04 Mazda Three

[sprinter119]

Hello everyone i just bought my wife an 04 mazda 3 last week and she loves the thing. Only thing wrong is that when its cold outside it idles weird when its in drive it will idle at around 900-800 then fall slowly to 200-300. the needle trys to slowly jump back up to the 800-900 range and while doing so the car kinda vibrates its like the car is purring thats the best i can explain. We took it back to the dealership and they cant find anythig wrong with it but its something especially if you can hear from outside the car. any ideas?

I also wanted to know if the black tailights from another mazda three would fit on the my wifes 04 she has the all red ones and wants black and lord knows i will do anything to make that woman happy. ??? thank you everyone

 

[jazzman]

Not sure about the idling problem, but tailights from any sedan 04-09 should be interchangeable as far as I know. Hopefully someone else will back me up on this.

 

[Akaveli]

Hello everyone i just bought my wife an 04 mazda 3 last week and she loves the thing. Only thing wrong is that when its cold outside it idles weird when its in drive it will idle at around 900-800 then fall slowly to 200-300. the needle trys to slowly jump back up to the 800-900 range and while doing so the car kinda vibrates its like the car is purring thats the best i can explain. We took it back to the dealership and they cant find anythig wrong with it but its something especially if you can hear from outside the car. any ideas?

I also wanted to know if the black tailights from another mazda three would fit on the my wifes 04 she has the all red ones and wants black and lord knows i will do anything to make that woman happy. ??? thank you everyone

About the idling issue I'm not sure. When you start the car from a cold start what does it idle at? I know when I start mines I idle at 1.5k then it drops to 600 after fully warming up. Try resetting the ECU and let it run for awhile.

I'll have ot look into that for you in reguards to the taillights.

 

[tsunami]

purge selonoid valve there is a TSB for that on all 04s iirc the dealership should have known this... as far as the tail lights any version from a HB or sedan whatever you have will fit.

 

[skylar2ups]

purge selonoid valve there is a TSB for that on all 04s iirc the dealership should have known this... as far as the tail lights any version from a HB or sedan whatever you have will fit.

Either or... not both... like the sedans will not fit the hatch and viceaversa.

Just making sure he knew..

 

[sprinter119]

thanks everyone

 

[bbrich57]

Not sure about the idling problem, but tailights from any sedan 04-09 should be interchangeable as far as I know. Hopefully someone else will back me up on this.

No. The sedan and HB have different tails, and head lights for that matter. They do not interchange. In fact, very little interchanges between the two as far as exterior pieces go. They look similar, but are actually two very different bodies.

 

[bbrich57]

purge selonoid valve there is a TSB for that on all 04s iirc the dealership should have known this... as far as the tail lights any version from a HB or sedan whatever you have will fit.

I am writing this from the dealership right now. Why am I here? PURGE VALVE!!! +/-$400.
And here I thought it was the MAF sensor... again..... (confused)

Either of these, or both could be your idling problem, Sprinter. Are you throwing a CEL (MIL in Mazda terms?) Does the car seem to "nose over" under acceleration?
Also, if the PCM (ECU) hasn't been updated w/the new software, that too would be a good idea.

 

[tsunami]

bbrich57.... what the heck man you could have bought a new valve from one of the online vendors for just over 100 shipped and installed it yourself its easy peasy to install.... stupid dealership prices... you know i have never had my ECU updated.... mmm wonder if i should?

 

[bbrich57]

'Couldn't hurt! there have been something like three updates since '04. Mine ran much leaner and much, much better until this happened.

I had little choice, and did not know exactly what the problem was. It was acting like it had before when the MAF sensor failed... TWICE!!! The symptoms were exactly the same up to that point. Rough idle at start-up, dirty tailpipe, nosing-over or a loss of power when accelerating, etc...
Had I let it go, the next things would have been; no power, stalling and hard starting like I had before the re-flash and MAF.
I stalled in the middle of an intersection and it would not restart right away. That's scary stuff in city traffic. I may as well have been sitting on train tracks.
The dealer would warranty the MAF sensor, but I would've been responsible for the labor.
As it turned out, it was not the MAF, it would have cost me $100 anyway for the diagnostics plus $100-$160 for the part. It was worth the extra $50 (cost <$350 in the end) just to have it back and done on the same day.

Have you seen the list of codes either of those parts can throw? You could go nuts replacing parts for a year and not know if you've got the right one or not.

 

[BPboiler3]

No. The sedan and HB have different tails, and head lights for that matter. They do not interchange. In fact, very little interchanges between the two as far as exterior pieces go. They look similar, but are actually two very different bodies.

the OP has a sedan....so jazzman is correct...any sedan tail lights from 04-09 will fit other sedans

 

[tsunami]

'Couldn't hurt! there have been something like three updates since '04. Mine ran much leaner and much, much better until this happened.

I had little choice, and did not know exactly what the problem was. It was acting like it had before when the MAF sensor failed... TWICE!!! The symptoms were exactly the same up to that point. Rough idle at start-up, dirty tailpipe, nosing-over or a loss of power when accelerating, etc...
Had I let it go, the next things would have been; no power, stalling and hard starting like I had before the re-flash and MAF.
I stalled in the middle of an intersection and it would not restart right away. That's scary stuff in city traffic. I may as well have been sitting on train tracks.
The dealer would warranty the MAF sensor, but I would've been responsible for the labor.
As it turned out, it was not the MAF, it would have cost me $100 anyway for the diagnostics plus $100-$160 for the part. It was worth the extra $50 (cost <$350 in the end) just to have it back and done on the same day.

Have you seen the list of codes either of those parts can throw? You could go nuts replacing parts for a year and not know if you've got the right one or not.

Hey rich sounds like a real pain... didn't know you had had so many issues with your maf... glad to hear its resolved and you are happy with it thats all that matters.... sounds like i may make a run to the dealership and inquire about the ecu updates.... lol silly mainer "i got me one of them there new fangled engine computers... what you mean i need an update???"