Hey guys,

Next week I'll be doing a long highway trip, 1500km/950miles cruising at 120km/h (80mp/h). I'm planning on doing it in 2 days, halfway each day, I've done this trip twice in the past with other more modern cars. The car has just been serviced for the trip, oil and oil filter. It's a late 2001 jdm stock model with 43k km (27k miles). What should I look after? I have oil left to refill if needed, I don't premix since the car is stock and I don't push it hard.

Which fluids should I have ready in the trunk besides oil and coolant? What should I do every time I fill up the gas tank besides popping the hood and leave the engine cool down?

Any advice is welcome.

Thank you in advance!

 

Anyone?

 

I think you have it covered. Bring some extra oil and coolant or water and you should be good.
Maybe do a coolant system pressure test to check for any leaks in the cooling system just to be sure.
Checking oil with every refill is probably a little excessive assuming you don't have any leaks but it can't hurt.

Let us know how it goes

 

Before you leave, check the tire pressures and tread.

And, unless the tires are relatively new, you might want to look again for any odd tread wear when you stop for gas

 

Not really drivetrain related things, I think if basic maintenance is covered then the engine is pretty set for just cruising. I take my FD down to LA from San Francisco and then back again ever now and then. ~800 mi.

Buy a cupholder or have a plan for holding drinks, maybe. Early morning you will be glad to have the coffee.

Find a good seating position that won't fatigue you.

If it benefits you, make sure the cruise control works. Highway 5 with my right foot holding the car at 90mph got tiring after the first hour or two.

If your wiper and wiper motors are tired like mine are, some windshield spray and some microfibers would be good to have in the car.

Enjoy the road trip! Take good pictures.

 

I did an 1100 miles trip when I first bought my car, stock 93 with 35k ish miles.
I didn't do any preparing other than checking fluid levels and tire condition / pressure and just drove it like any other car. But of course it was only 10 years old then
Cruise set at 65 mph, AC on, amazingly it did 27 mpgs or about 475 miles on a single fillup.

So, check the tires including the spare, fluids, and you already have some extra oil and coolant so you should be fine!

 

Pretty well covered above. It’s summer….I might check the face of the radiator and A/C condenser and make sure they clean. It’s low and easy to overlook.

I’d doublecheck that the jack and lug wrench is present and
Maybe familiarize yourself with it if you haven’t already.

I’ve taken to carrying one of those small jumper boxes in my truck when I go out of town. They’re smaller than my wife’s purse, inexpensive and work decently as a “just in case” thing, especially if you’re a new owner and not sure how old the battery is.

As already mentioned the wipers on these cars are notorious for being slow. An application of RainX is quick and easy and makes a huge difference if you run into weather. I think it makes the bug splat easier to get off too.

FWIW long trips of more than an hour in the car are rare for me, so I just use my shoe as a cup holder when I need one.

 

Thanks a lot for all the messages, they were really helpful. I don't have a jumper box, but I do have a pair of jumper cables. I'll see if I can get one before leaving tomorrow. I'll keep you guys updated!

 

In addition to a portable jumper, I like to keep a portable tire pump and a patch kit too in case I get a nail or something and there's no stops midway.

 

Hi guys, I made it safe and sound. In the end, I was crazy enough to do it in one day. There were zero issues with the car, he it really behaved amazingly. My lower back and legs were demolished, but other than that, it went quite well!

However, there is a problem. Since the car is RHD and I live in a LHD country, the workshop had to open the headlights and adapt them from RHD to LHD. Apparently, they didn't install the right light cover correctly, and in the middle of the journey, it went off and literally disappeared. Unfortunately, I couldn't stop to retrieve it.

Any ideas? The car is a Series 8 Type RS finished in Pure White (A3D).

 

Sorry to hear the headlight cover flew off on you. It's positioned & held in place by plastic tabs & 4 screws, 2 front & 2 back side. Often times the plastic tabs break, hence the fly-off problem. Good news is you can still purchase new headlight covers from Mazda; I think they come in the unfinished plastic or possibly primed. Then you'll need to have a shop prime/paint them to match your car's color.

 

Check to see if the mounting screws are all there. If so, iirc, there should be washers with each one that are scalloped so they grip the cover and don’t slip…which would allow the cover to come off.

 

You can get new OEM covers or recently available aluminum replacement ones ($$$)

I'm not sure the headlight aim can really be adjusted from rhd to lhd without changing the whole reflector...

 

Thanks guys. Do you by any chance know the part reference number?

 

These are the numbers I have….

Right: FDY2-51-SH1
Left: FDY2-51-SH2

I’d recommend calling Ray Crowe for these. Probably cheaper than your local dealer and you won’t need the numbers. Search the forum for endorements.
704-785-5554 or Crowe.Ray@aol.com

 

and these are the aftermarket aluminum ones:
https://www.sakebombgarage.com/sakeb...ght-cover-set/

 

Apparently they glued the light cover, as it was broken? I don't know, the car drove before without issue top picture), and this is how it is at the moment (bottom picture), are all the screws there? I think so

 

I need to find a solution because without the cover (besides the fact that it looks ugly), I can't drive if it's going to rain or wash the car. That's messed up.

 

you have the screws