suspension problem

RumcokeBoy · Sep 22, 2004

i live in new york city and my job requires me to drive a lot throughout the city. has anybody ever feel or encounter their rear suspension with a "click" sound and feels like it is bottom out when they went over a pot hole or manhole?

i brought my ride to the dealer a month ago for the same problem and they told me there is nothing wrong with the suspension. They retighten the bolts and lubricated the parts.....it was better until 2 dayz ago i started to hear that noise and feel like my springs are way too soft that it bottoms out.

anybody got any idea what the hell is going on?..thanks

Mikey444 · Sep 22, 2004

Well, you do live in New-york and you say you do a lot of driving, I do not recomend a Mazda 3 for doing a LOT of driving in New-york, too many potholes to F%$@* up your suspensin, alignement, rims, tires etc... The Mazda 3's suspension is very firm, so going over potholes with it is not a pleasurable experience.

ZippityZoomZoom · Sep 23, 2004

There is a TSB on the bottoming out sound for the Mazda3. Some piece of plastic may hit the tire/wheel when there is a load on/in the car. I don't have more info than that so a search may be needed.

Mazda3Zoomer · Sep 26, 2004

ZippityZoomZoom said:
There is a TSB on the bottoming out sound for the Mazda3. Some piece of plastic may hit the tire/wheel when there is a load on/in the car. I don't have more info than that so a search may be needed.

Anyone know about this TSB?

ive still been to lazy to get it fixed.

djltoronto · Sep 27, 2004

Mazda3Zoomer said:
Anyone know about this TSB?

ive still been to lazy to get it fixed.

I actually had this exact same problem.
took it to the dealer where they could not diagnose the problem.
Eventually fixed it with a freind of mine standing outside the car and watching as I drove over a moderate bump.

The problem was the smallest most simple thing.
On my car, the rear passenger side inner wheel well had a small peice of plastic that simple would rub on the tire when going over a large bump with a load in the car.

I trimmed the plastic with an exacto knife, and that was it!!

I just looked through all my pics and unfortunatly I don't have a picture that can show exactly where I trimmed the plastic.

If yuor problem is similar to mine, just look at the inner fender well (rear) just behind the tire, you should be able to see some minor "rub" marks.

hope that helps!!

ZippityZoomZoom · Sep 27, 2004

djltoronto said:
I just looked through all my pics and unfortunatly I don't have a picture that can show exactly where I trimmed the plastic.

If yuor problem is similar to mine, just look at the inner fender well (rear) just behind the tire, you should be able to see some minor "rub" marks.

hope that helps!!

That is what the TSB is all about. I wonder why the dealerships have their head up their collective asses about half the TSBs out there? I thought they shared a database.

dulog · Oct 4, 2004

This problem occured for me twice this past weekend when we had people riding in the backseat on the passenger side. The noise came from the rear passenger side wheel. Everyone including myself thought it sounded like bottoming out. I looked to see if I could see some astray piece of plastic in the wheel well but didn't see anything. Anyone know where we could get the information on the TSB?

goldwing2000 · Oct 4, 2004

Might be able to get them here:

http://web2.iadfw.net/theman/protegefaq/tsb/mazda3.html

wrightdl · Oct 4, 2004

rubbing

I noticed this as well on mine, I had two friends in the back and we went over a small bump and sure enough, It rubbed. I sure hope that it is just rubbing on plastic because I was going to get the lowering springs in hopes that the stiffer suspension would help. If anyone find any info please let me know.

Thanks,

RumcokeBoy · Oct 5, 2004

i brought in my Mazda3 to service yesterday for the suspension problem...and within 2 hours, the service manager called me and said nothing was wrong. i went on a test drive with a mechanic and of course nothing is wrong...i'm pretty sure that it only happens when the car is loaded with weight in the back. I also ask them to check out if they see any rubbing marks but they keep on saying there is nothing is wrong. I'm thinking of getting some new stiffer suspension, anybody has any suggestions?

dulog · Oct 5, 2004

RumcokeBoy said:
i brought in my Mazda3 to service yesterday for the suspension problem...and within 2 hours, the service manager called me and said nothing was wrong. i went on a test drive with a mechanic and of course nothing is wrong...i'm pretty sure that it only happens when the car is loaded with weight in the back. I also ask them to check out if they see any rubbing marks but they keep on saying there is nothing is wrong. I'm thinking of getting some new stiffer suspension, anybody has any suggestions?

Sorry no suggestions. I'm not sure if lowering springs would help or hurt this. Regardless, it doesn't seem right that we should have to buy anything to get this taken care of when our cars are under warranty.

This is messed up. It occured for me once when I was driving about 2 mph over a speed bump. Everyone in the car thought it was strange and was surprised that the car would sound like it just bottomed out. It occured another time when we were on a long wide freeway entrance ramp where there were a couple dips in the road. The dips were not all that substantial and we were driving about 50 which was the speed limit. Still, the car made this noise like it bottomed out a couple times in a row. It's kind of embarrasing when you're driving with your in-laws.

I think I'm going to try to see if I could find about 200 lbs of weight to put in that back corner and then take it in and go out on a drive with someone from the dealer and make sure they hear it. This is just wrong. We shouldn't have to hack away with anything with exacto knives either.

ZippityZoomZoom · Oct 5, 2004

Um, did you ask about the Technical Service Bulletin? (hi)

djltoronto · Oct 6, 2004

RumcokeBoy said:
i brought in my Mazda3 to service yesterday for the suspension problem...and within 2 hours, the service manager called me and said nothing was wrong. i went on a test drive with a mechanic and of course nothing is wrong...i'm pretty sure that it only happens when the car is loaded with weight in the back. I also ask them to check out if they see any rubbing marks but they keep on saying there is nothing is wrong. I'm thinking of getting some new stiffer suspension, anybody has any suggestions?

I will take a picture of exactly how I solved this problem on my car.
It is such a simple fix, but it was somewhat difficult to locate.

Will post pic when I get home!

djltoronto · Oct 6, 2004

djltoronto said:
I will take a picture of exactly how I solved this problem on my car.
It is such a simple fix, but it was somewhat difficult to locate.

Will post pic when I get home!

On the rear passenger side, the small flange of plastic is what was rubbing the tire only when loaded with a fair amount of weight in the back and over a large bump/pothole.

(Pics turned out fairly well considering they were taken in pitch black using only the flash!! (manual focus)).

dulog · Oct 6, 2004

djltoronto -- thanks very much for the help by posting those pics. When I get a chance I'm going to try this out. It's hard to imagine though that a piece of plastic in that location would cause that noise. I really hope this works.

wongpres · Oct 6, 2004

ZippityZoomZoom said:
Um, did you ask about the Technical Service Bulletin? (hi)

The TSB# is 0901804. Basically it's exactly as djltoronto describes (great illustrations by the way).

RumcokeBoy · Oct 7, 2004

thanks djltoronto....i did it on my car first thing this morning. easy to do, only took me 30 mins, hopefully it will get rid of the problem. (cool)

dulog · Oct 23, 2004

When I compare the two rear wheel wells on my car it looks like they forgot to put a plastic panel in the rear part of the drivers side wheel well that is in the passengers side wheel well. There is significantly more space in the drivers side wheel well than the passensgers side. WTF! Is this normal or did Mazda forget to put this piece on the other side?

djltoronto · Oct 23, 2004

dulog said:
When I compare the two rear wheel wells on my car it looks like they forgot to put a plastic panel in the rear part of the drivers side wheel well that is in the passengers side wheel well. There is significantly more space in the drivers side wheel well than the passensgers side. WTF! Is this normal or did Mazda forget to put this piece on the other side?

I can take some pics fo both sides of mine for you to compare.

Later tonight!!

djltoronto · Oct 24, 2004

dulog said:
When I compare the two rear wheel wells on my car it looks like they forgot to put a plastic panel in the rear part of the drivers side wheel well that is in the passengers side wheel well. There is significantly more space in the drivers side wheel well than the passensgers side. WTF! Is this normal or did Mazda forget to put this piece on the other side?

tried to take some pics but didn't turn out with anything useful.

But Here's what I saw..
the passenger side has a cover protecting the fuel filler piping, the drivers side does not have anything to cover so it is just open and seems larger!!
Your probably not missing any parts!!

suspension problem

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