Problems with the 5 now that it's gotten cold out.....

[Benfolio]

So disappointing. I frigging WORK here (Mazda dealer) and have never seen a 5 come in with any serious problem.
But I got two, possibly three.

At the end of summer on certain days over sharp bumps (like joints in the concrete roads) there would be a click or pop noise from the dash. Of course when i bring it in, it won't do it, and none of the roads down here are crappy enough. Now that it's gotten cold out (30 at night!), it's been doing it ALOT. Plus, it sounds like the windshield flexing. Eck. I know Mazda with thier windshield problems, but have never seen a 5 with one. Not to mention I heard the dreaded 'groink' noise from the front sway bar bushings ONCE. Not sure if I'll make an issue out of it.

Speaking of suspension, the front tires were cupping on the outside edges, and the steering wheel has been slightly off to the left since new. I'd hate to throw away my ONE free alignment so soon (7k miles), but now that I rotated the tires, if it starts to screw up the other two, it's gonna have to be done.

AND THEN, for two mornings straight last weekend when it was cold, the 5 would turn over, start up, and immediately stall (AT trans). WTF. This doesn't happen either.

Except to me.

Anyone else?

Someday when it's colder out I'll steal it from the wife and bring it down here. Just hate that it seems like we got a lemon. (bang)

 

[dommo_g]

Can I get more details about this "one free alignment"? I've never heard of it.

 

[opus]

I am starting to notice a grind/vibration in 3rd gear under hard acceleration when it is cold. It is intermittent, therefore I have not taken it in since we all know it won't do it when it is there.

 

[Tushawn]

I have dealt with the windshield/dash noise since last winter. Now that it is cold it is back. The 5 has never stalled on me, but I have had a few instances where it nearly stalled while I was driving on cold mornings. Everytime it happenend it was very cold, and I was a block away from my house. The engine loses power for a split second then comes back. The whole thing is kind of like when you "buck" a stick.
These things do happen, but I just have not had the time to bring it to my dealer (45 minutes away).

 

[jandree22]

I'm scared to ask what the "Mazda windshield" issue is.....

...but what is it?

 

[jackd]

IMO, it is not a ''windshield issue'' but a suspension issue.
The crunching noise comes from either from the sway bar bushings or the suspension arm bushing.
I reported the problem 3 times to the dealer last winter and I've got the same answer 3 times. i.e.:
(Mazda is aware of the problem and is working on a fix. We'll get back to you as soon as we hear from Mazda)
Now that the weater turns cooler, the same noise is back.
That, plus the cheap paint, plus the multitude rattles, plus a wheel alignment problem, plus freezing sliding doors in the winter time plus a multitude of other stupid problem no one seem to be able to fix, I've decided to dump the piece of crap. Car's for sale.

 

[jandree22]

I've decided to dump the piece of crap. Car's for sale.

Hmm... sorry you feel that way. Bye (hi)

 

[Tushawn]

Despite the issues the 5 has I still enjoy driving it. I belong to a carpool and ride in a new Honda CRV and that car has as many rattles, if not more than the 5. So you pay more for the honda get the rattles poor gas mileage and it handles like a pick up truck. I believe the mazda wins this round.

 

[doctorz]

No rattles on our 5 at all in 4 months and 7500 miles, and except for the weird won't go into full defrost issue, no issues when it was 30 degrees out. For you guys that have the rattles, were they around when new?

 

[jandree22]

Rattles are normal... unless you have the coin for a new Beemer or Audi. I know I don't.

 

[Zoom5Zoom]

IMO, it is not a ''windshield issue'' but a suspension issue.
The crunching noise comes from either from the sway bar bushings or the suspension arm bushing.
I reported the problem 3 times to the dealer last winter and I've got the same answer 3 times. i.e.:
(Mazda is aware of the problem and is working on a fix. We'll get back to you as soon as we hear from Mazda)
Now that the weater turns cooler, the same noise is back.
That, plus the cheap paint, plus the multitude rattles, plus a wheel alignment problem, plus freezing sliding doors in the winter time plus a multitude of other stupid problem no one seem to be able to fix, I've decided to dump the piece of crap. Car's for sale.

Don't let the door hit you on the way out!!(enguard)

 

[the_saint]

Does anybody know of a fix for the frozen slider latch issue?

Because you have no idea how embarrasing it is to have to stand outside your Mazda5 with a f-ing PROPANE TORCH trying to thaw the latch so you can close the damn door.
If I lived in sunny so-cal (or better yet, the island Borikn) I wouldn't mind. But since I'm stuck in the frozen winter wasteland that is Nebraska, frozen latches are completely UNACCEPTABLE.

I also have had the front end crunch return, now that the weather has gotten colder.

I have a few other minor gripes, and for the most part I love the car, but the latches are a death blow. If there is no fix for them I'm thinking I'll be forced to ditch the 5 too (pissed)

For the record, I can identify with jackd.

 

[Zoom5Zoom]

Does anybody know of a fix for the frozen slider latch issue?

Because you have no idea how embarrasing it is to have to stand outside your Mazda5 with a f-ing PROPANE TORCH trying to thaw the latch so you can close the damn door.
If I lived in sunny so-cal (or better yet, the island Borikn) I wouldn't mind. But since I'm stuck in the frozen winter wasteland that is Nebraska, frozen latches are completely UNACCEPTABLE.

I also have had the front end crunch return, now that the weather has gotten colder.

I have a few other minor gripes, and for the most part I love the car, but the latches are a death blow. If there is no fix for them I'm thinking I'll be forced to ditch the 5 too (pissed)

For the record, I can identify with jackd.

DID YOU SAY BECAUSE I

Well please dont mix up your emotions with this issue your showing some weak emotions

The fix for the canadian GS issues in the winter is to damn well install the latches like the GT that seem to prevent water ingress that caused the freezing.

Do not compare me to any experience you have had with the 5 as I have also. I take a positive approach and not s*** on the car like many web users cause you really don't know wtf to do.

Dont take it out on me please as I am one how trys to help...

 

[the_saint]

No I didn't direct my post at you...I am just speaking in general. Although, like jackd, I do find it to be a pretty big pain in the ass having the door latches freeze on me multiple times. I don't think that freezing door latches should have anything to do with anybody not knowing "wtf to do". Door latches shouldn't freeze like that, period. What's the point of owning a 4 door vehicle if you can't close the rear doors when the temp is below +15 degrees fahrenheit. Call me a picky mofo, but that's down and out unacceptable in my book. The car had not gotten wet, had not been washed, hadn't been through anything out of the ordinary as far as winter driving is concered. IMO it's just plain bad design and nothing more. And having the service writer at the dealership tell me there's nothing he can do because there's no service bulletin, but that he'd have a mechanic grease it....just doesn't cut it.

Rattles, squeaks, creaks, groans, even flaming exhaust....I can live with that. But if I have to wait around in a parking lot for 30+ minutes with the door open when it's -10 windchill, I'm going to park my foot in somebody's beeeeehind.

 

[Tushawn]

My latches were frozen one morning and although I am ok with it now, at the time I almost lost it. I do have to say that we had a heavy rain the night before and the temperatures dropped below freezing during the overnight hours. What I really need is a garage.

 

[TheMAN]

So disappointing. I frigging WORK here (Mazda dealer) and have never seen a 5 come in with any serious problem.
But I got two, possibly three.

At the end of summer on certain days over sharp bumps (like joints in the concrete roads) there would be a click or pop noise from the dash. Of course when i bring it in, it won't do it, and none of the roads down here are crappy enough. Now that it's gotten cold out (30 at night!), it's been doing it ALOT. Plus, it sounds like the windshield flexing. Eck. I know Mazda with thier windshield problems, but have never seen a 5 with one. Not to mention I heard the dreaded 'groink' noise from the front sway bar bushings ONCE. Not sure if I'll make an issue out of it.

Speaking of suspension, the front tires were cupping on the outside edges, and the steering wheel has been slightly off to the left since new. I'd hate to throw away my ONE free alignment so soon (7k miles), but now that I rotated the tires, if it starts to screw up the other two, it's gonna have to be done.

AND THEN, for two mornings straight last weekend when it was cold, the 5 would turn over, start up, and immediately stall (AT trans). WTF. This doesn't happen either.

Except to me.

Anyone else?

Someday when it's colder out I'll steal it from the wife and bring it down here. Just hate that it seems like we got a lemon. (bang)

you might as well get the alignment done now... adjustment warranty is ONLY 12 months or 10000 miles, whichever comes first

as for the popping noise, there has been issues with the mazda3s making that same noise... it's really annoying and sounds like it's coming from the corner of the windshield by the dash but at the same time it sounds like its from the outside, it's REALLY weird... cause of the problem is due to the cowl panel bolts not tight enough... when you open the hood, you'll see this big black piece of metal that runs at the top of the firewall under the plastic cowl/wipers.... there should be ONE bolt next to the strut tower, those have been the problem causer on the 3s, go ahead and LOOSEN the bolt first then retighten them... get them a tiny bit tighter than usual, but becareful not to break them! do that on both sides of the car

as for the stalling issue, the earlier 3s and the earlier 6s had known issues with cold weather cold start stalls, the fix to that was getting an ECU flash update... so far there hasn't been any reports of this on the 5s, but go ahead and get the ECU flashed anyway and see if it fixes it

really, I haven't heard of either of these problems with the 5s, but since the 5 has lots of similarities with the 3 (almost same engine, and same chassis), doing those things I've mentioned may fix your problems... go ahead and try these and go from there

 

[zr27]

My latches were frozen one morning and although I am ok with it now, at the time I almost lost it. I do have to say that we had a heavy rain the night before and the temperatures dropped below freezing during the overnight hours. What I really need is a garage.

Then you will have antennae scraping the garage door problems like I do!!! Just got my new 5 in my cleaned out standard size garage and have found that the long antennae the van comes with is too long and scrapes the garage door! So which is worse? Frozen doors or "Just take off your antennae, sir" (the reply I got from a Mazda tech at Mazda USA) when I complained about this problem. C'mon Mazda!!!!

 

[Zoom5Zoom]

Then you will have antennae scraping the garage door problems like I do!!! Just got my new 5 in my cleaned out standard size garage and have found that the long antennae the van comes with is too long and scrapes the garage door! So which is worse? Frozen doors or "Just take off your antennae, sir" (the reply I got from a Mazda tech at Mazda USA) when I complained about this problem. C'mon Mazda!!!!

CX7 antenna is a great replacement for your 5...maybe that is a solution

 

[TheMAN]

Then you will have antennae scraping the garage door problems like I do!!! Just got my new 5 in my cleaned out standard size garage and have found that the long antennae the van comes with is too long and scrapes the garage door! So which is worse? Frozen doors or "Just take off your antennae, sir" (the reply I got from a Mazda tech at Mazda USA) when I complained about this problem. C'mon Mazda!!!!

I don't know what "standard" is for you but the 5 fits my friend's garage just fine and the antenna is nowhere near the door

 

[Kansei]

^^ he got it swapped for free to a CX-7 antenna at the dealership, problem solved