What have you done to your P5 today?

[tj4fa2003P5]

Tried to replace heater core hoses with new ones as one was leaking.
Results - FAIL

One of the heater core hoses plugs straight in and the other goes in at a 90 degree upward angle both into some mickey mouse plastic (not-so) quick disconnect connectors.

The 90 degree upward hose (now) has a broken piece of the plastic connector in it and I don't know how to get the plastic hose connectors off the heater core pipe. YouTube wasn't helpful.

-Questions - Is the heater core pipe on the left side as you are facing the firewall the input line?
- How do you get the plastic adapters free from the heater core pipes.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

 

[RPRP5]

Hello, been lurking here a while, living in South FL means no road salts but u have to garage or get a good cover, ordered this 03 new with tiptronic & no sunroof , it just turned 51k miles, only drive it once in a while to keep everything lubed great cars!

I'd buy it from you if I had the totally sane in this crazy car market amount of money that I'm sure that you would ask for it and if I had a place to store it. My New England P5 has paint fade up the wazoo, so I'm assuming it's lived under the sun all it's life. Or Mazda paint is just s*** quality. Either one works.

 

[pcb]

... Or Mazda paint is just s*** quality. Either one works.

Apparently, all the P5 paint colors were clear coated, except yellow for some reason ?
(maybe because yellow is a light color and is less inclined to fade ?)

 

[pcb]

-Questions - Is the heater core pipe on the left side as you are facing the firewall the input line?
- How do you get the plastic adapters free from the heater core pipes.

I've never dealt with my heater core.

This is all I've got for you.

I like how in this chart, the heater hose is listed as item #1, but there is no #1 in the diagram. Lol

Maybe follow the two heater hoses back towards the engine to see were they tie into the coolant system to try to find the fluid direction ?

 

[tj4fa2003P5]

Thanks PCB
- The hoses plug into two regular metal pipes on the side of the head above the transmission but difficult to get to because of the wire loom and how they're positioned.

- The 90 degree turn one on the firewall looks like the plastic connector end gave out inside the rubber hose. They want like $25- for the connector on eBay and about $16- for the straight one.

- I'll take a look now that it's daylight to see if there's somehow to get to them and report back.

-Worse case I'll bypass the heater core.

- My son will have it in Central Florida and if it ever snows there or ices up the windows, I'll tell him to run an extension cord out his apartment window and use a hair blower in the morning to warm up the car's interior.
(I've actually done that in my plug in DIY electric truck in NW Florida).

 

[E49PR5]

Apparently, all the P5 paint colors were clear coated, except yellow for some reason ?
(maybe because yellow is a light color and is less inclined to fade ?)

Explains why white rags always have a yellow tint after waxing it.
The sun and air contaminants are always attacking car paint especially here in the tropics, notice horizontal surfaces are the first to go, best defense is garage and car cover and waxing when it needs it.
The other trick is never wash a car in the evening then put it away wet, let the sun heat it up to evaporate water in the door panels etc or the water has more time to attack the metal folds.

 

[tj4fa2003P5]

Maybe follow the two heater hoses back towards the engine to see were they tie into the coolant system to try to find the fluid direction ?

-That's what I ended up doing when the sun came up.

-Last evening I cut the 90 degree fitting down to see if I could connect to a straighter version of it with a reciprocating saw.

-Angles were bad and sharp so that approach was not going to happen and called it a day.
-----

-This morning I attacked it with a dremel tool to cut the locking clip area away to see if I could pull it apart. It still resisted...but was not totally futile.

-Then I took a small screwdriver and long reach pliers to break away the exposed weakened plastic. It finally gave up and the inner cage separated.

-Now I was down to the straight metal pipe of the heater core and was able to connect the two heater core hoses with one to the existing plastic straight quick disconnect and the other to the heater core's metal pipe.

-I probably wouldn't have gotten to it at jackstand level except for the fact that I had so much suspension items removed made it possible for me to maneuver from below.

-I included some items that helped me work it this morning.
Some, especially (Harbor Freight) long reach pliers and dremel tool, should be in anyone's tool kit for doing hoses and other miscellaneous DIY stuff.
--My droplight is a hack I did to convert it to a reeled extension cord/droplight combination which comes in handy.

-Pictures are attached below FYI.

 

[pcb]

-That's what I ended up doing when the sun came up.

-Last evening I cut the 90 degree fitting down to see if I could connect to a straighter version of it with a reciprocating saw.

-Angles were bad and sharp so that approach was not going to happen and called it a day.
-----

-This morning I attacked it with a dremel tool to cut the locking clip area away to see if I could pull it apart. It still resisted...but was not totally futile.

-Then I took a small screwdriver and long reach pliers to break away the exposed weakened plastic. It finally gave up and the inner cage separated.

-Now I was down to the straight metal pipe of the heater core and was able to connect the two heater core hoses with one to the existing plastic straight quick disconnect and the other to the heater core's metal pipe.

-I probably wouldn't have gotten to it at jackstand level except for the fact that I had so much suspension items removed made it possible for me to maneuver from below.

-I included some items that helped me work it this morning.
Some, especially (Harbor Freight) long reach pliers and dremel tool, should be in anyone's tool kit for doing hoses and other miscellaneous DIY stuff.
--My droplight is a hack I did to convert it to a reeled extension cord/droplight combination which comes in handy.

-Pictures are attached below FYI.

You should consider replacing your fuel filter while you're all up in there...I wrote a thread about changing it.

Thread 'How To Change Your Fuel Filter (lots of pics)' https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/ind...ange-your-fuel-filter-lots-of-pics.123829616/

You should get a JIS screwdriver if you don't already have one.
All the screwheads on the car are JIS, not Philips.
A Philips screwdriver will strip the screw heads.

 

[LankyKiwi]

After a faffing around for a few months chasing a intermittent starting issue, replacing relays and starters several times, I think I've nailed the problem...

The key barrel is worn out, just turning the key doesn't quite get the contacts touching, but pushing up and turning works fine. Hopefully this is it!

Does anyone know if the switch gear at the back of the key barrel is swappable?

 

[BenjiHoggi]

After a faffing around for a few months chasing a intermittent starting issue, replacing relays and starters several times, I think I've nailed the problem...

The key barrel is worn out, just turning the key doesn't quite get the contacts touching, but pushing up and turning works fine. Hopefully this is it!

Does anyone know if the switch gear at the back of the key barrel is swappable?

+1. My key barrel is also finicky, not as much as yours though. Sometimes I have to rotate the key with some force at the end of it's initial turn to get it to actually crank, and It's probably only going to get worse.

 

[BenjiHoggi]

Here's some more info about it.


View attachment 299199


It needs two drive cycles to pop the code again, if your O2 heater is actually burned out, and it's an intermittent monitor, so it may take a while.


That code is WAY better to have than P0421.
That's the one that means your pre-cat is fried.

My CEL is now constant even after clearing the P0037. Any suggestions from anyone on a new downstream O2 sensor? I've seen the woes of PCB and people across the car community with cheap eBay sensors, so I know to avoid them.
OEM is ~$135 (FP50-18-861A-9U)
Bosch is ~$41 on RockAuto
Denso is ~$43 on Rockauto

I've heard good things about Denso (and they're a fav on RA), so I'll probably grab that one, but wanted to hear if there were any horror stories or anything like that before pulling the trigger.

 

[LankyKiwi]

Bosch wideband sensors have a bit of a reputation for burning out , I'd go Denso as a good compromise

I'm getting really tempted to put a push-button start in this thing, no more dodgy ignition switch!

 

[LankyKiwi]

We don't need no truck!
3.6M lengths of timber, one end on the dash, the other hanging out the back. Got a few funny looks but nothing fell off!

 

[pcb]

Does anyone know if the switch gear at the back of the key barrel is swappable?

Yes it is.
It's probably not your key barrel that is the problem, it's most likely the ignition switch.

That switch can be a real problem. The engine could shut off out of nowhere, if the contacts are worn out.
There's a dozen or so little switches inside the switch.

It's happened for others in the past, and its a safety issue.

 

[pcb]

The inspection of the switch can be misleading, because the little switches inside can have intermittent issues.

Any slop in the mechanism can create issues as the switch wears out.

 

[pcb]

The ignition lock cylinder is replaceable too, but it is probably not necessary.

The backside of the lock cylinder has a rectangular pin that plugs into the ignition switch.
If that rectangular connection is all worn out, it could put pressure on the new ignition switch and cause it to wear.

Check for slop on the rectangular connection, when you replace your ignition switch, and don't hang a bunch of heavy crap on your ignition key.
It can cause wear and movement on the keylock barrel.

 

[katapaltes]

That looks broken to me.



View attachment 299137



That ball joint is really important.
They don't measure it by how much slop/movement is in the ball, they measure it by how much torque it takes to rotate the ball.

And it's standing with the pin up, so any water/dirt sits right on top of the ball and works it's way in. It doesn't drain out.


Replacing the LCA's is a PITA, but I found this...



View attachment 299138
(Nice drawings Eh? They look just like my boots.
I think Mazda gave a grade 2 class free pizza and crayons to make all their diagrams. Lol)

You can still get a lot more life out of your ball joints if they are sealed.

If they wear out, your alignment will float around, wear out your tires and be unstable at speed.


You'll have to remove the ball joint pin from the knuckle and get an alignment afterwards to install them, but it's cheaper and easier than new LCA's.



PS..
The bolt through the knuckle needs to be completely removed. There is a grove around the ball joint pin that the bolt goes through to prevent the pin from slipping out of the knuckle.

My pins were seized in the knuckle. I hammered a chisel into the gap in the knuckle. Its halfway between the bolt head and the nut.
That spread open the knuckle to allow the pin to come out.

It looks like the ball joint boot on the passenger side is torn almost all the way around and the driver's side one has only a small split in the boot. The car drives well now with its new end links and I could probably get away just buying new ball joint boots, at least for a few years. But that will only be worth it if A) the ball joints themselves are still good and B) the other bushings are still good.

Trouble is, I can't see the condition of the bushings without removing the LCA. I took around ~30 photos trying to find a smoking gun (bad crack) that would simply point me towards total replacement and this is the best I got. I think it's enough to just replace the LCAs, and I'm looking at Beck Arnley at this point, hoping to get a good (repackaged) part. Has anyone had good/bad experience with their LCAs? I wouldn't mind spending a little more and getting some at the Proforged level of quality/price, but they don't make LCAs for our cars.

 

[pcb]

I replaced my LCA's with Beck Arnley LCA's.
They have been fine for years and come with a really heavy duty ball joint boot.

My problem was installing them.
There is a bolt that installs vertically through the one bushing, and I couldn't get it to line up without compressing the suspension by lifting it at the knuckle and loosening the bracket bolts a bit to give me some wobble room.

I put a pinch bar in between the LCA's and the knuckle, beside the ball joint and found movement in the ball joint, so I knew they had to be replaced.

The bushings were still in good enough shape. They are solid rubber (unlike the engine mounts) and didn't show and movement that I noticed.
I suppose the rubber bushings could weaken and get soft over time, but it was nothing that I could notice.

 

[BenjiHoggi]

Nooo not more codes.

Still need to replace the rear O2 sensor, but now I have a P0401 for insufficient EGR flow. Just glad it's not a bad pre-cat. I've seen this code before and it never came back. I've heard bad things about working on the EGR for these engines. I wonder what will happen if I clear the code and just ignore it

 

[LankyKiwi]

@pcb coming through with the information again! Thanks!