New 06 GT 5-door with a few weird behaviors

[CajunGreek]

2.5 weeks ago I bought a 2006 Mazda3 s GT 5-door manual transmission. So far I love the car but have had a few small oddities. Dealer took care of my front brakes as they were grooving badly rather than wearing smoothly, etc.

Here's the one's I haven't had checked yet that I wanted to ask about first:

When moving along in any gear, if I simply pull my foot up off the gas to coast in gear I get about 2 seconds of smooth coasting and then get a sensation like I just tapped the brakes. The car starts slowing down more quickly and will even slow on a decent down-grade. Typical?

I also have a clunk in my rear that hits just after I come to a stop. This doesn't always happen and I assume it is a sticky rear pad, which I know was a TSB on 05's, but is not supposed to be a problem on an 06. Anyone else have this or have other ideas?

Finally, after it has been sitting for a few hours and I first start driving I get what I can only describe as a bubble effect in the engine and power to the pavement like the car is skipping a beat. It might happen once or twice and then it is fine until the car sits for a while again.

Thanks in advance for any help that can be offered?

 

[goldwing2000]

Brakes: The grooving actually goes away by itself after a few thousand miles. It's not a big deal.

Problem 1: Yes, typical. Has to do with the electronic throttle body not fully closing when you lift your foot, in an effort to smooth out power transitions.

Problem 2: Not too sure. You might want to check and see if there is anything in the cargo area under your rear deck. Sometimes they put the front license plate holder in there and it might be sliding back and forth. I keep a small fire extinguisher in mine and it rolls around constantly. If you don't find anything and you can replicate it fairly consistently, just take it back to the dealer and let them figure it out.

Problem 3: Also normal. Has to do with a temperature-sensitive butterfly valve in your intake system. When the engine is cold, it operates and you feel the surge at a certain RPM. Once the engine warms up, the butterfly no longer operates.

And lastly... Welcome to the board!

 

[BRUCE!]

CajunGreek
Potential Scammer! ;-)
Registered User

I haven't noticed any of these, but I only have 250 miles on the car so far.
2006 GT Hatch Copper Red Mica with a stick!

 

[goldwing2000]

CajunGreek
Potential Scammer!

Yeah, there's a glitch on the board that's labeling all new users with PS titles.
They're working on it.
I think.

 

[tsunami]

welcome to the boards... and do as the all mighty goldwing suggested ... (as he does know best)

 

[goldwing2000]

Oh, stop... you'll make me blush.

 

[tsunami]

Oh, stop... you'll make me blush.

now that i would like to see...

 

[CajunGreek]

Thank you very much!

Problem 3: Also normal. Has to do with a temperature-sensitive butterfly valve in your intake system. When the engine is cold, it operates and you feel the surge at a certain RPM. Once the engine warms up, the butterfly no longer operates.

And lastly... Welcome to the board!

Thank you goldwing and everyone else for the welcome! I'm glad to have found a Mazda 3 forum with good group of active people in it.

The "bubble" I'm getting is not a surge - its a power loss, but it is very quick. Hopefully still the same thing.

 

[goldwing2000]

The "bubble" I'm getting is not a surge - its a power loss, but it is very quick. Hopefully still the same thing.

More than likely, it is. Especially considering it goes away when warmed up.

It's been a while since I've had a stock intake on mine, so I don't remember exactly what it felt like back then. Now, it feels like a baby shot of nitrous of something. It's neat.

 

[CajunGreek]

CajunGreek
Potential Scammer! ;-)
Registered User

I haven't noticed any of these, but I only have 250 miles on the car so far.
2006 GT Hatch Copper Red Mica with a stick!

Yep. I'm scamming you guys by selling you my questions. That must be it!

I forgot to mention in my original post that mine is the Copper Red Mica as well! I originally really wanted the Strato Blue but could not find a manual transmission GT hatch in the northeast so I picked the Copper Red Mica as my second choice without having seen it on a car, only in the brochure and online. I'm very happy with what I got - I think I may like it better than the Strato Blue even!

Up here the popular color seems to be the silver. I've also seen a few winning blues and a velocity red. Yesterday I saw another copper red following me home from the grocery store. Damn - not so unique any more. Time to personalize a bit.

 

[WetsuitxNinja]

DEBADGE IT!!! as well as remove door moldings... IMO looks eleventy billion times better.

 

[CajunGreek]

DEBADGE IT!!! as well as remove door moldings... IMO looks eleventy billion times better.

Debadging is probable. I've always removed the badges from my cars. And I usually paint/modify the badges I like enough to keep.

I'll post some ideas/questions in the Appearance forum as I get more ideas in my head before deciding what all I'm going to do.

 

[CajunGreek]

Thank you goldwing and everyone else for the welcome! I'm glad to have found a Mazda 3 forum with good group of active people in it.

The "bubble" I'm getting is not a surge - its a power loss, but it is very quick. Hopefully still the same thing.

This issue has not gone away as the weather here in upstate NY has finally gotten to something that can be called warm. When first started after sitting for a little while I have essentially a stutter in the power band that smooths out as the motor warms up.

I've done the Throttle Body Ground to see if that helped and it did nothing for this behavior. I'm wondering about asking the dealer to check my EGR valve next time I'm in for an oil change.

I'm just wanting to be sure that it isn't just me being too picky if this is normal.

As I'm getting to spend more and more quality time with my 3, I'll hopefully be able to start answering questions soon instead of just asking them.

Thanks all.

 

[three]

My car does somethin like that except it happens mainly when i stab the gas from a dead stop or a slow roll then once i get past bout 3 1/2 or 4 grand bam....theres power again its confusing me.

 

[CajunGreek]

This issue has not gone away as the weather here in upstate NY has finally gotten to something that can be called warm. When first started after sitting for a little while I have essentially a stutter in the power band that smooths out as the motor warms up.

Well, in addition to Throttle Body Ground, I put in a K&N air filter to get a little more air into the motor. The cold stutter seemed to get worse. I'll be asking about it when the car goes in for its next oil change in about 1500 miles.

I'll post results for anyone else that has the same behavior.