Suspensioin noise...now I know what all the fuss it about....

[dan4behr]

Hey everyone. For the longest time, I'd read the various rants from owners about the suspension noises eminating from the 5.

I guess due to living in relatively temperate North Carolina and the benefits of a comfy garage during the night, I never experienced the issue in 2.5 years of owning a 5!

That changed the past two mornings! I've been doing a bit of garage organizing and left the 5 out in the elements the past two night. The temps got down to around 20F/-6C. GRRRAUNNCH...ROWRRRNKKK...WHRUMPP!

It went away after about a mile ... about few minutes of regular driving.

Now I know what all the Canadians and folks up in the northern US are talking about.

My 2007 5 Touring has 38,000miles so I'm done with warranty (I've had no issues with my 5 other than routine maintenance and replacing tires so far...(wiggle))
but I'm wondering if this is the only time I've experienced this, should I just not worry about it? It's just a cold bushing issue right, and not anything to be too concerned about? If it does need repair, do I have any hope of getting any extended coverage from Mazda or am I SOL'd?(nailbyt)

 

[dan4behr]

Oops...sorry for the typo in the heading of this thread. It really should've read "Suspension noise...now I know what all the fuss is about..."
Damn clumsy fingers, lolz

 

[AIMWO4]

There is a TSB on it. Just print it out, and take it to the dealership if your car is making the noise. They will NOT fix it, unless they can verify it. If it doesn't make the noise, then I suggest you get some of the grease, and DIY (TSB has instructions). I doubt the issue will hear it unless it gets cold again.

 

[OldDave]

There is a TSB on it. Just print it out ...

A list of TSBs may be found here, courtesy of Finish Line Performance. A PDF of the TSB you're probably interested in may be found here.

 

[doctorz]

I'd have dealer check it out anyway. When we lived in Maryland our car (a later '06) only squeaked at 15 degrees and under. It was largely noiseless until left rear shock started rattling. In the process of tracking that down (the shock wasn't leaking, so it took three visits) our dealer in Arkansas ended up replacing all the stabilizer bar bushings. The steering was tighter and the car just drove a lot better.

The car had about 38K at the time and because we have an '06 it was still under warranty. I suppose there's always a chance that if you faithfully had your dealer service the car, Mazda might cover some/part of the bushings if they need replacing even if you're slightly out of warranty.

 

[AIMWO4]

Just got the rear end suspension bushings replaced yesterday... (rockon)

 

[kmaz5]

Mazda5 suspension noise, 2008 model

OldDave, thanks for the TSB link. Interesting that it implies problems ended with 2007 models -- same thing has gradually crept up on our 2008 model over past several months. I can rule out cold weather, as we live in Hawaii.

 

[Cinque]

I own a 2006 5 and it looks like I'll have to change the stabilizer bushings (rear) for the third time. Got 66,000 Km.

Dealer technician told me last time that it's a known issue with no solution. Most prominent in colder climates (like Quebec).

Original bushings were slick and newer ones are apparently slitted but they don't do much.

Until the next squeaky episode... I didn't expect to be driving a delivery van.

 

[skyhawk]

After the warranty, I'm prepared to treat it as part of 'winterizing the car'. It should not be difficult to loosen those clamps and force/squeeze-in the right lubricant between the rubber bushing and the stabilizer bar.

It is the 2nd winter of the rubber bushing. So far, I have not had the squeaky episode yet. I will continue to monitor the MTBS (Mean time between squeak) episodes. Assuming all parts are the same, the question is why does it reappear too soon in other mazda5's?

The variables I can think of has to be the quality of work in applying the TSB,
Or it could also be the milleage of the car in-between-squeaky episodes.

 

[ljmattox]

re: a winterizing step, that's sorta what I was thinking this has come to also...folks experiencing this would just adopt servicing these bushings as part of a xxxx mile/km maintenance schedule.

I'm old enough to remember when oil changes were "oil & lube" and the service guys would hit all the fittings as well. Yeah, I'm old.

Would an enterprising person try to drill/tap a zerk fitting into the bushing holder/housing/clamp, and drill/melt/make a passageway through the bushing itself so you could grease this without disassembly? Too old school? Who still has a white lithium cartridge grease gun?

p.s. Anyone besides me ever doused mid-60's Falcon and Mustang control arm and swaybar bushings with RuGlyde to get rid of that incessant squeaking "back in the day"?

 

[erik111]

re: a winterizing step, that's sorta what I was thinking this has come to also...folks experiencing this would just adopt servicing these bushings as part of a xxxx mile/km maintenance schedule.

I'm old enough to remember when oil changes were "oil & lube" and the service guys would hit all the fittings as well. Yeah, I'm old.

Would an enterprising person try to drill/tap a zerk fitting into the bushing holder/housing/clamp, and drill/melt/make a passageway through the bushing itself so you could grease this without disassembly? Too old school? Who still has a white lithium cartridge grease gun?

p.s. Anyone besides me ever doused mid-60's Falcon and Mustang control arm and swaybar bushings with RuGlyde to get rid of that incessant squeaking "back in the day"?

I was looking at Energy greasable bushings that advance auto parts sells. According to the Advance auto site we just need to know the diameter of the sway bar to get the right ones. They are $18 or 20 a set depending on size.
Anyone think these will work?http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/PartSearchCmd?storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&pageId=partTypeList&suggestion=&searchTerm=bushing

 

[Robotazky]

I don't see why those would not work. They have slots so that different bolt hole locations will work with them. Very interesting. Thanks for the post. I may try those if I start having problems.

 

[Robotazky]

Does anyone know what the official torque spec is for the sway bar bushing bolts? I want to lube mine, but I'm not doing it until I know what Mazda says the torque is supposed to be.

 

[Tsuru]

According to the TSB (which can be found somewhere else in this forum, I'm to lazy to find it right now) 29.8 to 39.7 ft-lbs for the rear bushings. The front has the same spec for the brackets and the larger bolts on the transverse member but the smaller bolt is 79-95 in-lbs

 

[Robotazky]

According to the TSB (which can be found somewhere else in this forum, I'm to lazy to find it right now) 29.8 to 39.7 ft-lbs for the rear bushings. The front has the same spec for the brackets and the larger bolts on the transverse member but the smaller bolt is 79-95 in-lbs

Thanks. I saw someone say 30-40 ft-lbs, but thought that was a little weird considering 40 ft-lbs is 33% tighter than 30 ft-lbs.

 

[AIMWO4]

Look at post #4.

 

[Robotazky]

Lubed my back sway bar bushings tonight with Valvoline Syn Power full synthetic grease. Will do the front ones and the back ones on my Focus tomorrow night. Anyone notice the FoMoCo parts all over the rear suspension? I noticed the dipstick even says FoMoCo.

 

[AIMWO4]

Amazing! At least they were put on in Japan. FoMoCo had to put their name on something! (argh)

Lubed my back sway bar bushings tonight with Valvoline Syn Power full synthetic grease. Will do the front ones and the back ones on my Focus tomorrow night. Anyone notice the FoMoCo parts all over the rear suspension? I noticed the dipstick even says FoMoCo.

 

[AIMWO4]

I would think if my repairs don't hold, I can do some greasing on my own. (cabpatch)

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123770069

Hey everyone. For the longest time, I'd read the various rants from owners about the suspension noises eminating from the 5.

I guess due to living in relatively temperate North Carolina and the benefits of a comfy garage during the night, I never experienced the issue in 2.5 years of owning a 5!

That changed the past two mornings! I've been doing a bit of garage organizing and left the 5 out in the elements the past two night. The temps got down to around 20F/-6C. GRRRAUNNCH...ROWRRRNKKK...WHRUMPP!

It went away after about a mile ... about few minutes of regular driving.

Now I know what all the Canadians and folks up in the northern US are talking about.

My 2007 5 Touring has 38,000miles so I'm done with warranty (I've had no issues with my 5 other than routine maintenance and replacing tires so far...(wiggle))
but I'm wondering if this is the only time I've experienced this, should I just not worry about it? It's just a cold bushing issue right, and not anything to be too concerned about? If it does need repair, do I have any hope of getting any extended coverage from Mazda or am I SOL'd?(nailbyt)