IamFODI's 2012 Mazda5 6MT: Intro, plans, questions and build

Chatted with a shop yesterday about maybe doing some of the suspension work I still have to do. Wanted to bring them mostly Mazda OE parts and have them just do the install, if the price was right.

Dude went on a mini rant about the fact that they don't want to use customer-supplied parts because of concerns with quality, fitment, etc. And also because selling parts is part of how they make money. So I asked him what parts he'd use.

He said.... Moog. 😬

You must be me.

I took OEM TOYOTA rear shocks to Firestone (for my 4Runner). I brought them in tagged and bagged as TOYOTA parts with a receipt from the dealer.

Got the same bulls*** that they could be bad quality. I asked if they would source them from the dealer then...I could return what I had. I got a big "NO".

Apparently they make 35% off the cheap ass chinese parts they sell.

And Moog? No one buys Moog anymore. They were ok 30 years ago. Now they are worse than total trash. With OEM, you KNOW it works. It may still have some sort of design flaw...but you should still get mileage out of that part.
 
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You guys really hate Moog. But one can't argue against OEM if you can/want to spend that kind of money.

I just did brakes yesterday and had a good look at some of my suspension parts.

I recall the Moog front end links were made in Mexico (don’t knock Mexico!). The metal, welds, ball joint are still very good and stiff. 12” eye to eye, as OEM fit. The rear MS3 end links are also very beefy. My grip on those is the 1 of 2 balls were missing a zerk. I don’t recall where the outer tie rods were from but they seem to be holding up well. The LCA were labeled B&A (they only repackage and don’t manufacture), which I ‘think’ were Moog but I’m not 100% sure atm -they were Made in Taiwan. They look good, bushing look good, ball joints also look/feel good. Note, the passenger side ball joint did fail soon after my first install. 2nd is holding up (knock on wood).
I don’t remember where the outer tie rod is from but inner tie rod is Made in USA.


And while these are Made in China, the fit and finish of the rubber boot and plastic cap are top notch. I use this exact kit when I first install the brakes and given the even pad wear, safe to say the slider pins weren’t sticking to the boots in the 4yrs/40K mile usage (+3M silicone paste).

I hope folks don’t let one bad experience lead them to think the worst of everything bc every part will have a unique experience.

 
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I'd love to, but there are a lot of other priorities now and in the near future. This car is taking more than I had anticipated to bring it up to my standards, and I'm planning a nice but large project of maintenance and mild upgrades on the M3 next year.

We'll see. Maybe I'll blow the stock speakers and use that as an excuse. :ROFLMAO:
Ha. Well, turns out the front speakers are blown. :ROFLMAO: Not to the point that they're not useful, but... I've already decided I'm going to tear into the doors to lube the window mechanisms, so... while I'm in there and all... 😬

Gonna replace them with Infinity Kappa 683XFs. Picked those almost entirely on the basis of sensitivity (94 dB) and bass extension (40 Hz) for the price (<$200) because I don't have and am unlikely to install an amp or subwoofer. It's a coaxial speaker so I think I'll just weight-save the tweeters. Not ideal but should still be an upgrade. Guess we'll see.
 
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Holy smokes. The done and to-do lists for this car are long AF.

Done so far:
  • Rear view mirror
  • Remote batteries
  • CarPlay head unit
  • Passenger-side sun visor
  • Wiper blades (all)
  • MAF cleaned
  • Front ARB bushings
  • Front ARB end links
  • Front lower control arms
  • Spare tire retaining bolt (was missing)
  • Headlight housing restoration
  • Paint touch-up
  • Wash & wax
  • Windshield chip fill
  • Front brake pads
  • Weathertech floor mats
  • Stickers (pics to come)
  • Cabin air filters
  • Child car seats installed
  • Thorough interior cleaning
  • Shift knob insert
  • LED headlight bulbs
  • Transaxle fluid
  • Koni Special Actives
  • Strut mounts
  • Shock mounts
  • Rear bump stops
  • Antenna
  • Power steering fluid (partial replacement)
  • Rear tire leak plug
  • Spark plugs
  • Engine oil & filter
  • Engine air filter

And still to do:
  • Inner & outer tie rods
  • New 3-season tires on new wheels
  • Rear trailing arm bushings
  • All rear suspension arms
  • Serpentine belt
  • Idler pulleys & tensioner
  • Rear ARB end links
  • Rear ARB bushings
  • Fuel cap
  • Valve adjustment (maybe)
  • Valve cover gasket
  • All 3 powertrain mounts
  • Battery
  • Rear window motors
  • Lube all window tracks
  • Radar detector hardwire
  • Seat heaters
  • Front door speakers
  • Rear brake pads
  • Tint removal
  • AC recharge
  • Coolant flush
  • Brake & clutch fluid
  • HVAC blower (not urgent)
  • TB cleaning
  • Clutch master & slave cyls, maybe?

Woof.
 
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You guys really hate Moog. But one can't argue against OEM if you can/want to spend that kind of money.

I think this is because there are a lot of counterfeit MOOG parts on the market.
When I was shopping for suspension parts, I read many reviews mentioning "made in Mexico vs made in Germany", and "old design vs improved design", where the quality of the parts would differ wildly. For example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned).
Thoughts?
 
Those are the exact links I put on my MZ3. They were okay at best. The OEM ones absolutely are better quality though.
 
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I think this is because there are a lot of counterfeit MOOG parts on the market.
When I was shopping for suspension parts, I read many reviews mentioning "made in Mexico vs made in Germany", and "old design vs improved design", where the quality of the parts would differ wildly. For example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned).
Thoughts?
It's possible and BITOG has some details comparisons and is the better platform to discuss this, or start another thread so it doesn't clog up OP's thread. Keep in mind the difference between knock-off vs counterfeit vs low QC (more plant issue, contracts are finite, than country of origin).
https://www.suspension.com/blog/where-are-moog-parts-made/?sfw=pass1664119382


LOVE THIS. Add "Anti-theft" in there somewhere? A sticker that adds power (compared to auto equivalent). Do you also happen to have two little ones?? Works in some many ways!
 
LOVE THIS. Add "Anti-theft" in there somewhere? A sticker that adds power (compared to auto equivalent). Do you also happen to have two little ones?? Works in some many ways!
HA – never thought of it as being like a family sticker! That's amazing!
 
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Rear brake caliper pins. One is from my Mazda5; the other is from my M3. Can you tell which is which?

Appears to be the same part – except that the ones on my Mazda5 seemed to require an Allen wrench between 6mm and 7mm, and half of them were mangled pretty badly; I had to use a Torx bit (T50 I think) on a breaker bar to get them loose. Luckily I had a full (albeit used) set of spare pins from my M3, which take a 6mm Allen and haven't been horribly mistreated. Swapped them in with a set of brand new Volvo brake pads.

Bonus: the dust caps for the pins are also the same as on my M3. Also fortunate, because my Mazda5 was missing two of them.

Really liking the Volvo pads so far. Good pedal feel, right amount of initial bite for street use, plenty of reserve braking power when things get hairy. No idea about fade resistance, and hopefully it'll stay that way.



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Volvo fuel cap! 😬 PN is 31392044. Seems to fit perfectly, though the casing is much bigger than the stock one. Let's see if it triggers any codes...


Also did OE Mazda inner & outer tie rods, and rear anti-roll bar end links from TRW. Pretty easy job. Front alignment is obviously pretty badly off, but that'll be fixed soon....

...along with this crap:
7BFC2343-9E5B-41EA-A68D-2F62DE964AE5_1_102_o.jpeg

The tires, I mean. What's in the pic is what the car came with. I had intended to drive on them until it was time for winter tires, then ditch them when I swap winter tires onto the the stock wheels, and get new 3-season tires with new wheels next spring. I knew this tire would suck, but I figured I could just drive slower for a while and it'd be okay.

Holy crap was I wrong. Even with most of their tread remaining, these tires are a nightmare in the wet. Feels like driving on snow. Trouble accelerating uphill and braking downhill. Constant accidental wheelspin in second gear, and the occasional slip in third. Even just staying with the flow of traffic, it often takes real work to keep up with – or avoid rear-ending – the person in front.

So, yeah. New wheels, tires, and alignment this coming week. Not a moment too soon. Still a few days out, but I've never cared less about chewing up tires with a bad alignment.
 
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Rear brake caliper pins. One is from my Mazda5; the other is from my M3. Can you tell which is which?

Appears to be the same part – except that the ones on my Mazda5 seemed to require an Allen wrench between 6mm and 7mm, and half of them were mangled pretty badly; I had to use a Torx bit (T50 I think) on a breaker bar to get them loose. Luckily I had a full (albeit used) set of spare pins from my M3, which take a 6mm Allen and haven't been horribly mistreated. Swapped them in with a set of brand new Volvo brake pads.

Bonus: the dust caps for the pins are also the same as on my M3. Also fortunate, because my Mazda5 was missing two of them.

Really liking the Volvo pads so far. Good pedal feel, right amount of initial bite for street use, plenty of reserve braking power when things get hairy. No idea about fade resistance, and hopefully it'll stay that way.
I think left (elongated tip) is the Mazda. The pins are pretty universal. If you check out the Mz5 slider pins on Rockatuo, it'll show the full compatibility list -long list of manufacturers (not just models) use the same part. Considering ATE is the OEM brake supplier, I would suspect all of these cars also use same/similar ATE floating caliper setup.

I believe you buy the euro parts for warranty (y) but FYI OEM Mazda pads come in two flavors: cheap OEM 'value' pads (labeled as such on the box and, IIRC ATE pads and generally not very good) and expensive normal pads (not sure what they are called), which are actually Akebono pads.

View attachment 313529
Volvo fuel cap! 😬 PN is 31392044. Seems to fit perfectly, though the casing is much bigger than the stock one. Let's see if it triggers any codes...
Are you getting a DTC related to the fuel cap? If not, why replace it? Did you keep the tether and how does it hang when fueling?

Here's the Mz5. Best method is to cut the cord.
full
 
I think left (elongated tip) is the Mazda.
Actually that's the BMW one! The one on the right was off my 5.


The pins are pretty universal. If you check out the Mz5 slider pins on Rockatuo, it'll show the full compatibility list -long list of manufacturers (not just models) use the same part. Considering ATE is the OEM brake supplier, I would suspect all of these cars also use same/similar ATE floating caliper setup.
Yep. Ate, Ate, everywhere.


I believe you buy the euro parts for warranty (y)
Exactly. Otherwise, barring a rare aftermarket exception, it'd be all Mazda all the time.


Are you getting a DTC related to the fuel cap? If not, why replace it? Did you keep the tether and how does it hang when fueling?

Here's the Mz5. Best method is to cut the cord.
full
No code yet. Replaced because the tether was broken, cap seemed to be original and ragged, and... I kind of wanted to see if a Volvo cap would fit. :ROFLMAO:

Also sorta-kinda hoped it might help my intermittent warm-start issues (it didn't).
 
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Got an alignment today. Printout attached. Pretty okay with the results for now. Everything up front is new – struts, control arms, and tie rods – but everything out back is original AFAIK.

At some point I'll replace the rear LCAs, UCAs, and lateral arms, plus the rear trailing arm bushings. Anyone think I should get camber correction arms while I'm at it? I'd rather stick with OE-style to keep it simple, but I'm open to opinions.

Had this done at a Subaru dealership and got a '22 Outback as a loaner. Wife said she felt like a soccer mom in the Outback whereas she doesn't in the 5. Another win for the 5 – and for my taste in life partners. :cool:

In other news, looks like I've lost a bit of coolant. Can't see any steam from the tailpipes. Can't smell coolant. Oil on the dipstick and under the cap looks as it should. Could the heater core have developed an air bubble from years of non-use in TX or something, and I just flushed it out when I used the heat recently? Hoping it's either that or an external leak...
 

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I am following your efforts with great interest, as this is exactly what I did before.

If you suspect that you've got an air bubble in the cooling system, you can easily burp (and possibly flush) coolant with something like "EPAuto Spill Proof Radiator Coolant Filling Funnel Kit". This makes this job so much easier! Also, radiator cap part number is LFB7-15-205, just in case you want to replace it.

I was suspecting that I have a leak in the heater core - I couldn't find anything. I just gave up and drive around while the passenger leg panel is overheating. Feels nice during the winter. What about your panel next to the left leg of the passenger? Is it hot?

Rear LCA and UCA are easy jobs, I don't remember having any problem with that. Probably, a good idea would be to do a proper load when tightening the bolts, and not do this while the car is in the air.

Rear trailing arms and bushing - I just gave up. It's squeaking a little bit when I'm hauling an extra fat passenger over speedbumps sometimes, but this doesn't bother me as much.

Have you replaced the rear springs yet?
 
If you're going to do the rear LCA's, do the trailing arm bushings at same time that way you don't have to buy the special tool. But you will still need a press.
 
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