4 problems, no solutions yet...

[El Speed3]

Hey all,

On a very sad note, and given my low participation these last weeks on the forums (yeah, I know I still dont post a lot but anyways), Im very upset with my MS3, particularly thanks to the dealers... Im really desperate!

I have 4 problems so far:
1. Windshield rattle. The dealers are saying its a "normal condition", given by the torsion of the vehicle. Ive been investigating and know that its fixable and a carry-over problem from gen-1. Anyone have a solution for this??
2. Rattle on the drivers window. If you take as a reference the black triangle on the front of the windows, lower them to about a half of it. When the road is less than perfect, I get a horrible rattle whenever the car bounces. Is it me or does everyone have it? As a reference, the co-pilots window does not make the same noise...
3. The car is horrible mis-aligned. Ever since they replaced the suspension with mexican-road-spec susp, the steering is not aligned. First it was pulling to the right, gave it to them, and still had a little tendency to the right. Gave it to them again, now its pulling left.
4. Rattles on the dash and door panel, thanks to the dealers trying to fix the window and windshield rattle (over 5 times already...)

Please help me out!! I need some precise instructions for me to handout to the dealers so that they may fix something!!! Im really struggling with the thought of selling the car, I wouldnt want to do it, but its 1 y/o and so far, its had more than 7 trips to the dealers...

Sorry for the length, and the rant, but I need some objective insight about all of this..

Thank you!

 

[palmyrasonlyMSP]

Sounds like to me all minor problems. I would'nt even worry about them. Thats how minor they sound!

 

[skatethesea]

Sounds like you need to move to somewhere with smoother roads and all your issues will subside. You cant expect everything to be vacuum sealed and not rattle. All of my car purchases for the last eight years have been sports tuned and medium to heavily modified. So I am fine with rattling and squeeking. And I completely okay with a bumpy ride and loud uncomfortable levels of noise. If I wanted to have a smooth quiet ride I would grab up a Lexus or used Bimmer. No hate or anything, just my opinion.

As for the alignment, I dont know what to say other than get it re-aligned again. It sucks, but trial and error is the only way anyone ever figures anything out. I switch back and forth between wheels on the weekly as is so my alignment is out of control until I can figure out what I want to do with it. But I know my car and I know my streets so I just expect it to vear right at certain times.

 

[El Speed3]

Thanks for your replies...

@palmyrasonlyMSP: yes, they are minor but Im still trying to fix them, if possible, I can live with them, but Ill try to fix them If I can.

@skatethesea: I know youre trying to be objective and not offensive. I too love sporty cars and have wasnt really looking to buy another car nor do I have a real problem with noises in them. I had a Mini Cooper S, which is by far one of the worse cars (in terms of rattles, harsh ride and such) for Mexican streets. I had it for 4 and a half years and not 1 single rattle haunted me every day. I take a point in avoiding bumps and/or potholes because I tend to take extremely well care of my cars. I just cant believe my MS3 is only 1 y/o and has so many rattles which, as I said, were caused by the dealers.

My main issue here are the dealers and their inability to repair the cars they themselves sell. Why? because I took my car in because of a rattle in my window (which I described in the OP) and the windshield cowl rattle. They replaced the motor in the window saying that was the problem, which didnt solve it. Then they said they were going to tighten everything, which again, didnt solve it. Finally, last time (a week ago) they replaced the window guide (literal translation as I dont really know the proper name in english) and again, it didnt do anything. Thanks to all of those interventions, I now have a rattle on my door (below the window switches, where it meets the dash) and a rattle on my instrument cluster. All of them caused by their inability to fix 2 noises which, if at the beggining of everything, they wouldve told me they couldnt be fixed, I wouldnt have done anything.

Anyways, I was trying to get some other opinions from M3's (and MS3's) owners about the rattles. Anyone else have them??

I found a DIY solution for the cowl rattle from the 1st gen Forums. Apparently a TSB was also issued which ultimately didnt solve the issue for everyone, and it seems the rattle came back after some time... Heres the latest fix I found and no negative comments were made about it:

I had this problem and was able to fix it. Most of you guys who bought your speed 3's in warmer weather are not aware of all the rattles that come out when it gets cooler. I bought my car last november and spent a lot of time trying to figure this out. It is the cowl that is rattling against the windshield and there is a very easy way to fix it. Get two plastic spackle knives and some very thick electrical tape. I can't remember what type I used but it was not very sticky and was much thicker than normal electrical tape, it also had a white backing on it. I got it at home depot. Take the screws out of either side of the cowl. You can remove the wipers as well to take off the entire cowl, but I found this was not necessary and it was two difficult to get the wiper arms off. Anyway cut a piece of the tape that is the same length as the entire cowl. Start by prying one end of the cowl up with one knife and pushing the tape under with the other, I found it was easier with the sticky side up. Do this across the entire cowl, it will get more difficult towards the middle because the wiper arms hold the cowl down. Once done put the screws back in and your good to go. You do not need to have any of the tape exposed so you can't even tell you modified it and the sound is gone. By the way the sound only gets worse as the weather gets colder, so take of this asap. I hope this helps, sorry I don't have any pics, but I am in Africa and won't be home until January.

As for the alignment, dealer says its made by a machine so very little to no margin of error is considered, they told me to check air pressure (which Im sure they changed because for some reason, the full-circle evaluation sheet stated they rechecked tire pressure to 32 psi's, which I know it has to be 35 for the fronts, 34 for the rears), restore it if its not in the required pressure and if it thats not the problem, or it doesnt fix it, that I should take the car to them.

If someone has the same problems, pleas chime in! And if anybody comes up with some fixes for anything here, please post them...

Thanks again!

 

[lynnriderm6]

i have the driver side window rattle to but only when its half way down...i just move the window up and down to get it to stop

 

[El Speed3]

@lynnriderm6 - sorry to hear that... Im glad im not alone in this even though I feel bad for you 2. Does that actually work?? mines worse than before now...

I checked (electronically) the tire pressure, turns out the dealers left them completely wrong... I cant believe them, going out of their shop and they cant leave them properly inflated. The car went in with 35 psi in the front, 34 at the back... It came out with the FL (Front Left) @33 and the FR @31. The RearL was @32 and RR @31. The car got a bit better, not pulling so hardly to the right but still has a little tendency... Ive checked over smooth and leveled surfaces so its not due to the road banking...

On a side note, the service guy that helps me said he would wax and detail the car FOC last time it was in... The service sheet said it was so, however, the paint is not shining, looks rather matte so now theyre just making stuff up... Shame on the dealers, 3rd Mazda weve bought from them in less than 2 years, I wouldve expected better...

 

[El Speed3]

Well, Im finally done...

I went in the morning to the dealer, had them realign the car, works fine now, same noises but well, it was already mentioned here, theyre not really major so, no worries, Ill just get used to them. Tried rolling the window up and down until it disappeared, sometimes it worked, some other times it didnt...

TBH, im just happy my frequent visits to the dealer are finally over, until my 2nd service, 7,500 kms to go...