2007 Mazda5...New Owner...Have some problems

drewbert41

Member
:
2007 Mazda 5
Hey guys,

I am the new owner of a 2007 Mazda 5 with 48,000 miles. I purchased the car for a little over $6,000 so I felt like it was a steal.

As soon as I got it I had to replace the thermostat. The dealer paid for it so that was nice. I took the car in for a suspension inspection and they said that the under body is super rusted. They also said my lower ball joints were dangerously loose. I had them put on new lower control arms and ball joints for around $300.

1. I have a loud clunky noise when going over small bumps. The dealer replaced the shocks and struts before i bought it. After poking around I have determined that it must be the sway bar bushings. I took it to the shop and they say it is a 3 hour job and they have to remove the sub-frame. So around $300. This is a shop that I have trusted over the years and they are pretty cool. However, I have seen someone do it on YouTube by feel with hand tools... Anyways, this is not a safety issue just annoying.

2. I had them rotate my tires and they noticed that 3 of my rims are bent! One is bent so bad that it will not even balance... This is ridiculous. Luckily I hear that the Mazda 5 uses the same bolt pattern as a lot of other Mazda's.

3. My biggest frustration: All of the sudden my passenger side floor board started getting wet. I suspected that the evap drain was clogged. I took it to the shop and they blew out the evap drain and said it was clear. I feel like this is happening when I run the defrost. It is definitely water and not coolant. The inside of my windows are frosting because of the dampness of the interior. The dealer said they can tear into the dash and try to find the issue $$$. They also said that it could be the sunroof drains that come down through the A pillar. I have searched and have not seen anyone with this issue. I really want to get this water fixed. I may need to pull the splash guard and look for cracks in the seams..

So yeah, bought a 2007 Mazda 5 with less miles than my damn 2015 Rav4 and have had nothing but problems. Any advice is appreciated!
 
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For the sunroof drains, check under the car and you should see the rubber hoses running down. Try blowing air through them at like a gas station if you don't have a large air supply pump and have another person listening at the sunfoor entrace and see if air comes out.
Try all 4. Two front an two back.
Last year friend and I spent 2-3 hours tracing the water in a car.... took parts of the interior trim on dorrs and lowered the headliner and I was locked in a car while friend used a hose to wet parts of the exterior till I saw water coming in.
Your can sounds like too low of a milage so if it was sitting around lots outside s*** can happen. You can get spiders buldiugn nest in the tubes and pluggin them, debried build up.
Millage is not the only thing that kills the car, age does it too.
Clunk at the back could also be struts mounts. Just because the car has new struts, does not meat they also replaced the mounts.
 
Sounds like you need sway bar bushings....

Sorry to hear you got a rusty wagon... I bought a 16k mile 92 Miata from Chicago once off of Ebay.... NEVER AGAIN! While the topside looked great, the bottomside looked as if it has been submerged in the ocean for decades.

Sounds like you need to clean out the AC condensation drain better.
 
Sway bar bushings are possible without removing subframe just a pain. It took approx 2.5 hours to replace mine by feel and my hands were hurting for a day afterwards. It's really the drivers side that is a pain, the passenger is reachable from the wheel well with an extension and swivel. You should replace the rears too, much easier.
 
1. Definitely Sway Bar Bushings. Very typical for this car. It's an easy, quick fix for any shop, front is a PIA for the DIY'r. Tell the shop not to drop the whole subframe and just use extensions and swivels... tell them this sub says so... will keep the labour bill down.

2. Bent rims can generally be fixed for much cheaper than new or used can be purchased. I had two fixed after a nasty meeting with a huge pothole. Think is was around $100 a rim. This is purely a luck/unlucky issue that can happen to any car with 17" rims and somewhat lower profile tyres.

3. Sorry can't help you there, that's a weird one. But, my best guess is since your undercarriage is rusty... I'll bet it's actually water spraying up through rusted holes/cracks in the passenger footwell. Have seen a couple other 5's with this issue but on the driver's side. Various options to patch something like that up.

Just a note: 2007 vs 2015. Even with less miles, that's still an 8 year older car!! An 8 year older vehicle will generally always have more issues unless it's almost never been driven. A thermostat is generally considered a wear item in that age of car. Strange that you took it for a suspension inspection after you bought it?? Any 11 year old car should definitely be inspected by a reputable 3rd party before purchase... sorry to point this out, but for anyone buying a used car, this is used car buying rule #1... no matter what the dealer has to say or "show you". Ball joints do tend to go early on this car as well (if 11 years is early?), had them replaced on my 2007 in 2015... but again would have been found by an pre-sale inspection.

Anyway, once you get all that sorted... you seem to have found pretty much all of the Mazda5's issues that most owners experience... I's say you should be good going forward. Just keep an eye on that rust.
 
1. Definitely Sway Bar Bushings. Very typical for this car. It's an easy, quick fix for any shop, front is a PIA for the DIY'r. Tell the shop not to drop the whole subframe and just use extensions and swivels... tell them this sub says so... will keep the labour bill down.

2. Bent rims can generally be fixed for much cheaper than new or used can be purchased. I had two fixed after a nasty meeting with a huge pothole. Think is was around $100 a rim. This is purely a luck/unlucky issue that can happen to any car with 17" rims and somewhat lower profile tyres.

3. Sorry can't help you there, that's a weird one. But, my best guess is since your undercarriage is rusty... I'll bet it's actually water spraying up through rusted holes/cracks in the passenger footwell. Have seen a couple other 5's with this issue but on the driver's side. Various options to patch something like that up.

Just a note: 2007 vs 2015. Even with less miles, that's still an 8 year older car!! An 8 year older vehicle will generally always have more issues unless it's almost never been driven. A thermostat is generally considered a wear item in that age of car. Strange that you took it for a suspension inspection after you bought it?? Any 11 year old car should definitely be inspected by a reputable 3rd party before purchase... sorry to point this out, but for anyone buying a used car, this is used car buying rule #1... no matter what the dealer has to say or "show you". Ball joints do tend to go early on this car as well (if 11 years is early?), had them replaced on my 2007 in 2015... but again would have been found by an pre-sale inspection.

Anyway, once you get all that sorted... you seem to have found pretty much all of the Mazda5's issues that most owners experience... I's say you should be good going forward. Just keep an eye on that rust.

Thanks for your response, it is really appreciated. I was venting a little because I am sick of used cars! That said we really like the Mazda 5. Just have to get this damn leak fixed. I have a bucket of damprid in the floorboard. It happens when it is parked so it seems to me like it is either windshield, cowl, or sunroof drains.. As soon as it warms up I am going to have a buddy spray the hose at it while I lay in the floorboard.
 
From what I've read, front and rear clunking is more sway bar end links than the bushings themselves. Both front and rear links are easily changed by a DIY'er. I just got an '09 and did them myself due to similar noises, noises now gone. Watch a few videos and give it a try.
 
I was concerned about blowing a tire and hated the ride quality on my bent rims with 205\50\r17s.

I followed the lead of some people on this board and purchased some Mazdaspeed6 1st Gen rims off of Ebay for $360 shipped. I bought a set of 225\45R18 tires like someone else had on the board.

Overall I am very impressed. Sits a little higher which is nice, it also rides so much smoother. When I hit bumps there is not nearly as much noises going on with suspension as before. No more clunking. Used to ride like a log wagon. Pretty excited about this car now. Now that it is nice out I need to spray the hose on it and find where the rain is leaking in the floorboard. It is like a whole new car!

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The water on the floorboard, it doesn't smell like antifreeze, right? (heater core if it does)

And keep an eye on the wear on the tires. If you notice the insides of the rear wearing too quickly, you can switch out the rear upper control arm, the ones I got were $80 each plus labor, plus an alignment (if you're doing this replace the rear shocks / shock mounts at the same time).

Here's a thread talking about how to get rid of the rear wheel camber:

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123740821-Rear-Wheel-Camber-is-Eating-Tires
 
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The water on the floorboard, it doesn't smell like antifreeze, right? (heater core if it does)

And keep an eye on the wear on the tires. If you notice the insides of the rear wearing too quickly, you can switch out the rear upper control arm, the ones I got were $80 each plus labor, plus an alignment (if you're doing this replace the rear shocks / shock mounts at the same time).

Here's a thread talking about how to get rid of the rear wheel camber:

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123740821-Rear-Wheel-Camber-is-Eating-Tires

Nope, it is definitely rain water.

The new tires vibrate the steering wheel at 65mph. I had the tires re balanced and it was still s***. I had them re balanced again at a real shop and they said they were out quite a bit. There is still a little steering wheel shake. The shop blames it on the Chinese Wal-mart tires that I put on it. I just spent $1,000 on tires and brakes for my other vehicle so I saved some money on this one. After buying the new rims I just wanted to get them on instead of saving for awhile. The ride is so much smoother now that I am not on bent rims.
 
Well, the ole weedeater string down the sunroof drain worked. No more water leak!

The next day my rear shock snapped off at the top mount. Always something.

I pulled back the carpet and vaccuumed up what little mildew there was and let it dry for a few days before putting it back. So glad to have the water issue resolved.
 
Those rear shock mounts must be made of glass. Same thing happened to mine a few months ago. Luckily it's a very easy fix to DIY.
 
Shocks are fixed.

Taking on an insane amount of water right now. Looks like from behind the dash above the glovebox somewhere.

Are there any cowl drains I should try and unclogg? Anyone have a screenshot of the manual?
 
From what I've read, front and rear clunking is more sway bar end links than the bushings themselves. Both front and rear links are easily changed by a DIY'er. I just got an '09 and did them myself due to similar noises, noises now gone. Watch a few videos and give it a try.
I replaced my front and rear shocks/struts last year and ever since my 5 sounds like its about to break in half every time I hit a bump or a crack. I'm looking at sway bars and tie rods. When I took the car to a shop to have the alignment done, they said the shocks were bad. I asked if they could explain what they mean but the lady at the desk could not. I took it to my regular mechanic- he did not report that any of the other suspension parts were bad. But he did replace the shocks with another pair of the same TRQ's but the problem remained. All I know to do now is try the sway bars, etc based on what I'm reading here.
 
I replaced my front and rear shocks/struts last year and ever since my 5 sounds like its about to break in half every time I hit a bump or a crack. I'm looking at sway bars and tie rods. When I took the car to a shop to have the alignment done, they said the shocks were bad. I asked if they could explain what they mean but the lady at the desk could not. I took it to my regular mechanic- he did not report that any of the other suspension parts were bad. But he did replace the shocks with another pair of the same TRQ's but the problem remained. All I know to do now is try the sway bars, etc based on what I'm reading here.

My sister went through a strut saga on her ’08 model a year or two ago. Replaced the OE with an aftermarket assembled strut. Made lots of noise and banging even though installed correctly. Took it to another shop who confirmed they were installed correctly. They put in a new set of better aftermarket struts and it was still noisey. Then they pulled OE struts from another 5 on their lot and it was completely silent. Ordered and installed OE shocks and it’s continued to be noiseless since then.

Now my ‘12 model is having what sounds like sway bar bushing noises. Hoping I can wrestle them loose myself this weekend. I sprayed the bejesus out of the bolts with penetrating oil the other day, and had to go get a longer swivel ratchet, so hopefully I can get some leverage on these suckers. I only got one of them to move the other day.
 
Those all-in-one strut assemblies are GARBAGE.

FWIW, I replaced the struts on our 2010 Mazda 5 and 2008 Mazda 3 not long ago with KYB Excel struts. These are made very close to OEM, they have the same metal flange that mates to the slit in the steering knuckle, where most aftermarket do not. Not expensive.

Nothing but silence from both cars. Prior they were making minor clunk noises from the original OEMs.

When you replace these struts, you MUST replace the upper strut bearing if it is over 100k miles. I bet many people do not do this. That is a part with about a million ball bearings in it and is a wear part.
 
Those all-in-one strut assemblies are GARBAGE.

FWIW, I replaced the struts on our 2010 Mazda 5 and 2008 Mazda 3 not long ago with KYB Excel struts. These are made very close to OEM, they have the same metal flange that mates to the slit in the steering knuckle, where most aftermarket do not. Not expensive.

Nothing but silence from both cars. Prior they were making minor clunk noises from the original OEMs.

When you replace these struts, you MUST replace the upper strut bearing if it is over 100k miles. I bet many people do not do this. That is a part with about a million ball bearings in it and is a wear part.

Pretty sure for at least one of my cars I’ve been able to order KYB fully assembled strut kits, so not all all in ones are garbage. I’ve also had really good experiences with KYB.

I’ll echo about replacing the bearings...The mounts are cheap, and the whole thing has to be disassembled to swap out the spring anyway..Not replacing it doesn’t make sense unless you somehow blew out a strut with very little mileage on the mount.
 
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