Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick BOOM! Lifters ticking?

[NCZ13]

Just to give you guys a taste on why I want to sell it...here's a couple things I'm bringing it back for tomorrow...
Things I expect them to replace under warranty:
front shocks
cowl clips
something in the headliner that holds it up over the driver's side door frame

things I expect them to give me answers to:
why my front shocks are creaking in the first place
why my brakes flaked out on me last friday
why my rear wheels have a burning smell coming from them after I drive sometimes
why my headliner rattles above my head
why my intake ticks like it does (although checked, $50 says they didn't hear the right thing)
other misc things...

I've got 6 "things" I want them to fix...I expect them to fix my shocks creaking. That's about it. If I make a big stink about it they might even hook me up with MS coil overs if I have like the best luck in the world but that's what? 1 in a billion chance.

what exactly does having flakey brakes mean? you guys had a date, and they skipped out?

your rear wheels probably have a burning smell from the heat of your brakes?

as for the suspension, i cant say anything being that i havent been in your car, and i doubt you could effectively describe it online.

 

[my3needsaname]

what exactly does having flakey brakes mean? you guys had a date, and they skipped out?

your rear wheels probably have a burning smell from the heat of your brakes?

as for the suspension, i cant say anything being that i havent been in your car, and i doubt you could effectively describe it online.

Last Friday they did this kind of on or off thing no matter how much you pressed the pedal.

Probably from the brakes, it smells like burning brakes...but it smells like it's from the tire. I have no idea.

They creak. Like going over a speed bump they creak. Like old, crappy shocks.

Service Manager told me to do an early bird drop off sunday night and he's gonna check the ticking again and all my other problems. I wrote him a list so he said to include that in the envelope and he's going to personally oversee the fixing of my car.
And he's actually heard of the TSB for the cowl creaking with the Mazdaspeeds!!
Here's to hoping he gets it fixed!

 

[my3needsaname]

Well it seems I've rolled over 4,000 miles tonight so lets just recap what has happened in the last month that I've had the car:
Went into Mazda service twice in December (all for warranty work, they fixed nothing)
Went/going into Mazda so far 3 times this month (all for the same warranty work, they may fix something on Monday but probably not much)
Before this month it has gone in for warranty work pretty much every month on the month since June 23, 2008 when I bought it.

My current problems:
Engine ticks (just realized, could be header gasket's bad)
headliner rattles
windshield cowl creaks
rear brakes smell like they burn after driving sometimes
front shocks creak
brakes did their "flaky" thing to me once

What they could very well finally fix:
headliner rattle
windshield creak
front shocks creaking
engine tick

I'll put money on it that they'll find something really bad with the passenger's side header/gasket when it's there.
And that I'll not only have to come back but come back for something else within the next few weeks. Who wants to put some wager on it?

ugh I'm so tired of this car.

 

[MSpeedRacer]

Direct injection motors make this noise, end of story we have DI so we get tick tick and its partially the ivvt and vct

 

[NCZ13]

Direct injection motors make this noise, end of story we have DI so we get tick tick and its partially the ivvt and vct

Regular mazda3s are not direct injected... they are fuel injection.

 

[my3needsaname]

Regular mazda3s are not direct injected... they are fuel injection.

Exactly. It sounds as if my header is leaking but I need a day to take the heatshield off and check for it...weekend project!!!

New stuff today:
front end sounded like it had a bunch of sand in the steering. (wtf???)
this "tick" got louder, faster, and more aggressive
my headliner rattle that Mazda and I thought they fixed...came back!!! oh the fun!

AND they didn't fix:
everything
didn't even check for the header until I got there, he started it, and it started ticking/letting off pressure.

Mazda did:
wrap a bolt in the headliner they thought was rattling with foam tape to stop the rattle...^^^as stated before, didn't work.
ordered tehfoam padded clips for the windshield to stop the creaking...dunno when they're gonna be here or anything on that.

 

[NCZ13]

Parts that are ordered, and are in stock at the warehouse usually take 2 days to get to the parts dept.

 

[my3needsaname]

I hope he calls monday but I doubt it, he should have called today since it was 2 days but we'll see next week sometime.

 

[NCZ13]

Its two business days, not two physical days.

The actual order is sent out at the end of the day, so the first business day would be friday, travels during the weekend, and arrives on monday, no later than tuesday.

unless the part is on backorder (which is unlikely, but possible)

 

[my3needsaname]

Well, yea. Business days is what I was thinking. I just didn't calc in for an order day but you'll be right.

You could probably answer another question I have, this ticking is getting louder and worse and lasts longer lately so I was going to pull off the heatshield that covers the exhaust manifold outlet/header bolt up place thingy...yea, I'm really technical...but is it one full piece or can I just take off a top portion that'll expose the exhaust mani nicely?

Thanks!

 

[NCZ13]

usually its in two portions so its accesible to remove the manifold itself.

you shouldnt have any trouble removing it

 

[my3needsaname]

I removed the top and started it up and what do ya know, the only time it doesn't let off pressure/tick. WTF?

 

[skylar2ups]

Jeff I think your car sounds fun!

 

[my3needsaname]

...yea...fuuuuuuuuuuuun as s***...better than having an MS3...lol, oh god it's terrible. I'll bet you nobody else on here has as many problems as I do within the first 4K miles.

 

[my3needsaname]

Aside from my brakes being really stiff today, what bad sign is it when your tranny shifts gears really hard and you hear a thunk coming from under the dash whenever it shifts?

Like it went from 1st to 2nd and jerked the car back with a deep thunk. Same thing from 2nd to 3rd and when downshifting, I was going 30 at most.

 

[NCZ13]

at this point, i think your just feeling for everything in your car. i bet half the stuff your hearing/feeling is only amplified because your looking for stuff to be wrong when it isnt.

What are the odds that you, out of the thousands and thousands of mazda3s produced are the only one to have a car with this many issues. I frequent all the boards on here, a have yet to see a thread about a car with this many problems. If this was a real issue, you would see many more threads about similar experiences like yours. While ill admit its likely that some of the things your experiencing are legitimate, with each new day you post up about some squeak or creak or a "feeling" that noone can interpret online, that its growing tiresome. If you feel that this car isnt for you, the solution is to get rid of it. You complain about the power, yet you bought a 4cyl economy car. You complain about how sluggish it is through corners, yet you bought a automatic. Not buying a manual because you dont know how to drive is not a valid excuse, therefore you have no grounds to whine about the transmission.

 

[my3needsaname]

No, this is actually something I'm worried about, the past week or so it's taken excessively long to shift and today it's just thunking (literally) through gears. I'm hoping that I'm just not feeling for everything because of my state of mind towards it but this could be bad.

I mean there's always one isn't there? It's a freak chance and I'm amazed I'm getting stuff like this with 4,144 miles but there is a chance that my car could be...a lemon...or something of that sort. I mean these are all different things but the transmission is what I'm really worried about.

I've been able to pick out dying trannys before but that was a slight slipping of the gears when you shift on the 99 Volvo. This is new to me...most of this car is new to me that's why I'm here. Especially this engine/tranny concept. Everything before this has been 4 speed V8 or I-5T. This is a 5 speed I-4.

I know I'm getting annoying (only in this thread though) but seriously, could there possibly be anything wrong with my tranny?

 

[chrissor]

there is a ecm update for shift shock, bring it to the dealership. if it doesn't solve the issue your transmission should be replaced under warrenty. now i am just speculating on what you are saying, without actaully feeling what you are talking about no one can really say what the issue is. i find with most of mazda's current automatic tansaxles (post protege) slipping isn't so much of an issue anymore. in most cases it seems to be extreme shift shock.

 

[my3needsaname]

Yea that sounds right, but you sure about an ECM update? The car is an 08.5...

 

[jonyblaze87]

did you ever find out what the ticking was. i took my car to three different dealers and they all gave me the run around. im still dont feel right about it, like they dont want to deal with it since its under warrenty