Recent content by Carl1643

Thanks for chiming in on this question. Would love to have some feedback from someone who knows for sure if there is indeed a secondary filter; i.e., one in addition to the one in the gas tank.

When I took the car in at about 30k miles, I asked the service guy about changing the fuel filter. He looked it up - it did not fill me with confidence that he had to look it up - and then told me that it was located inside the fuel pump which in turn was inside or atop the fuel tank and that...

The handbook that came with my Mazdaspeed 3 has no recommended intervals for such things as transmission fluid. I have 45k on the odometer. I do the oil and filter change, synthetic oil, just shy of every 5k miles. I replaced the air engine filter at 20k and again at 32k. I'll do that...

Just had an oil change a few weeks ago and they put in 5W30, full synthetic. Think they put in the right stuff?? Thanks,

I have a 2008 Speedthree. Got the smoking exhaust problem a year into ownership. Changing to a thin, synthetic oil fixed it temporarily. When it came back a year later, they installed the ventilation kit and it hasn't smoked since, i.e., since last year. My married daughter wants to buy the...

I posted recently on the smoking turbo question; it's the post just before yours. Last week the dealer installed the ventilation kit fix and admitted that one Speed3 on which they made this fix continued to smoke and they had to replace the turbo. I will post back here if the smoking recurs...

The dealer wants $329 to do a bunch of stuff I don't think need doing and I was going to have stuff done on an a la carte basis. (BTW, my oil and filter were just changed after a 5,600 mi r/t mile cross country trip, I have had the brake fluid replaced and ditto for the cabin air filter.) Here...

I have posted twice so far on this smoking turbo problem. It began with my 2008 Mazdaspeed 3 at the 10,000 mile mark. To save readers from having to search for what happened at the dealership, I have cut and pasted that post here: ************** Went to the dealer, Brown's Mazda, Fairfax, VA...

Wrapping up this thread To close the loop on this thread, I had the front end realigned yesterday at the dealer and spoke to the tech after he finished. He reports that only the slightest of adjustments were required, so alignment had nothing to do with my tires wearing down to the 4/32" level...

I was really surprised to see you note that tire noise was killing you. My previous two vehicles were a 92 BMW 525 and a 2000 BMW 328. It's not fair to compare a BMW with a Mazdaspeed3 as they were both over twice the price. That said, the Speed3 is, naturally, a noisier car, considerably...

Another set of Pirelli's At the risk of seeming rather foolish, I'll start by admitting to buying another pair of Pirelli's, same as were on the car. I went armed with statistics on four or five other tires, all of which my tire guy knew, and with the feedback folks have given me here and we...

I called the service rep at my Mazda dealer who knows I have been "researching" what I had thought to be a problem but now realize was perhaps not and asked if, during my periodic maintenance visits, they checked, things like shocks, ball joints, etc., and he assured me that they did. Each time...

Thanks for the feedback/input, Chief. As always, I go to my tire guy with what I have learned, then usually go with his recommendation This time, I will go to him much better prepared, thanks to all the experienced input I am getting here.

A final question? Would I be better advised to replace the worn tires first then get an alignment or get an alignment and then get the tires replaced or does it make any difference? Many thanks. P.s. Will report back here on the outcome of the alignment, what tires I get, and how the...

Since, during the first three years, while the car was still under warranty, I have been taking it to the dealer where I purchased it for oil changes and routine maintenance, I feel reasonably confident that they would have called any problem with the ball joints, wheel bearing, shock absorber...