What have you done to your Mazda5 today?

[Maikel]

Well, not just today..

Week ago i took my headlights apart and painted the crome housing dark grey.

After painting I left them to cure.
And today, after a week I went back to my garage and istalled those housings.
I did also made the headlights shiny again by sanding them and used headlight vapor kit.

I think that they came out really nice.
Overall looks of the Mazda 5 came little bit meaner.

 

[zedebra]

Well, not just today..

Week ago i took my headlights apart and painted the crome housing dark grey.
View attachment 342813
View attachment 342814

After painting I left them to cure.
And today, after a week I went back to my garage and istalled those housings.
I did also made the headlights shiny again by sanding them and used headlight vapor kit.
View attachment 342815
I think that they came out really nice.
Overall looks of the Mazda 5 came little bit meaner.
View attachment 342816

That looks amazing! I was contemplating taking apart mine to do something similar, but I have never taken apart a head light housing before. Maybe if I pick some spares housings at a junkyard I could get around to it. But I am curious what a headlight vapor kit entails. I sanded and used the Spraymaxx clear which worked well, but it is peeling on the edges, since I didnt remove the headlights from the car when spraying.

 

[zedebra]

I was checking my oil when pumping gas, and noticed a small hissing noise coming from my intake. Upon further inspection I noticed that the radiator hose underneath the intake had a small leak and the hissing noise was the steam from the coolant. Car wasn't overheating and was running as normal. But I did top it off later on that day when the car had cooled off sufficiently.

Ordered some hoses online through O'reilys, since they could get them next day in the morning.
Gate's Coolant Hose GAT 24549 - Upper Radiator to Engine
Gate's Coolant Hose GAT 25428 - Lower Radiator to Thermostat

The Upper Radiator Hose from Gate's was actually a millimeter or two thicker than the OEM, so when I tried reassembling it with the old hose clamps, I found it super tight just getting the clamp on to the hose, and when I did get it on the hose, when the hose was on the inlet, it was damn near impossible to get the clamp to go over the inlet. So I went to the parts store and bought some 1 1/4 - 1 3/4 clamps. Those did the trick and I just used a tiny hand ratchet with 9/16 socket to tighten them up.

The Lower Radiator Hose was so much simpler. The hose had the clamps already on the hose with some sort of adhesive. So all I had to do was just slip both ends on to their respective inlets and use the pliers to snap the clamps shut.

Then just put the intake/air box back on, got my funnel kit, and started topping off the radiator until I would stop seeing bubbles. Once it was full, I would fill the funnel up and then run the car as it would burp the rest of the system while getting up to operating temp. After 10-15 minutes I was seeing no more air bubbles. Shut the car off, let it cool down so the rest of the coolant in the funnel would recede once cooled. Follow with an additional top off and slapped on the cap.

 

[Maikel]

I managed to do little bit sound deadening.
I took the front seats off removed the carpet as much as possible.

The added as much I could 2mm butyl based deadening.

Forgot to take second picture when the passenger side was also done.

Made a little difference, not a luxury vehicle still..
But now on highway the noise "stage" feels little bit higher.
That the noise isn't coming so much underneath.

I think it was worth it, even tough most likely my kids won't notice anything.

 

[hleboklop]

Replaced the remaining mounts: transmission, rear and rear bracket.
It was moderately hard, and the results are noticeable.

Also, I got to say, it's very hard to assess the overall state of the mounts unless you're driving the car yourself. The wear is barely visible.

 

[dlarkin_dc]

I managed to do little bit sound deadening.
I took the front seats off removed the carpet as much as possible.
View attachment 342895

The added as much I could 2mm butyl based deadening.
View attachment 342896
Forgot to take second picture when the passenger side was also done.

Made a little difference, not a luxury vehicle still..
But now on highway the noise "stage" feels little bit higher.
That the noise isn't coming so much underneath.

I think it was worth it, even tough most likely my kids won't notice anything.

As long as you notice and enjoy it!

I was surprised how much difference all-weather floor mats made to the road noise. Definitly got me interested in going further with sound deadening until I fell down that rabbit hole - reading up, watching youtubers, looking into products... and eventually decides to just turn the stereo up.

5's side window glass is as cost effective as possisble. Getting a quality windows tint (Llumar) for the cooling (and cool look) cut the high frequency wind noise and cut reverb in the cabin too. Car audio forums will tear you a new one for saying this, but I measured before and after.

 

[Maikel]

Today was a polishing and waxing day.
Polished with DA with Sonax Perfect finish and used soft polishing pad.
After polish aplied Collinite 476s

And the end results:

 

[Silentnoise713]

^ Not a fan of black out headlights or dark/murdered out look (car looks more like the MPV) but that polishing job is fantastic!


Old car problems:
Forgot how much of a PITA FSB bushings are to replace. Fix clunk back in 2014 @78K with OEM. It's back after ~100K; left bushing came out in partial pieces (right is ok)... FWIW, OEM bushings are superior to aftermarket (duh ). The molding is accurate without excess and is impregned with a lining, which I think helps with rigidity and durability. I bought Moogs back in 2014 and didn't like them so opted for OEM. Car is old, I have these Moogs, clunk is gone.

FR strut bearing rubber failed for the 2nd time destroying the strut with it. In goes KYB EZ struts.

 

[theblooms]

^ Not a fan of black out headlights or dark/murdered out look (car looks more like the MPV) but that polishing job is fantastic!


Old car problems:
Forgot how much of a PITA FSB bushings are to replace. Fix clunk back in 2014 @78K with OEM. It's back after ~100K; left bushing came out in partial pieces (right is ok)... FWIW, OEM bushings are superior to aftermarket (duh ). The molding is accurate without excess and is impregned with a lining, which I think helps with rigidity and durability. I bought Moogs back in 2014 and didn't like them so opted for OEM. Car is old, I have these Moogs, clunk is gone.

FR strut bearing rubber failed for the 2nd time destroying the strut with it. In goes KYB EZ struts.

Anything Moog or Monroe makes for our cars is AWFUL. Simply avoid.

 

[MolarCraft]

Today was a polishing and waxing day.
Polished with DA with Sonax Perfect finish and used soft polishing pad.
After polish aplied Collinite 476s

That looks gorgeous! What's your wheel/tire setup?

I think I've finalized the ride height I'm going for and am trying to find an appropriate wheel and tire combo that sits flush against the wheel well while avoiding rubbing.

 

[dlarkin_dc]

Anything Moog or Monroe makes for our cars is AWFUL. Simply avoid.

Decades ago I had a relative that was a dealer for Monroe and would fix us up with anything but was very clear that he wouldn't ever use them in his car. The one time I did, I could barely notice the difference with the new shocks from the old leaking ones. That was a low saloon car, I can't imagine what the tall 5 would be like on those!

 

[Maikel]

That looks gorgeous! What's your wheel/tire setup?

I think I've finalized the ride height I'm going for and am trying to find an appropriate wheel and tire combo that sits flush against the wheel well while avoiding rubbing.

Thanks.

I have Mazda 6 rims, which are 19x7.5" and ET45.
Tyres are 235/35.

They are little bit taller than original 205/50/17 and I would have liked more 225/35/19, but those load index isn't high enough, so it would have failed inspection.

At my height rears will rub and I have rolled the fenders.
Front rubs inside to chassis if everything is turned.

 

[zoomies100]

Got some 18" rims!!!!

 

[MarioT]

Replaced this transmission oil pan before it decides to take a dump on me.
No, I don't park my M5 in the ocean, for those wondering... just need to live north of the border.
Also got a new filter & 4L of genuine "M5" ATF.

 

[theblooms]

Got some 18" rims!!!!
View attachment 343271

They look so good!
How's the ride?

 

[theblooms]

Replaced this transmission oil pan before it decides to take a dump on me.
No, I don't park my M5 in the ocean, for those wondering... just need to live north of the border.
Also got a new filter & 4L of genuine "M5" ATF.

Great catch!

 

[MolarCraft]

Thanks.

I have Mazda 6 rims, which are 19x7.5" and ET45.
Tyres are 235/35.

They are little bit taller than original 205/50/17 and I would have liked more 225/35/19, but those load index isn't high enough, so it would have failed inspection.

At my height rears will rub and I have rolled the fenders.
Front rubs inside to chassis if everything is turned.

That's pretty close to what I was going for. I've picked out 18x8.5 at ET37 on 225/40/18. Thinking I might have to settle for 8 width.

I wish I could test drive a few wheels to see what they look like. All the measuring in the world doesn't compare to seeing them on IRL.

 

[mfenberg]

New member here! I purchased my Mazda 5, new, back in July, 2006 and it's now a bit over 19 years old! I've done a fair amount of repairs by myself. What's made it easier to do is that I've had access to a lift! The first picture shows it on an old-style pneumatic lift at my girlfriend's parent's house in Pasadena, CA. The house was sold in 2018, so I lost the use of the lift! Fortunately, a good friend of mine installed a lift in his garage and I just used it a few days ago to do a simple oil change. The pictures are from a year ago when I converted the cartridge filter to a spin-on filter. I also replaced the door handle on the passenger side sliding door just last week. I wanted an OEM handle with my paint color. I got the last door handle in the US! What makes under-car repairs so much easier, is that I live in southern California and don't have to deal with rusted components that I typically see in many YouTube videos!

 

[Maikel]

I would guess this isn't big thing for you US guys, but for me it's big.

I changed left trunklid light today.

It's US-model reversing light.
Our light is reddish, because we have rear foglight there.
So my original was like this.

Now it looks much more balanced.
And I put red LED bulb in, so it still works as a rear foglight.

 

[zedebra]

Finally got the new bumper on and painted. About $800 for bumper and paint, then used the rest of the money on replacing the AC system.