- #41 of 146
-
Re: suspension squeaking [riproy]
by jeff39
-
Dec 07, 2006 (7:26 pm)
-
|
|
Replying to: riproy (Dec 04, 2006 11:54 am)
We are experiencing really violent "sqeaking" over things like speed bumps, even when travelling very slowly, both front and rear.
Did your dealer replace the bushings with the same ones that were on the vehicle originally? If so, you would think that they'll be giving you problems by next winter. Did they provide you with any other explanation?
When I bring ours in I'd like to have all the information I can!
Thanks.
|
- #42 of 146
-
Re: suspension squeaking [jeff39]
by riproy
-
Dec 08, 2006 (11:24 am)
-
|
|
Replying to: jeff39 (Dec 07, 2006 7:26 pm)
They didn't give me much detail. It was the rubber bushing plates on the front, and bushings on rear sway bar. I know that it will be covered if the same problem occurs again next winter. When i called the dealer initially, i asked if they had heard of this before. They had, and they sounded confident that they knew the fix for it. I wasn't sure that bushing alone could be responsible for that much noise so i wasn't holding my breath and i was surprised to hear no sounds when i got it back and it has been silent down to -27 C since. The way a new car should be. Good luck with yours.
|
- #43 of 146
-
Re: suspension squeaking [riproy]
by jeff39
-
Dec 09, 2006 (3:07 pm)
-
|
|
Replying to: riproy (Dec 08, 2006 11:24 am)
Thanks! We'll give it a try next week.
|
- #44 of 146
-
Winter tire question
by dcdingo
-
Dec 14, 2006 (6:00 am)
-
|
|
My wife, who mainly drives our 5, is complaining about front wheel slippage in wet conditions and is already fretting about snow. I thought I'd get a set of 16" wheels and different tires, as others have done for winter. But here's my worry, will a winter-pattern tire be even worse in the wet? Grateful for any suggestions. We live in Washington D.C., so we don't need a super-aggressive snow tire.
|
- #45 of 146
-
Re: Winter tire question [dcdingo]
by virago83
-
Dec 17, 2006 (10:22 pm)
-
|
|
Replying to: dcdingo (Dec 14, 2006 6:00 am)
I live up in Ontario, Canada near the nation's capital. We purchased our Mazda 5 GT in July and I just had a set of 16" winter rims and a set of Toyo snow grips installed last month. All I can say about the front wheel slippage would be that your wife may have a heavy right foot although I have noted that the "5" is fairly perky off the line but its no fault of the vehicle itself. So far the winter tire package is working great. We have hardly had any snow here so far but on several days the temp has hovered around the freezing mark. As the tire dealer mentioned, even without snow to a certain extent the winter tires will give you better traction on a cold road surface. The stock "all-season" tires are designed with good tread life in mind which means a harder tread compond for long life but when the temperature drops the rubber can turn hard as rock. Snow tires by design have a softer compond for better grip on ice, etc. and although will get chewed up faster if the road surface temp. gets too warm, they will keep on gripping longer as the temp. drops. In a nutshell, if she does a fair bit of cold season driving, its worth getting a winter tire. You'll have to pay more for the 2nd set of rubber but then you get to tuck those expensive summer tires away for 4-5 months and save the wear/tear! That's my 2 cents worth. 
|
- #46 of 146
-
Re: Winter tire question [virago83]
by dcdingo
-
Dec 18, 2006 (6:37 am)
-
|
|
Replying to: virago83 (Dec 17, 2006 10:22 pm)
You are right, my wife is a bit of a lead-foot. But even I have noticed how sensitive takeoffs can be in chilly wet weather. Appreciate your detailed reply and sounds like there will be some benefits from carefully chosen winter tires, even absent snow.
|
- #47 of 146
-
Re: Winter tire questions answered [dcdingo]
by dcdingo
-
Dec 27, 2006 (6:25 pm)
-
|
|
Replying to: dcdingo (Dec 18, 2006 6:37 am)
Tks virago83. Tirerack sent steel wheels fitted with Bridgstone Blizzak Revo 1's within 2 days using standard shipping! Huge improvement in traction in the wet. We had only 9,500 miles on the OEM tires but they were surprisingly worn. By using the winter tires we'll get another year out of the summer set.
|
- #48 of 146
-
Re: Winter tire questions answered [dcdingo]
by jeffpurd
-
Jan 06, 2007 (6:08 am)
-
|
|
Replying to: dcdingo (Dec 27, 2006 6:25 pm)
dc - I just put some blizzaks on in November - huge improvement for Minnesota. When I had them replaced, I had about 30k on the original tires and that was exclusively highway but the drive tires seemed very worn early on to my disappointment. It was interesting when I went to the tire store the owner said that the Mazda 3's and 5's in particular seem to be going through tires. He mentioned it without prompting which leads me to believe they're either putting some pretty cheap tires on in the factory or the low profile tires are just prone to it. 
|
- #49 of 146
-
Re: Synthetic oil any good? [virago83]
by athenasius
-
Jan 22, 2007 (10:57 pm)
-
|
|
Replying to: virago83 (Aug 20, 2006 1:57 pm)
Hey bob I use Sunoco 94 in the summer and I notice the increase in power(I only use it in the summer as the A/C sucks power). The only thing I was told was to find out about the seals as apparently ethanol can dry them out(I can not get an answer from Mazda if they are like GM whos cars can run on the ethanol.
|
- #50 of 146
-
Re: suspension squeaking [riproy]
by nissmazlover
-
Jan 29, 2007 (12:18 pm)
-
|
|
Replying to: riproy (Dec 08, 2006 11:24 am)
As far as my situation goes: I had previously taken the car back to get it fixed because of the crunching/squeaking noise I had experienced and talked about here in this forum before. I had reported that everything was fine and dandy when I got it. BUT, now that it has, finally, got cold here in NYC, the annoying, grating, disconcerting noise is back and worse than ever, both front and rear. Sooooo, I took it again to get it fixed and they told me they changed the bushings again. When I got it, it felt and sounded great, BUT, once it got cold again - in the 20's F - the crunch came back.
Of course, everytime I take it to the dealer, the weather warms up and the damned car doesn't make any noise. So, they are unable to hear it again and I have to wait until it is freezing cold again to be able to take it to them and let them hear that it is still happening. So, I don't believe that them changing the bushing has done anything to permanently alleviate the problem. It must be a design issue with the Mazda parts - unless, of course, the dealer is lying to me and has never changed them, but only lubed them up. I am thinking of actually taking the car to another Mazda service center and seeing what they can do about it, but then I feel like I am "cheating" on my regular Mazda service center since they have always been nice to me.
In any case, my noise is back and I would like to know if anyone else out there has their squeaking/crunching noise back after having it "fixed". Thanks!
|
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Vans & Minivans 
