Mike's 2018 CX-9 Signature

[GTEyes]

Changed the oil over the weekend, at 96k kms now.


Today I cleaned the engine air filter (AEM Dryflow).

View attachment 321701
View attachment 321702
View attachment 321703


While waiting for the filter to dry, I decided to clean my nasty engine bay.

View attachment 321704
View attachment 321705
View attachment 321706

Much better!

Here's a quick video of me cleaning the engine bay:

Engine bay detail on 2018 Mazda CX-9

*** AUDIO WARNING *** At around 5:00, when I start using the blower to dry the engine bay, there is a high pitched noise that starts when the video is sped u...

youtu.be

Nothin' like a clean engine bay! Good job.

 

[Antoine]

Wow, what a difference…Looks great…Enjoyed the video as well!

 

[604Mazda]

Incredible! That engine bay looks like it's brand new once again. Great video!

Gotta ask, did you cover anything up in plastic or leave the engine running?

 

[sm1ke]

Incredible! That engine bay looks like it's brand new once again. Great video!

Gotta ask, did you cover anything up in plastic or leave the engine running?

So, the last time I did this, the car was off, with the engine warm, but not hot. I put a thick plastic bag over the battery, removed the engine cover, and covered some parts of the top of the engine and the alternator in aluminum foil. I had the OEM engine air filter installed at the time, so no need to cover anything up there. Cleaned the engine bay and then cleaned the battery carefully by hand at the very end. I only do an engine cleaning at the end of the day, or when I know the car can just sit for a while, just in case I happen to get water somewhere I shouldn't. Letting the car sit just allows the water to drain off and evaporate a bit, though I'm not really sure its necessary with how well sealed the majority of the engine electronics are.

This time, I disconnected the negative terminal on the battery, left the engine cover on, skipped the aluminum foil and removed the CorkSport air filter so I could clean it separately. Everything turned out fine, and I was done a little faster than usual.

 

[sm1ke]

A milestone..

I was driving to work, so I had my wife take the picture for me.

 

[JPL]

A milestone..

View attachment 322664

I was driving to work, so I had my wife take the picture for me.

Wouldn't you say kilometerstone?

 

[sm1ke]

Another oil change done at 102k. Winter wheels and tires swapped on a couple of weeks ago. First diff fluid changes and second ATF drain and fill are up next, but will be taken care of in the spring.

 

[Z31]

Another oil change done at 102k. Winter wheels and tires swapped on a couple of weeks ago. First diff fluid changes and second ATF drain and fill are up next, but will be taken care of in the spring.

Do you just do a single jug of the Kirkland? Do you find it's enough? I almost bought, but second guessed myself because of the 4.73L marking. I've been using the Supertech Synthetic, which I think is actually the same oil (Warren) because it says it's 5L.

I'm tempted to actually measure, wonder if there's actually an extra 1/4 litre in the Walmart oil..

 

[sm1ke]

Do you just do a single jug of the Kirkland? Do you find it's enough? I almost bought, but second guessed myself because of the 4.73L marking. I've been using the Supertech Synthetic, which I think is actually the same oil (Warren) because it says it's 5L.

I'm tempted to actually measure, wonder if there's actually an extra 1/4 litre in the Walmart oil..

As far as I know there is 4.73L per jug. They are sold as a package, with two jugs in a box. I think I bought this box on sale, at $40 CDN (regular price $50 per box). It's a much better deal for good 5W-30 oil than anything else I've come across locally. Before the Kirkland stuff, I used to fill with Pennzoil Ultra Platinum or Castrol Edge, and both were $35-38 per 5L jug when they were on sale.

I always bring two out in case one jug doesn't get the oil level where I want it.

 

[Z31]

As far as I know there is 4.73L per jug. They are sold as a package, with two jugs in a box. I think I bought this box on sale, at $40 CDN (regular price $50 per box). It's a much better deal for good 5W-30 oil than anything else I've come across locally. Before the Kirkland stuff, I used to fill with Pennzoil Ultra Platinum or Castrol Edge, and both were $35-38 per 5L jug when they were on sale.

I always bring two out in case one jug doesn't get the oil level where I want it.

The Supertech jugs are $27.88 CDN for 5.0L, so it's a tad more expensive.. The advantage though is not needing any extra.

$40 for the box is a steal though, especially if you have another car in the fleet that takes 5w30.

 

[Fawiek]

Another oil change done at 102k. Winter wheels and tires swapped on a couple of weeks ago. First diff fluid changes and second ATF drain and fill are up next, but will be taken care of in the spring.

Car sits nicely... You had suspension mods, yeah?

 

[sm1ke]

Car sits nicely... You had suspension mods, yeah?

Thanks! Yes it's on CorkSport springs. No other suspension mods at the moment.

 

[Silly Wabbit]

Did you get alignment done? How's the camber?

 

[sm1ke]

Did you get alignment done? How's the camber?

No alignment done after the spring install, which I should have done. I don't really have an excuse for it, I just kept putting it off. Camber seemed fine though, no abnormal or uneven wear to the tires during my periodic checks.

I've hit plenty of potholes since getting my summer wheels, and last month I finally hit one that prompted me to file a claim with my insurance to repair the wheels (two of the wheels bent at the lip slightly). I also developed a noticeable vibration/hum that starts at around 60 km/h and increases with speed. This started right after the hit to the pothole. I took it to my uncle to see what the problem could be, and he thinks that it's either the bent lip of the wheels, or it could be a wheel bearing, but there's almost no play. I swapped my winter wheels on and the vibrations are still there. The insurance inspector said that there doesn't appear to be any damaged suspension components, so they're just going to start with an alignment and go from there if the issue persists.

Guess I'm finally getting that alignment hahah

 

[sm1ke]

Alignment scheduled for Wednesday next week.

Brought my wheels home yesterday. Along with getting the bends and curb rash fixed, I got them to change up the finish a bit. Went from the original satin finish to a high-gloss bronze. Should make the wheels easier to clean.

Original finish. Pic from 2020ish, before all the damage.

New finish.

The lighting is different between the two pics, making the colours seem more different than they are. When the original wheels were wet, they looked very similar to the new finish.

 

[Silly Wabbit]

Gloss looks better

 

[sm1ke]

Gloss looks better

I think so too!

 

[Hhova29]

Wheels looking nice and fresh. Must be hard in your region with the weather to keep it clean. Thanks fully the car has you who keeps up with its maintenance etc. how has she been treating you since hitting 100k? I’m trying to preserve mine but as you saw this morning lol

 

[sm1ke]

Wheels looking nice and fresh. Must be hard in your region with the weather to keep it clean. Thanks fully the car has you who keeps up with its maintenance etc. how has she been treating you since hitting 100k? I’m trying to preserve mine but as you saw this morning lol

So far, so good! Don't sweat the battery, its a consumable and batteries in general don't seem to last as long as they used to for whatever reason. At least we're not forced into using a more expensive AGM battery, I've had to replace the AGM battery on my dad's 2018 Equinox twice already. For the cost of those two batteries, I could have bought a brand new battery for my CX-9 every winter since I got it! lol

 

[Hhova29]

Thanks. Found the oem battery for 199 which is cheapest oem I found. But I’m not sweating it now I know to at least start the car once a week. I hope you get another 100k plus miles out of her. I truly hope Mazdas hold running that long.
Keep on keeping her pretty.