That was the impetus for me to take it apart actually, it was damaged years ago when I put the wheel in.

I got the STL file for the shortened part from a forum member and used that, then disassembled the whole assembly it fits into to check and make sure those wipers were straight.

 

I figured you already did.

 

This diagnosis would have been easier if younger me hadn't desoldered the little buzzer from the PS computer board to stop that beeping noise from the error codes.

Hate that guy.

 

First on the docket to fix was the steering, but since it was cold out I took breaks by working on the tweeter mounts. I'll present them separately to make it a bit more sensical.

Starting with the steering, I first pulled off the old stepper motor and installed the new one. I then put a mark on the gear to watch the orientation:




Turns out every time you cycle the key to IGN, the stepper motor sets back a tooth. This turns the gear on the pump side towards the "more assist" setting, so that takes care of the calibration. Just cycle the key a few times and it should reset itself.



You can see the gears in this photo.

Since that wasn't the issue, I moved on to the interior (the part Spider2K mentioned). I'd already disassembled and rebuilt this part, but I thought I'd check it again just in case:







The black traces combine with the wipers on the little rotor piece to make a variable resistor. This tells the PS computer the steering angle. Meanwhile the other contacts are for the turn-signal cancelling feature. The little round guy with the two nubs engages into the back of the steering wheel (or hub). I cleaned everything and lightly regreased, and double checked to make sure there was contact on all the traces. Everything looked good, so I reassembled. Still no fix.

So then I moved on to something I'd played with before:



This is the yoke support for the steering rack and pinion. It applies pressure on the rack to keep it from flopping around. If it's too loose the rack can chew at the inside of the housing. If it's too tight the rack can bind. I loosened it a lot (not all the way) and the issue disappeared, although the steering became vague. I had it at factory spec before, but I figured it was worth a try messing around.

So then I tightened it a couple degrees at a time until I felt the issue, and then backed it off again before tightening it down. I can still feel it a tiny bit (I may be imagining it since I'm now hyper focused on how the steering feels), but it's not really noticeable. I'm going to leave it for now, and if it comes back then I know where I need to focus my efforts.

It also makes some sense that this would be the way it works. The training manual indicates that the speed sensing system is sort of separate from the third line on the rack. The stepper handles the speed and angle stuff, but the third line is the "reaction force" line. This is what lets the rack sense when there is lots of resistance (asphalt) or little resistance (snow) and vary the assist accordingly. This works in concert with the stepper and computer but seems to be entirely mechanical. The manual indicates that during a left turn, the system needs to feel resistance before reacting. Obviously it shouldn't be noticeable when actually operating the vehicle, but at least this lets me know mechanical failure is less likely than maladjustment in my case.

As for the tweeter mounts, I found a STL on Thingiverse and printed them:



They turned out a bit too large, so I measured my tweeters again and scaled the model appropriately. Then I removed the flat area inside the opening:



A press-fit would be nice, but I don't really trust it. There was about 1/4mm or so of slack in the final print, so I just used a dab of epoxy to hold the tweeter:



There we go. I printed a second one but the filament tangled right before the end (doh!), and then I had to rush off to class. So I'll need to print another later. I also only have the triangle trim for the door on one side, so in the meantime I may stick them on with a piece of 3M tape before I acquire (and immediately drill) OEM triangles for the final finish.

Until next time

 

Glad it sounds like you're getting the steering issue figured out.

Also, I love how you can find and print just about any little part you may need these days. I'd love to get a PLA printer for larger things, but my mini resin printer does great for most of what I like to print out these days.

 

Getting there Next problem is that my brake lights don't work...

Yeah, it's pretty cool. The instant access we have to all sorts of small one-off parts is just astounding these days. I can think of a part, design it in CAD software, and then have it in my hand later that day. Just a few years ago this would have been impossible.

 

Probably a boring update, but the brake lights are fixed. Required some contortion, even with the seat all the way back, but I have this down to a science now.

Step 1: Swing legs over steering wheel



Step 2: Push legs over center console while turning torso towards driver's door



Step 3: Swing head into footwell while lifting legs towards driver's headrest



Step 4: Prop feet on rear storage bins around seat with head against the pedals, and think about how nice it would be to have double-jointed elbows



I posted a different thread and j9fd3s told me there were not one but two brake switch connectors. One is for the cruise control, one for the brake lights. They both have identical connectors, and on models that came with CC the switch has two sets of spades for the two connectors. I had plugged in the wrong one. The correct one was pointed way way up in the dash tucked behind a metal bracket. Not sure how that happened, but after swapping it back on I have brake lights again. While I was under there, I also found that the fuel pump relay was plugged in a bit crooked. It certainly would have been interesting for that to come unplugged while driving... I popped the top off the relay and cleaned some carbon from the contact too. I doubt it matters (my fuel pump has been re-wired anyways so this relay just switches another relay in the hatch), but if I see any noticeable improvement in the way the car drives I will replace the relay.

Then comes time to free oneself from the footwell...

Step 1: Reach up and grab steering wheel to hoist oneself up



Step 2: Extract left elbow and start twisting torso around



Step 3: Pull legs against chest while simultaneously rotating towards driver's door



Step 4: Push oneself back up into driver's seat. Put footwear back on.



That's about it for the day. That heater hose is on order, and now I'm kicking myself for not having ordered the other ones at the same time. I'll probably place the order when I go pick up the first hose, just to do them as preventative maintenance. I am also grabbing some miscellaneous interior parts (including the door triangles) so I can tidy up a bit inside. Nearly ready for spring

Until next time.

 

I picked up the heater hose I needed, but while there I placed an order for some other parts that included the driver's side hose. So I am going to wait for that to arrive before I work on the coolant system. One part that was available at the counter though was the speedometer seal, so I thought that this would be a good thing to install in the meantime.



The old one is looking a little crusty. Which is consistent with the transmission fluid climbing all the way up the sheath and into the car under the dash. It's free undercoating for the chassis but when under the dash I could visibly see the cable was slick, so I'm hoping this solves it.

I also decided to add some exhaust hangers. Basically, there are three factory hangers that I was missing.



One mounts to the transmission and connects to the stock pre-cat pipe (I think, I have never had that part so who knows). The other two are the hook shaped ones that connect right behind the catalyst to the frame rails. While I did have the hangers for this set, my car came without the actual rubber donuts on those hangers, and I had never replaced them. To add to this, the reinforced frame rails didn't have provisions for these mounts as they're designed for a Miata. I elected not to notch them at the time of installation, so I needed to add some mounts today. You can also see my liberal use of exhaust cement, which I hoped to avoid after reassembly today.

I started out with all these parts:



My exhaust is a bit of a frankenstein situation. It's a stock manifold, a downpipe with the pre-cats replaced with 2.5" pipe, down to a 2.5" catalyst which then widens to 3" to mate to the Racing Beat REV TII exhaust I'm using. The large resonator here is designed to bolt in the factory cat location in the Racing Beat exhaust, but I haven't been running it. I like having the catalyst to cut down on the exhaust stench (and they aren't a restriction anyways these days).

This complicates my exhaust situation a lot, because aftermarket exhausts don't accommodate the catalyst. I was hoping to use the Racing Beat resonator in the stock catalyst location, and then move the catalyst forward and shorten the split-air tube. This didn't pan out due to the location being cramped and not having a heat shield, but the resonator was still useful because it told me where to put the exhaust hangers.

Otherwise in this photo are the factory hangers that bolt to the frame rails, the transmission hanger with the bolt on type isolator, some all-thread I found to turn into hangers, rivnuts, two 2.5" to 3" reducers (expanders in my case) two OEM exhaust donuts, and a bag of non-OEM donuts. I found them in one of my parts boxes, they're brand new, and I have zero idea where they came from.

I bolted up the silencer to the y-pipe, marked the location on the frame rails, and then drilled the holes. Boy do my arms hurt from drilling overhead while laying on the garage creeper. After popping in some rivnuts, I installed those little hooks onto the frame rails (photos to come).

Next I needed to make the actual hangers, since I don't have them. Well, I almost certainly have them, but I have no idea where since they weren't in the box with my other exhaust parts. Weird how the hangers disappeared from the box but the random rubber donuts manifested... The all-thread I had around was the obvious choice, although rebar would have been better and less likely to bite the rubber donut:



A few minutes with an oxygen torch and some hammering left me with the two hangers I needed. Then I welded them onto the catalyst and installed it into the car. I didn't realize the outside section of the cat was a thin heat shield until I tried welding to it, but by welding on low heat I got it to work. It may have been a better choice to weld it at the pipe right ahead of the cat pointed backwards, but what's done is done. Then I hit it with paint and installed it into the car:




A little more heat and bending put them in the right place. I also had to massage the fuel and brake lines up since they were mounted a bit lower during the frame rail reinforcement, but they now have a good amount of clearance.

I was really hoping that I would get away without having to add exhaust cement, but despite using clean gaskets and a bit of copper spray it still leaked. Mostly at the three-bolt flange by the catalyst. I added that years ago since the exhaust was all one piece when I purchased the car, and I'm assuming the welding warped it enough that it won't seal. So I gave up and slapped some more cement on there, and some on the manifold to downpipe flange as well. And with all the exhaust cement it actually doesn't leak anymore. I don't expect it to last forever, but it should be fine for a few months and let me enjoy the car through the summer.

If you look below the downpipe section in the photo, you can see the transmission hanger I had wanted to add. I ran out of all-thread, and it became apparent when grabbing and shaking the area that there was almost no flex as it is. I may end up adding that in the future, but since the Racing Beat exhausts don't use that hanger at all I think it's safe for now to ignore it.

Results? It has definitely cut down on the vibrations I was noticing. They're still there, but noticeably reduced. I might try using those other donuts since my old ones are original, but the diameter is just slightly smaller which may make clearance an issue. Or I'll grab some new OEM donuts just to check that off the list of possible vibration sources.

While I had the exhaust apart, I was curious what it would sound like open manifold:


The answer? Crazy loud. In that video I blip the throttle to less than 3k and it was way too loud for me to even consider going higher. Also, the vibrations are quite intense. This makes sense since it was dumping under the car, but off camera I leaned down and looked under the car and the sheer pressure is shocking. It was a fun experience but I won't be doing it again

Until next time.

 

I picked up a big pile of OEM parts. Here's a grainy picture (that I didn't realize was grainy until now that half the parts are installed, and therefore can't retake):



It's now warm enough that I can expose my fingers to the air longer, which means I can use my SLR. So I promise, that's the last grainy picture until autumn.

I then placed a third (and fourth) order. Half of what I ask for is NLA, and the other half is expensive. But one thing I like about the OEM Mazda parts is that you get what you pay for: Nice molded hoses, little clips, grommets, etc. It just fits the first time and aftermarket options for some of these parts are either not available or of dubious quality.

Of all the bits and bobs, the ones I was installing today were the heater hoses and two little clips. It was a rainy day in Pizzaville, but I bundled up and rolled under the car to drop the undertray. Found a long-lost friend under there:



After draining the coolant and meticulously filtering it back through a coffee filter, I pulled the old leaky heater hose. I was pretty worried; the firewall gasket was in terrible shape and the heater core barb angles downwards through the firewall. This means it was 50/50 whether I had a leaky hose on my hands or a leaky core. OEM replacement hose and grommet:



The ones I pulled out. Yes, that's all that remained of the driver's side grommet.





I also did the driver's side, which was not leaking, but in for a penny in for a pound. This also means I have officially replaced all the coolant hoses, so that's a load off my mind.

One more thing on the docket for the day: Hood prop clip and bushing. It seems almost pointless, but it's these little things that bother me when I open the hood. I don't want or need a show-car, but I'm slowly trying to close all the loose ends that have accumulated. This was comparatively cheap in parts, so why not?

Long overdue clip replacement:





And the bushing was just gone. I really should have asked the previous owner more questions...



Touch-up paint and anti-seize:



New bushing. One day I may get a big batch of all the metal bracketry and get it plated. Until then, a clean and new hardware is good enough:



And that's it for the day. I'm waiting for some more interior bits, and some suspension bits, but hypothetically I can in fact drive the car. I'm also going to unbolt the cat again one time, I have a sneaking suspicion it may be clogged. I looked down and saw an obstruction, but it was going across the center of the honeycomb in the same direction and approximate width of the air-injection tube, which lead me to believe it was just that. But thinking about it, that would contribute to lumpy idle and a bit of poor throttle response I've been noticing. And I would be surprised if the air injection tube went straight through the center of the honeycomb and to the other wall of the cat.

That of course leads to the rabbit-hole of finding a new cat (I need 2.5" to match my exhaust, so stock replacements are a no-go), then adding the air-injection tube OR converting to a different method of actuating my auxiliary ports. But that's something for another day; My car no longer drops coolant (and the interior is dry, so fingers-crossed the heater core is solid), and is hypothetically ready to drive once the weather improves in early April.



Until next time

EDIT: And more as a memo to myself than anything else: The driver's side front sway-bar link has come apart. The nut has backed off the threads enough that the poly bushing has popped out of the link, so it needs to be reassembled and torqued properly. In fact, give every corner a once-over before driving.

 

Look at some hood dampers. No more prop rod. I have a set of the P2M on the shelf for mine and just installed a set on the CR-V.
Also went with silicone hoses but that's me.👍

 

The hood dampers are cool, but fixing the prop cost me like $15 in parts and lets me spend the money on other parts I need more

Silicone hoses are nice, but again it's cost vs. benefit. Especially since I already have fresh hoses throughout the rest of the cooling system, and just needed these two.

 

lol the hood rod clip is one of the few parts on my car that is original! how its not broken is a mystery... usually they break by not snapping to the car, so you get this comical thing where the hood rod clip stays on the hood rod the whole time....

i was thinking about doing a series of posts about how to service the FC, and one of them is the suspension.
the TLDR part is that you should just go around and tighten everything on the chassis/suspension to the higher number of the torque spec.
you need some creativity, but you can actually get to almost every bolt without taking anything apart too, which is nice

 

This morning there was a bit of sun, so I took the opportunity to install some more from that parts pile before class. I grabbed part of the OEM wiper linkage. The bushings are not available separately, so last year sometime I designed, 3D printed, and installed new bushings. It worked, but I was concerned for safety reasons. Add to this there is a ton of slack in the rotational mechanism for the passenger side wiper (not sure the real name, photos to come). I went to Mazda fully intending to purchase the entire linkage assembly, which I found out is now NLA. They told me the one bar (the one into which I installed 3D printed bushings) was available, so I bought that and decided to deal with the rest later.

Lo and behold, Atkins sells the entire assembly. But I had already spent $50 + on the bar from Mazda, and I had already placed my order with Atkins, which means paying flat rate international shipping AGAIN. So for now, I am just installing the one bar. Pulled the old one out:



It was actually super tough to free it from the motor, and the bushings were still firmly mounted into the bar. I guess I did a better job than I thought? I did put the bushings in backwards though...

With it installed, not a whole lot is different other than my peace-of-mind. Here's a picture showing the part that has slop though. When it's parked the shaft is straight inline with the body. Then when it's at the other extreme:



There's a lot of slack there. I was going to try and disassemble it, but it's riveted together, and I was reluctant to drill it apart without a replacement (which would render it moot anyways). I couldn't even get any grease in there to take up the slack. So I just oiled both of these parts (passenger and driver's side) and then reinstalled them for now.

Everything looks pretty nice (since I already restored the whole area), although you can see the mark where the hood hits the bottom of the wiper due to all that slack in the linkage making the resting position somewhat ambiguous:



Then I had time for one other small change before class. The bolts for the airbox are pretty ugly. The usual "philips screwdriver on a JIS screw" syndrome:




After returning from class, I picked up my latest shipment from Atkins at the post-office. It included the new top-piece for the steering column trim. The bottom piece was available from Mazda, the top piece wasn't for some reason. Here's the old one:



Aside from every screw hole being broken, and all the clips being broken, there were tons of scratches (not sure why). The cutting is due to the NRG hub not being quite a direct fit: The stock opening measures at 85mm or so, the NRG hub is about 90 across. The cutting is not visible when the hub is installed (and the stock wheel obscures it as well), but I decided to make it as neat as possible this time.

The fresh OEM parts:



A few minutes with a razor blade and some sandpaper, and the opening was now wide enough to fit the NRG hub. But first, install the bulb for the "lighted keyhole":



I don't know who this feature is for honestly; I have never had any issue finding the ignition switch in the dark.

This piece also uses three self-tapping screws with a conical seat, which as far as I remember are unique to this part. They aren't used in the rest of the interior IIRC. I also didn't have them (one screw hole had a traditional Mazda trim screw in it, the other three were empty). So I have one screw I purchased and am waiting on the other two to arrive at the dealership. Until then, two screws is enough.





Not bad, if I may say so myself. The trim needs some 303 aerospace to match the other interior parts though. I wonder, was it this way from the factory, or did Mazda change the material on later manufactured interior parts?

Lighted keyhole works too:



Complete with a new OEM trim ring.

Lastly, I tried disconnecting the cat and flooring the pedal to see if the throttle response or free-revving improved. No difference that I can tell, so the cat is unlikely to be clogged. I did redline it though (middle of the day out of consideration for the neighbours):


The idle on a stock-ported engine with no exhaust sounds a bit underwhelming IMO, but 7000rpm sounds sublime. No way I could live with the volume day to day though.

Next on the docket is probably the corner trim with the tweeter pods. I'm just taking that slow since I need to drill holes in my brand new OEM triangles for the wires to pass through. I want to make extra sure I'm happy with the setup before I commit.

Until next time

 

I'm going to do a once over and re-torque the whole suspension anyways. I now realize I reassembled the rear shock mount incorrectly so I am likely getting extra road vibration due to that error. Add to that the dry rotted front mounts (new ones on the way) and my not installing dust boots, and the suspension needs some love + a realignment.

Combine that with the repowered steering and sticky tires, and my car should be suitably nimble.

Why do you prefer the higher torque spec? Is there a reason other than being sure it won't back out (as happened to me)?

 

Dude...

I have a set of replacement bushings I bought from the UK and have since decided to delete the wipers.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/143967693617

 

Damn.

I searched far and wide when I first had the issue and didn't find those, or any similar options. I guess I should have searched again before shelling out for the new arm

Oh well, what's done is done.

 

the competition catalog asks for it, and there is no downside.

 

That's interesting. Probably just for the extra security then.

Is the competition catalogue publicly available?

 

yep, for the Rx3 and SA though.

 

Before I put the car back on the road (which I can officially do now at time of writing), I wanted to refresh the suspension a bit. When I first did the suspension, I bought brand new KYB AGX shocks and a set of Tanabe GF-210 springs. I did not however replace the front mounts, I assembled the rear mounts incorrectly (I'll explain later), and re-used the rear spring retainers even though they were well past their effective life. When actually driving the car I noticed a lot of road vibration, which makes perfect sense given the above information. I also didn't install dust boots or replace the bump stops with new. And while this shouldn't affect operation, it's sloppy work. So I decided to remedy that with some fresh parts.

Suspension out:





Wow, this job is easier the second time. No stuck bolts or bruised knuckles. The cordless impact wrench also helps; I should have bought one years ago...



You can see some sag in the old front mounts. New ones are KYB but seem to be identical to OEM (other than the following):



The strut mounts have an offset built into them so that they can be rotated to adjust caster. On the OEM unit the little square mark (painted white from the factory) is supposed to face the inside of the car and forward when installed. On the KYB unit, the little rubber cylinder takes the place of the square.



The spring cups. Left is rear, right is front. The front ones are definitely old, but I re-used them since they aren't crumbling apart. The rear, meanwhile, are well beyond saving. I can grab a chunk of the rubber and break it off with my fingers. I don't know if this has any noticeable effect on ride or handling, but I was concerned about the rear springs sliding around once the rubber has degraded too much.



New boot and bump-stop. I am missing one OEM piece (called the set plate) that doubles as the washer in the photo and a retainer for the bump-stop. It's possible I lost it, but I also don't recall seeing it when I first disassembled the struts years ago. I called Mazda and it's NLA, so I substituted the 1/2" fender washer seen. The foam bump-stop sticks to the shaft by friction anyways, so I'm not worried about it sliding around.

As far as the rear mounts being assembled wrong, I found that the nut got stuck on the end of the shaft way before bottoming out. This caused a tiny amount of slack, so when the rear mounts were loaded I could grab the inside of the mount and wobble it (with great force, but still). I ended up chasing the threads on the shaft with a die (nerve-wracking), then on re-assembly it went much more smoothly. Now they're very tight.



Front dust boot is similar. I did have the OEM rubber bump-stop on the front, and I considered using it instead of the foam one. The foam one is shorter though, which may be helpful since these are lowering springs, so I went with that. All around the KYB parts are foam and plastic instead of OEM rubber. I prefer the rubber parts, but they're significantly more expensive so KYB it is.



Rears installed, set to stiffness 4.



Fronts installed, set to stiffness 2.

And not much else has changed. The car looks identical since the springs are the same, and I didn't see a noticeable change in front height from the new mounts either. I'll probably need an alignment but otherwise it should be good to go.

Next update to come shortly with some interior updates.

 

I showed the tweeter pods in a previous post, so it was time to mount them. I was nervous about drilling brand new OEM triangles, but after careful measuring it worked out:





They're mounted using the screw seen above, and a dab of epoxy. There was really no good place for a second screw, but one solid mechanical connection is enough for me.



In place. The OEM trim is super tight, and really needs a lot of force to align the mounting peg. No wonder these have all perished with age.

Next, on to a much more interesting part. I looked at ways to mount gauges (other than zip-tying them into the radio opening as I had), and founding nothing I really liked. Spider2K mentioned a cool solution earlier with the multi-gauge, but I have something else planned down the line which makes that redundant. Otherwise the commonly available mounts replace vents, the warning lights, or go on the A-pillar. I didn't like any of these options since I like the car looking fairly OEM.

I had shown a radio faceplate I made a few months ago, but it was an early part. No provisions for mounting other than press-fit, and no holes for gauges. I have made a new and improved part. This was the first revision:



The light blue is a support structure which breaks away after printing. There are three barrels for the gauges themselves, mounted at an angle so they point towards my face while seated in my driver's seat. The support structure is needed because I originally had the barrels extend behind the faceplate to try and preserve the original gauge mounting system, but later this had to be removed. The first print:



It worked reasonably well, but there was warping (common when printing ABS) and a few fitment issues. I ended up revising the design four more times until I got it perfect. I also needed to address the warping; ABS likes to be printed in an enclosure, which I don't have and didn't want to purchase. Building one is complicated by the fact that it needs to be really tall to accommodate the spool, and fire-retardant for safety reasons. My printer also sits against an exterior wall, which aggravates the temperature change. So I built this:



Not pictured is the space heater on the ground. Keeping the room at 30 degrees C and any airflow to a minimum helped on the final print, leaving me with zero visible warping. ABS fumes are possibly hazardous (although apparently the science isn't conclusive yet) so I had to wear a mask when entering and let the room air out before really spending any time in there after the print.

It turned out well:





It's mounted using computer screws, although they aren't a very tight fit. The top left one had zero bite, but there isn't any wobbling there so I am not worried about it. The piece of aluminum tape is insurance.

You can see now why I wanted the barrels to extend to the backside of the plate. My idea was to use the original mounts, but without the barrels extending the mounting surface is now offset 15 degrees from the plate. I scrapped the idea because the barrels on the front side had to extend out further to clear the head unit, which made it impossible for the screws to be long enough anyways. A dab of RTV at the back of each gauge holds them in. Normally I wouldn't like this solution (still don't), but the gauge face is disposable since I can trivially print new ones for $1.50 in materials per unit.

Installed:



It's a very close fit, but if I can say so myself, it's about perfect. All of the buttons on the radio are accessible, there are no gaps, and the gauges point directly towards my eyes as intended.

Even the ashtray (full of loonies, fuses, hose clamps, and miscellaneous hardware) still opens and shuts. It can also be installed and removed while the gauge plate is in place, if you pivot it carefully.





I have yet to decide which gauge will go in the third spot.

Until next time

 

Nice job on the panel. I wanted to do the same thing for the multi, O2 and alpine controller but now it's just the alpine since I'm not using the other two. Maybe a giant printed cubby hole now?

I think printing a new mirror control panel with a phone tray and provisions for a charging coil would be a cool idea also.

I really need to get her damn cr-v back running so I can work on my car😭

 

the gauges pointed toward you is a thing! mine are in a similar spot, but they just face i guess the spare tire. the fan comes on when its supposed to, at like 100c or something, but with the parallax view, it looks like 110c! which is scary. at 90 the needle is straight up, so it looks right, its kind of odd

 

Hey @WondrousBread is that a Quattroporte in the background?

 

Yup, that's my dad's. '07, I think they call the trim model Executive GT?