the SOB is flooded!
This is only the 2nd time I've ever flooded this car, but the 1st time I knew it was flooded because my dad didn't give it time to warm up before shutting off.
This time its strange because I started it last weekend to run for 1/2 hour.

So I began the de-flooding procedure, both with the fuel pump relay and holding the accelerator pedal.
After several attempts the lights started to dim, so I knew the battery was too low to help start it.

I took the battery inside to let it charge. After several hours I got too impatient and ended the charging to 13.8 volts (my charger will say FULL when its fully charged).
So I'm back in the car doing the de-flooding process and cranking it for no more than 10sec so I don't mess up the starter.
Towards the end it really started to sputter and was close to starting, but the lights started dimming again.
So the battery is back on the charger and I'll keep it on until tomorrow (getting too dark outside).
And these are newer plugs too... guess I'll consider changing those out sooner than expected.

I wish I backed my car in the driveway so I could simply jump the battery with my truck.
If only I had a jumper cable long enough to reach from the rear of the car.
Oh well... worse comes to worse I can simply release the brake and coast down my driveway towards the road and jump start it.
Problem is... if I can't get it going, my car is stuck on the side of an Akron street!!!
Can't have that!

RK

iTrader: (1)

Well that sucks.

I don't remember but is your car still warrantied? If so just call the Mazda help line, they'll tow it to Cascade, and you get new plugs and a new battery if it's completely dead.

I know this because I did it the past two springs.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Warranty expired last year.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

I finally got the car running (and did you know its FREEZING outside).
I fully charged the battery and installed it back into the car this morning.

After a couple attempts without success, I started to think back to a thread I read where someone hooked-up the washer fluid hose line to the maintenance ports.
The concept (from what I recall) was to provide better compression while the alcohol in the fluid "cleaned" the spark plugs (I'll try to find the thread again to verify).
After trying every other method, I figured it was worth a shot.

Getting to the maintenance ports was more difficult than I thought it would be.
I ended up removing the washer fluid reservoir and disconnected the ground cable from the intake manifold for more hand room .
Even then it was a tight squeeze, but I managed to get through (see first two pics below).
The caps were a bit tight, so I used pliers to turn it back and forth to work it off.

I used a 1/8" hose to connect the maintenance ports to the hose coming out of the washer fluid reservoir.
The washer fluid hose has an elbow connection to which I used to connect my hose to it.
I gave it a couple sprays in each port and reinstalled everything.
Now it was time to try starting.

The first crank attempt didn't get it going, but I noticed the engine sounded "better" like it was really trying to start.
After the 3rd attempt the engine started, but stalled within a couple seconds.
It started again during the 4th attempt so I gave it slight gas to keep it going (around 2k RPM).
After roughly 5 seconds I removed my foot from the accelerator pedal and let it idle for 1/2 hour.
3rd pic below shows the white smoke, but it was way worse when it first started up.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

That's pretty intense problem solving... I would have tried some starting fluid after the de-flood procedure. But... I'm sure you're going to give me a reason as to why that wouldn't work.

So you put some windshield washer fluid into the maintence port (where I'm going to spray my mazda zoom engine cleaner) to clean the spark plugs and it worked? I would have never guess that.

Oh, I bought some seafoam "Deep Creep" yesterday for the intake. I will have time to do work on the MAF and throttle body Wednesday...

Question - is the deep creep the same as what Ryan was saying to use for the engine cleaning? It talks about engine "fogging" on the can. I think I'll use the Mazda brand for this one.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

You can use that to clean buildup in the intake and throttle body, but don't use that on the MAF sensor itself.
You need actual electric/contact cleaner so it doesn't leave a film.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

That is not the same... You should use Sea Foam Motor Treatment:
http://www.seafoamsales.com/motorTuneUpConsumer.htm

Not ENTIRELY sure... I'm searching the web for a more definite difference.
But it looks like you can use that Deep Creep for the engine too.

UPDATE: After a quick Google search, I still don't have a definite answer to the difference.
The Motor Treatment talks about adding it to your gas tank, but that might be for their larger container.
They have a smaller "spray bottle size" version, but I don't know if that is "spay-able".
If the smaller bottom isn't spray-able, then the deep creep might be the best choice.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Alright - i ordered the mazda cleaner anyway. No Worries.

Use contact cleaner huh...

This project is stupid. Thought the car wanted to idle today... but it faked me out and stalled.

Maybe I'll just buy a Cobb port and reprogram the idle to be 1k rpm and not worry about it.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Absolutely.... any film on the resistor wires will throw-off the MAF reading and cause you MORE issues (which I'm sure you don't want).

I use CFC FREE Contact Cleaner that Rockwell "bought for me":
http://www.amazon.com/03116-Electro-.../dp/B000R82TRC

Autozone should have the cleaners too. I believe they have CRC Electric Cleaner and might have a MAF cleaner which is the same thing.

RK

iTrader: (1)

I'm bringing my AP down with me on Saturday so we can at least see if it can help diagnose all your funky issues.

Jon - good news on the restart. Probably gonna need to clean your plugs in the Spring. Just curious but did you rev up to redline after warming just before shutting it off? That's the one thing I didn't do the last two winters that I'm doing now and is supposed to help burn any excess fuel that might foul the plugs during a long cold period.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Honestly... I've never done that before... but for some reason I did that before shutting off my car.
And the next time I went to start it, the SOB was flooded.
So with that said, I'm not revving my car to redline before shutting off anymore.

tiresmoker

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys. Just figured I'd stop in and say hello since I haven't been over this way in a while..

RK

iTrader: (1)

Who are you again?

Just started wading through the main Cobb AP thread. Got through the first 10 pages. Another 100 pages to go. Wish someone would go in there and clean up the dumb posts that have nothing to do with the AP and instead discuss everything from MM's business practices to why MAF is better than MAP.

When I'm all done I may start up a Cobb AP thread for non-MM customers.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Problem is the first ~150 pages were mainly surrounded by Jeff's tune with the AP since he was the only one that had the software at that time to self tune.