What have you done to your Mazda5 today?

Got my best tank ever thanks to a slow and steady road trip this weekend: 33.2 mpg.
Frankly the 5 never impressed me on fuel economy. 33 is nothing to scoff at but here's a good run I got from my 2016 Pilot. That's 1000 lbs heavier with a 3.5L V6 and AWD. The computer has been shown to lie a bit but it's still an honest 30+.
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My front washer fluid stopped spraying over the weekend. The back sprayer works and the front wipers work, just no washer fluid in the front.

Everything I read says to take off the front bumper in order to service but I was able to get a good look at the reservoir by removing the passenger front fender liner. I'm getting 12V at the connector so I assume it's just the pump that's dead. It looks like I can just reach in from the wheel well and pop out the old pump but I'll report back afterwards.

And in case anyone is wondering, there are 2 pumps, the rear washer pump is closest to the wheel well and points towards the back of the car. The front washer pump is on the side of the tank and points towards the passenger side.
 
Ugh!

Thought I would finally get around to servicing my brakes today. Thought total cost would be $137 for the eight new pads I already bought from the dealer parts department plus $60 to $75 for turning rotors, and that the biggest time investment would be removing and cleaning the calipers and brakes, plus of course visiting the machine shop.

(yupnope)

Turned out the front rotors are permanently fused to the hubs. As in, laying the assembled spindles on the driveway and bashing with a 8# hammer accomplishes nothing. Living in Michigan, I thought I'd seen rusted rotors before on our old Cavalier, but those always came off with some Liquid Wrench and a deadblow mallet.

In addtion, it turns out changing hubs apparently requires a bearing press. Also turns out hub kits are $185 *each* at NAPA (where my local machine shop is located), though of course it's possible to go cheaper. Also learned that it takes a little attention to get a kit that also includes a bearing, a snap ring, and an axle nut. Actually found a pretty good deal at RockAuto, but I'm not keen on waiting till next Tuesday for my parts!

Sooooooo, now my entire spindles are in the trunk of the other car, waiting to go parts shopping tomorrow morning. I did find that a couple of local auto wreckers supposedly have good used hubs, and if they're still on spindles that could make this little job both easier and cheaper. Wreckers close at 5pm, so I'll call/visit tomorrow morning.


Oddly, Alldatadiy seems to contain mainly diagrams and torque specs. I wasn't able to locate step by step instructions like I was used to in the cheapie Haynes manuals I always had for all our cars in the past. Funky, and a bit disappointing.
 
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On the other hand, we don't have scorpions or giant cockroaches. :-D (though maybe that's more Arizona than California?)


A nearby yard has hubs and spindles, they'll sell me the package for $100 total. Score! Now I mostly just have to buy rotors and axle nuts new.



It's funny, I used to think my old Ford LTDs were a pain because the hub and brake rotor were all one piece, and was looking forward to this brake job because I could just remove the rotor (like I always could on our much older Cavalier ... at worst, took a little PB blaster and a light hammer smack and it was off)). Little did I know how convenient it was to replace the whole thing plus bearings for under $100 per side with brand new parts, and no press required!
 
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Changed my passenger side lower control arm. The old bolts didn't fit the Beck Arnley setup😡 you wouldn't believe how hard it is to locate class 10 bolts in the proper size. In stock! The easiest way when re-installing is to put the ball joint in last. You'll have to raise the engine to get the front pivot bolt out. Doing brakes and a boot tomorrow, then I can put my new shoes on.
 
Confirmed that both the front and rear washer fluid pumps are accessible from the passenger side wheel well after loosening up the fender liner. Replaced the front pump with Trico 11-612 part#. Seems to work even better than before.

Also replaced both front control arms and had to jack up the engine/transmission an inch to get the front pivot bolt out on each side.
edit: Adding that the reason I replaced the control arm is that one of the ball joints was a little loose but the whole car rides much more solid now.
 
Confirmed that both the front and rear washer fluid pumps are accessible from the passenger side wheel well after loosening up the fender liner. Replaced the front pump with Trico 11-612 part#. Seems to work even better than before.

Also replaced both front control arms and had to jack up the engine/transmission an inch to get the front pivot bolt out on each side.
edit: Adding that the reason I replaced the control arm is that one of the ball joints was a little loose but the whole car rides much more solid now.
At what mileage did you need these suspension repairs ?
 
158K miles
I would have replaced the control arms when I bought the car a year ago at 143K miles if I knew it would have made such a difference though.

Makes sense. My 12 is at 100k. I will be selling it at 150K. So just keeping an eye out on the issues, as I don't want to do the control arms. Thanks
 
158K miles
I would have replaced the control arms when I bought the car a year ago at 143K miles if I knew it would have made such a difference though.
What is this difference? Was the arm itself bent or were the bushings worn but cheaper to buy/replacement it as one shot deal?
 
No bends in the arm, the rubber must have been worn out even though it seemed solid enough whenever I would pry on the joints. I like to replace suspension in pairs so I just replaced both sides even though only one side had a loose ball joint. Now the car feels a little more solid, doesn't flex or rattle as much whenever going over bumps or pot holes.
 
Frankly the 5 never impressed me on fuel economy. 33 is nothing to scoff at but here's a good run I got from my 2016 Pilot. That's 1000 lbs heavier with a 3.5L V6 and AWD. The computer has been shown to lie a bit but it's still an honest 30+.
da1f0a94a2d079b17e253fe58ce60e2a.jpg

Well, yeah. The Honda has significantly newer technology and is a Honda. I would love to get a new 5 with a Skyactiv engine in it, updated styling and the usual improvements of new generations. Shame they killed it instead.

Also, changed the oil yesterday and sent a sample in to Blackstone labs to see how the engine is doing. 120k miles on the odometer. Will post results when I get them.
 
Really its the cylinder shutdown that's doing it. There isn't much mileage to be found these days with fuel injection and constant mixture corrections. Shutting down cylinders to make a 1.75L 3 cylinder will dramatically improve things as long as you are easy on it. I always felt that mileage suffered because it was underpowered and usually working hard. I also would have loved a Skyactiv D with AWD but it just wasn't in the cards.
Well, yeah. The Honda has significantly newer technology and is a Honda. I would love to get a new 5 with a Skyactiv engine in it, updated styling and the usual improvements of new generations. Shame they killed it instead.

Also, changed the oil yesterday and sent a sample in to Blackstone labs to see how the engine is doing. 120k miles on the odometer. Will post results when I get them.
 
Well, yeah. The Honda has significantly newer technology and is a Honda. I would love to get a new 5 with a Skyactiv engine in it, updated styling and the usual improvements of new generations. Shame they killed it instead.

Also, changed the oil yesterday and sent a sample in to Blackstone labs to see how the engine is doing. 120k miles on the odometer. Will post results when I get them.

Be interested to see your results, as we have been essentially neck and neck. I am at 101k now on my 12. Mine has had Mobil 0w-20 every 10k miles since new, when I got it. No oil burn, or any issues. I have 48k more miles to reach 150K, at which point it will go bye bye.
 
A mod video reminded me that my dealership wanted to replace my fuel filter at some insane price (about $200 IIRC - silly me didn't take a copy of the over $2000.00 in random bits they recommended that day). So far, I have not been able to discover that replacement fuel filters for my car even exist! What gives? Is the fuel system designed so that the pickup screen does all the filtering you need? (scratch)
 
Be interested to see your results, as we have been essentially neck and neck. I am at 101k now on my 12. Mine has had Mobil 0w-20 every 10k miles since new, when I got it. No oil burn, or any issues. I have 48k more miles to reach 150K, at which point it will go bye bye.

Got my results back. Oil looked great. There was an elevated level of silicon, but nothing concerning. The tech agreed with me that replacing the valve cover gasket is the likely cause. I ran 5,900 miles on this oil change. Blackstone suggested I could run 8,000 next time and see how it looks. Engine is in good health.
 
Got my results back. Oil looked great. There was an elevated level of silicon, but nothing concerning. The tech agreed with me that replacing the valve cover gasket is the likely cause. I ran 5,900 miles on this oil change. Blackstone suggested I could run 8,000 next time and see how it looks. Engine is in good health.
good to hear

I am sticking to my 10k changes :)
 
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