2003.5 problems fixed???

L

lach

Member
Hey everyone I am seriously looking at the MSP however with all the damn posts about the famous clunking and hesitation I was wondering if these problems are occuring on the 2003.5 models or have those problems lessened at all?
I love the car but man why of why wont Mazda get off there arse and fix this problem!
 
When I was at the dealer a few days ago for the hesitation and stalling, they said that the yellow 3.5 on the lot had the same problems during a test drive, they lost the sale. Of course then they said that there was nothing wrong with my car, and any problems I may experience are because of my turbo timer.

Britt
 
Thanx for the info I havent driven one yet but I ll be going hopefully this week to test it out, how noticeable are these problems if theyre as bad as I hear i may have to get the P5 :(
 
To sum up:
Yes the 2003.5 have all the same issues, nothing was fixed or even adressed and Britt's dealer is a complete retard.
(thumb)
 
Hello lach,
I am in the same boat as you so I dont know for sure, but I can tell you that the 2003.5 I drove at Mazda Rev it up had both the Clunck and the hesitation.

For me, I don't see these as very major problems, especially since people like Joe P. and Perf. working on the hestiation with low buck ( and reversable) addons.

The only thing I am interested in is the engine and tranny reliability and I am hearing nothing both good news.

Hope that helps,
Garth
 
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don't let the clunk stop you from buying the car. It will be fixed one day.....I hope. You may not even get it. If you test drive the car, turn everything off, drive over bad roads that make the car sway left/right (up/dwn bumps don't work) and listen for what sounds like the spare tire bouncing around. That is what is sounds like in it's early stages.

Even if it's not there, goto the dealer, make it known your aware of the clunk, and make sure they are willing to replace bushings until a perm. fix is out if your car should start it. If they are the type of dealer that won't....don't buy the car there, not because of the car, but because that's a good sign of what your dealer is like. Mention, there is a service bulletin on it if they don't believe you. Chances are, if they sold any mp3's, or early MSP's, they might already have dealt with it.
 
newf said:
don't let the clunk stop you from buying the car. It will be fixed one day.....I hope. You may not even get it. If you test drive the car, turn everything off, drive over bad roads that make the car sway left/right (up/dwn bumps don't work) and listen for what sounds like the spare tire bouncing around. That is what is sounds like in it's early stages.

Even if it's not there, goto the dealer, make it known your aware of the clunk, and make sure they are willing to replace bushings until a perm. fix is out if your car should start it. If they are the type of dealer that won't....don't buy the car there, not because of the car, but because that's a good sign of what your dealer is like. Mention, there is a service bulletin on it if they don't believe you. Chances are, if they sold any mp3's, or early MSP's, they might already have dealt with it.
Click to expand...

I disagree.

I'd wait..there's more happening on the MSP than just the clunk (Stalling/Hesitation). Maybe if nobody is purchasing the 2003.5 it will prompt Mazda to resolve these issue's in a more timely manner.

When it's hot outside (maybe 25 Celcius), my car is cranky; not consistant engine performance.

Anyways, my 2 cents.
 
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Lucky

I have never had the clunk or hesitation.
I check the rear suspension every so often to make sure the swaybar and various components are tight and that the bushings aren't in poor shape. So far all is well.
The only thing I do have is every so often in 3rd or 4th gear I have an a very slight pulse in the acceleration above 4500 RPM at WOT.
This doesn't happen every time and isn't all that noticable.
Only a minor annoyance uncer certain circumstances.

To address the heat issue. I live in North Texas /Central Texas
so far it's only gotten up to about 99/100 degees on two occasions and it hasn't seemed to affect my car in anyway. I have not driven it hard over and over in this weather so I would imagine due to the less dense air charge the power would be down. But I havent experienced the loss of power that some seem to have during warmer weather.

I will get 3'' Magnus (or similar) exhaust to go with the JOEMBC, K&N cone+home maid CAI, ECU piggyback from Joe/Perf, and pump it to 9.5 10lbs of boost.
All in all the best car for around 20k in IMO.
 
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I just meant, that the clunk alone should not stop someone from buying the car. Yes, the hesitation is a problem, and yes, I see it as more serious as well according to what some say here. Ironic enough, the only speed here in town does not have it, but does have the clunk. It will be interesting to see if my new one has this problem.
 
BTW, I wouldn't steer you away from the car, I love mine! These probs (if you get them) are small compared to the rewards the MSP has to offer. My earlier post sounded negative only, just wanted to clear it up. Go drive one, you'll be sold. Everything is fixable.

Britt
 
Also keep in mind the clunk is from athe suspension wearing itself out so in climates like texas and florida where roads are basicly smooth the bushings will last 100% longer. Bring that crap into the snow caps like where me and Newf live and you will have it within 4 weeks.

Hesitation could be partialy driver related from catching ther car in low rpms or off boost.

The matter of concer is the stalling. To make sure you don't have it, test drive the car you will buy and when on the highway going about 70 mph, accelerate a bit for 2 seconds and immediatly push and hold the clutch to the floor before you switch to engine breaking. If it stalls or drop to under 500 rpm, DONT BUY THE CAR!
 
Wow great responses from everyone on this hot topic. I dont think that any monor issues would prevent me from buying the car its more the fact that not enough has been done and whether anything will by Mazda themselves remains to be seen. I know its a great car and man it looks sweet I just want to avoid any probs at all costs........now I just gotta get rid of my crapola SER!!! By the way are any of you from Canada? I know depending on the area may effect these issues and well if ya didnt already know our weather sucks!
 
I'm with No.5 -- I refuse to recommend the car to anybody until Mazda fixes the ECU from flooding the car. It would be nice if nobody would buy the car until Mazda fixes it - that might be the only way it sinks into their thick skulls that it's a problem.
 
122 Vega said:
When I was at the dealer a few days ago for the hesitation and stalling, they said that the yellow 3.5 on the lot had the same problems during a test drive, they lost the sale. Of course then they said that there was nothing wrong with my car, and any problems I may experience are because of my turbo timer.

Britt
Click to expand...


Are you serious about this? Your dealer blamed problems on your turbo timer? I hope you're joking...if you are, sorry I'm tired...
 
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