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Mazda3 Maintenance & Repair

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#41 of 4533 Mileage by mazda3hatch Jan 24, 2004 (9:28 am)
I think Guskim's numbers 1 and 3 above, combined with an engine that's not broken in are the likely culprits. Wipers and the defroster are going to have a pretty negligible impact on mileage. And the washer?? You gotta be kidding; maybe you should turn off your radio and drive at night with no headlights too
#42 of 4533 Picky question - by z71bill Jan 24, 2004 (12:25 pm)
If some Madza 3 owners don't mind getting a little dirty - maybe they could answer a question for me.   When looking for the oil filter - I am a maintenance freak - but anyway - I was looking under my car from the front - it has a plastic rock / water shield under the engine. Mine has a hole in the middle - about 6 inches or so in diameter. It looks to me like it should have a cover over it - the way the hole is designed it has a place for locking tabs - like you would put the cover in place then rotate it to lock it in place.   I assume everyone has the hole - anyone also have a cover?
#43 of 4533 Re: Picky question by bluong1 Jan 24, 2004 (12:50 pm)
z71bill, please send me an email, I'll forward you a picture of the bottom.
#44 of 4533 Rear Brakes by mazda3hatch Jan 24, 2004 (1:48 pm)
I just got my 3 this week, it only has like 150 miles on it, but I am noticing that the rear discs are starting to groove a little. The fronts are like glass. I do have the ABS/EBD package. The car stops great, but it looks like I'll have an issue similar to some of those here soon. Did someone mention that there was a TSB for this? What parts are involved, rotors, pads or both?
#45 of 4533 Mazda3 on Fuel Economy by guskim Jan 24, 2004 (3:56 pm)
Put it this way. anything that drains the battery, will drain fuel economy. Motor has to work harder, because the car has to work to recharge the battery. This is especially true of:   1) Constant Defrost Use. When you have rear defrost with no automatic shutoff, this can reduce reduce fuel economy by upto 15-20%. I found this effect when using seat warmers & defrost constantly in my previous Honda Accord. 2) Constant windshield wiper and & fluid use also have an impact, even if only by 10%   Air conditioning can reduce fuel economy by 33%, but not due to battery drainage, but rather the AC compressor belt running off the engine. As you know, many cars by default automatically engage the AC, even to defrost the front windshield. It's good to run the AC at least 15 minutes a month, but constant use in winter is overkill & wasteful on fuel.   Nobody's saying don't use these things. You gotta do what you gotta do. I'm just saying that there are certain things about winter driving that make fuel economy plunge.
#46 of 4533 Disc Break - 3000 miles by sftony Jan 24, 2004 (5:32 pm)
I had a chance to examine the rotors on my M3 with 3000 miles on it (seems like most folks here have fewer miles).   The front rotors are smooth as glass - no grooves can be felt with a fingernail.   The rear rotors are not so smooth. Visually, they look more worn, though I haven't got enough knowledge of disc brakes to know if they are too worn for their age. Running a fingernail across the rear rotors reveals quiet a few grooves. In fact, just a finger tip is enough to feel that they are rough when compared to the front discs. Again, though, I don't know if they are more than normal wear. I mean, what is a "significant groove?"   I wouldn't expect the rear rotors to be in such a different state than the front rotors. Even if the OEM rotors are cheap metal, wouldn't one expect to find crappy material on both the front and rear rotors?
#47 of 4533 Fuel economy by nne3jxc Jan 24, 2004 (5:46 pm)
Thanks all for your input. Based on Guskim's economy, mine sounds about right too. I live in New Hampshire and we've been experiencing some unusually cold weather. I generally try to not use the defroster when it's not needed as I know the a/c compressor (which kicks in automatically in defrost mode) adds significant drag to the motor. As far as driving "sportingly" -- I will toy with the manual shift mode of the Automatic and jack-rabbit start from a stop occasionally, but I've been keeping it below 4500 rpm during break-in. I haven't had a 4 cylinder car since the mid 1980s, so I wasn't sure how long it takes to break them in these days. As someone on one of the other Mazda3 Owners boards said, I always said I'd never have a small, foreign 4-cylinder, again. Look waht happens when you go sit in one at a dealer.....
#48 of 4533 Evidence of windshielf wiper use..? by stokkes Jan 24, 2004 (5:46 pm)
Not to question you guskim, but a 10% drop in gas mileage by using your wiper fluid?   I'd really like to see evidence of this, because I honestly can't see how spraying your windows, which barely uses the battery at all, would result in a 10% drop in gas mileage.   Again, I'm not questioning you, because this is the first time I've heard something like this, but I would like to know where you got this figure.   -- stokkes
#49 of 4533 Fuel Economy by guskim Jan 24, 2004 (7:31 pm)
Hey stokkes, not just from the wiper fluid, but using wipers constantly.   Of course, when I am using wipers constantly, this often means I am going through snow (which means increased rolling resistance).   But there is an effect from the wiper. Check your fuel economy next spring during a week of constant rain. Then check it, during a week of sunshine. For me, with my 2000 Camry, rain meant the car would go about 550KM as opposed to 600km. (or now that I think about it, perhaps the rain increased the rolling resistance somewhat as well)
#50 of 4533 Summer fuel economy by stevefl Jan 24, 2004 (7:35 pm)
By this reasoning I should get terrible fuel economy in summer. In the Sunbelt we don't have real winters, but from Apr-Sep we run the A/C constantly. For the record, during those years when I scrupulously kept track of fuel use, there was no appreciable difference between summer and winter fuel economy.   But I know how real winters can drastically drop mileage. It's not really in running the accessories. Certainly not the washer/wipers! It's mostly in (a) greater warm-up time, (b) more traffic jams, (c) slower, more cautious driving that requires more use of the lower gears, (d) more frequent short trips,(e) leaving the engine idling during brief stops rather than shutting it off, (f) increased tire resistance on snowy roads, and even (g) increased use of headlights in winter months. The break-in period alone (varying speeds) contributes heavily to low figures.   We will be seeing better fuel economy figures reported when folks return from their driving vacations.

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