Recent content by mtnbiker26

Awesome! I'm glad it helped someone.

It was years ago but I replaced my timing belt following this "how-to". I had the tools and the common sense but not the knowledge or the experience. It was the most complicated and challenging auto repair I had ever attempted so I relied heavily on the instructions and they were totally...

I'm glad it helped.

Yeah, I wish the S had sport suspension and 200HP instead of all the electronic stuff. I bought the 3i GT because the S wasn't worth the extra $2500 for toys. Sadly, it's just the direction that cars are headed in now. I need a low-roof hatchback to haul my outdoor gear, and I wanted sporty...

Same here. I bought my P5 brand new in 2003 and it's been a great car. Fairly easy to work on myself, very few stupid problems, lots of support on this forum, it works great for my outdoor lifestyle hauling bikes and sea kayaks on the roof. The road noise can be annoying on long trips but...

2016 Mazda 3 i Grand Touring Hatchback 6MT Meteor Mica Gray: $24,135 sticker price including destination charge $22,750 selling price -$1000 customer cash -$500 loyalty cash $21,250 final price $1,352 sales tax at 6.25% $389 document fee $135 government fee $23,126 out the door I secured my...

I've filled it to the "FULL" line a few times and the problem hasn't re-occurred. I waited until it was on on "E" and then put in 10 gallons rather than let the pump decide when it was full. I read somewhere else online that the charcoal canister near the tank (part #4 in the above diagram) has...

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind too.

Good timing. I'm pretty sure the catch tank is okay. I poured a ton of fuel out of it, visually inspected it, then plugged one port with my finger and blew into the other port and it seemed sealed. I was just googling around and discovered the function of the purge valve solenoid. The noise in...

I pulled off the catch tank and found that it had quite bit of liquid gas in it. I filled up two days ago and gave the pump handle an extra squeeze after the first click (which I never do) so maybe I pushed some gas past the charcoal canister and all the way up to the catch tank. The vacuum...

Coming home from work last night I let off the gas for a corner and felt the car buck a little. I thought my EGR valve might be stuck open again. Made it home and it stalled in the driveway. Started it back up and idle was pretty low and I could hear a very faint banging sound from the firewall...

Pep Boys and AutoZone don't have the greatest quality parts. I usually order from rockauto.com but that can be a pain if there is a core charge. You usually have to ship the part(s) back at your own expense to recover the core charge so you have calculate the $20 you're going to eat into the...

Sounds like alternator whine. It's usually easiest to just replace the whole alternator. Also, a bad ground in your audio system can cause whine to come through your speakers. It's not likely to occur in a factory audio system but it can happen when someone installs aftermarket stuff and makes...

My mom picked up her brand new CX-5 at the dealer yesterday and she mentioned to the sales guy that her son (me) wants a 3 but won't buy it because of the way the infotainment unit sits on top of the dash. He told her that a lot of people have complained about it so the 2017 will have an in-dash...

I bought mine new in 2003 and it's been a great vehicle for me. It's fun to drive and the hatchback (with a Thule roof rack) form factor has worked well for transporting bikes, sea kayaks, lumber, ladders, tools, furniture, dogs etc at least once a week. I always did the maintenance myself on...