What have you done to your MS3 today?

Tires are set to arrive today. If they show up, I'll stay late a few minutes at the shop and install them tonight. Maaaaan, I can't wait.

Fog light bulbs are en route also.

Intake will be here Thursday or Friday.

Next mod will be a TIP, then RMM.

After that, it'll be fuel pump internals and AP.
 
Tires installed, fog lights have shown up and sway bar bushings are in the center console.

Unfortunately, the $60 I saved on mounting and balancing was negated by having to purchase a new TPMS sensor.
 
Well, intake was installed Friday evening- must say that I love being able to hear the spool of the turbo and the BPV vent. Still have yet to install the new rear sway bar bushings. I'm definitely going to be buying an upgraded rear sway bar.
 
Meanwhile I sit at 174,960 miles...
Mine was used as a commuter for a 210-mile daily round-trip drive... A 105-mile, one-way drive to work every day... Eff that.
 
Wow.. Really? No new posts in five days?!

I thought the MSP subforum was a ghost town...

I'll just keep posting, I suppose!

Didn't do anything to the MS3. I did lift and reinstall the ball joint to the knuckle in the P5 that's been sitting all jank for a few months this last Friday evening. Changed the oil and flushed the cooling system in the Accord yesterday. Was supposed to do a heater core in a Dakota and rear wheel bearings on a CLK, but I don't need the money and decided to spend a day to myself doing nothing. Really need to pick up another engine and transmission for the P5... Get that installed and sold... Need go-fast parts for the MS3! I'd like to just buy a Cobb staged kit, but I can save a substantial amount buying each part used individually. Definitely have decided to take the MS3 down that road...
 
After my debacle getting the new tires mounted and balanced last week, I finally took wheels/tires to the shop that does my light-duty alignments and had them rebalanced. Fantastic. It rides like a normal car. That's the extent of what I did to the MS3 yesterday.
 
Intermediate shaft has ~3/8" of in/out movement- how does this compare to anyone else? I ask because I get a slight shake/vibration in the steering wheel that I'm still chasing after. I checked everything out before installing the new tires because I didn't want to destroy a new set and the last set didn't exactly wear spectacularly, but everything is tight- control arm bushings, bearings, ball joints, tie rods. The shake occurs on throttle tip in, that if I maintain a certain RPM I can maintain the shake/vibration. If I accelerate or decelerate (engine brake) it'll disappear which is what lead me to look at the axles. The joints themselves are free of movement, but that intermediate shaft keeps nagging at me.

There's another sunlight silver MS3 at a shop near my moms house I saw a couple of weeks ago. His wheels and AP have come up for sale locally. He initially had it listed as a V3 for $500, so I figured I'd offer him $400, but the ad went down. Popped back up at $380. Was going to jump on it, then he changes the ad and it's now a V2... I'll give him no more than $300 and that's only because he's local. Seem fair?
 
My shake/vibration issue may have shown itself yesterday on my way home from work. Got on it on a long straight, had the radio loud, but heard, more felt, a "pop" from the front, left of the car. Turned the radio off and I've got a metallic pop from the left side on throttle, then again when I engine brake. Had to go pick up my daughter, so I took the Accord. Didn't want to drive the MS3 to work this morning, but seeing as how the P5 is missing it's drivetrain, I didn't have much of an option. No increased shaking or vibration, even went onto the highway with it. Noise can also be heard with suspension travel. I'll get it into the shop here in a few minutes, get it into the air and check it out.
 
My intake mount had come loose allowing the intake to hit the transmission case.

Vibration is still present under acceleration from 50ish+. This had disappeared once I had my tires rebalanced. Did a WOT run, heard the 'pop' and now:

On acceleration in 5th and 6th gears, haven't duplicated in lower gears.

On deceleration from 65-40mph with or without the clutch depressed.

Banking a left turn minimizes it, but still present.

Banking a right turn minimizes it, but not as much as to the left.

If the accelerator is released, the shake immediately stops.

Can only be felt in the steering, but resonates throughout the body.

Tie rods, ball joints, control arm bushings and bearings are tight, no play.

Rear engine mount is partially torn, but for the most part intact.

Both outer bearing gauges have minimal play, left side is worse.

Axles look to be OEM.

Intermediate shaft has ~3/8" side-to-side movement, but no up-and-down movement.

Brand new tires. Rebalanced and corrected the majority of my shake.

Two wheels are bent, but they are currently on the rear and both balanced out.

Passenger mount looks intact and free of damage (leaks).

Haven't checked the transmission mount yet.

Aftermarket replacement struts and shocks (15,000 miles) with OEM springs.
Not that anyone is going to read this, but if they do and have some suggestions...
 
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Transmission mount is intact.

Ordered a JBR rear mount.

Ordered new axles.

I believe the
 
Having a torn RMM could certainly be causing the noise... I would replace that ASAP.

Otherwise, I'd check the struts, strut mounts, and steering bearings. If they've been replaced there's a chance the install was bad.
 
Having a torn RMM could certainly be causing the noise... I would replace that ASAP.

Otherwise, I'd check the struts, strut mounts, and steering bearings. If they've been replaced there's a chance the install was bad.

Axles are here, mount is not. They'll be installed at the same time this weekend.


I've checked the entire steering and suspension system, front and rear, and nothing is improperly installed- first thought actually as the previous owner replaced them because of rear sway bar bushings noise which was still occurring when I purchased the car, but knew what it was on the initial road test. For that reason, I went over the front and rear struts and shocks with a fine-toothed comb along with the control arms/bushings/ball joints. I found that there were spring insulators on the front struts, but another user on MSF said that the MS3 did not have them from the factory and I checked the Mazda EPC and none are shown. Other than that, though, everything looks okay. I ordered the axles, but for some reason, I'm still doubting my diagnosis. Not sure why- everything says axles. We'll see.
 
Clutch pedal went to the floor this morning on start-up...

Guess I'll just add to the list of things I need to do and do them all at the same time. Kinda makes sense considering what the repairs are.

- Axles
- Transmission Fluid
- LCA bushings
 
I guess I only updated where I'm at with the shake on MSF-

Installed the rear mount, improved deceleration- 65-50 now as opposed to 65-40

No change with acceleration.

Rechecked everything, found a very small amount of hydraulic fluid leaking from the passenger mount, so replaced it. No change.
 
Axles installed, passenger mount installed, shake still present.
 
Just had my mechanic do the front and rear sway bar bushings and links, rear shock mounts, and the FOCUS-E rear engine mount.

Car drives like a dream again, all the clunks and rattles gone... next up are the tires.
 
LCA's corrected (98%) of my shake. Drivers side rear position bushing was the culprit. Decided to toss on aftermarket arms instead of the bushings. Will likely install the Whiteline bushings in the future. At least it had play whereas the others bushings did not. Still a slight shake, but at speed dependent, so I'm going to rebalance the tires. Glad to have it corrected.


Still going to install JBR TMM and PMM.
 
Tires have been rebalanced and it now rides as smooth as a baby's butt from 0-125. I'm convinced it's been corrected.
 
Going to possible pick up a Cobb SRI & TIP locally. He also has a forge BPV I might pick up as well. All depends on what I spend my money on next. Went shopping Friday and bought a carpet cleaner... A carpet cleaner.... And stuff for the girls. I want someone to buy me my toys!!!
 
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