Potential future MPS owner - Common faults?

[stevan]

Hi ladies and gentlemen,

I have recently sold my BRZ with the intention of downsizing to something cheaper and more practical and found the 07-08 model Mazda 3 MPS Sport to be a great looking daily drive whilst retaining some fun factor.

After a little research I soon saw about the second gear issue with the selector fork and a friend of mine whom works as a service manager at Mazda said they do a lot of warranty work on the gearboxes for these cars in relation to this problem (says they always find metal in the boxes when the oils are changed over).

I was hoping some people here could chime in on the severity of this issue and if it is large enough to consider another option? Seeing as though most of these cars will be out of warranty I would not really want to have to rebuild a gearbox for an Inherent design fault.

Would appreciate any help regarding this and and anything else to look for, thanks in advance

Stevan

[Jmac]

There should already be plenty of information here about known issues, start with the warranty thread.

RE: Gearboxes - not heard of one MPS with that issue yet, If I have I dont remember it so its certainly not common.

Quick search with the term 'common problems' returned these amongst others;
http://www.ozmpsclub.com/forum/tech-...nty-fixes.html
http://www.ozmpsclub.com/forum/tech-...d-vehicle.html
http://www.ozmpsclub.com/forum/gener...k-mps-3-s.html
http://www.ozmpsclub.com/forum/gener...hand-3mps.html
http://www.ozmpsclub.com/forum/gener...100-000km.html

[SarcasticOne]

That's probably due to people bashing the gear box around and not taking care of it

Have heard of this, but mainly on people who take car to drag strip

There is upgraded shifter forks on MSF

Biggest issues for a gen 1, busted engine mounts and smoking turbos

[Byrd]

... and you could say that smoking turbos and weak engine mounts would be a common fault with many high-powered hot hatches. Like anything, take care of it and it'll go forever, don't maintain it well, expect big hurt $$$.

[stevan]

There should already be plenty of information here about known issues, start with the warranty thread.

RE: Gearboxes - not heard of one MPS with that issue yet, If I have I dont remember it so its certainly not common.

Quick search with the term 'common problems' returned these amongst others;
http://www.ozmpsclub.com/forum/tech-...nty-fixes.html
http://www.ozmpsclub.com/forum/tech-...d-vehicle.html
http://www.ozmpsclub.com/forum/gener...k-mps-3-s.html
http://www.ozmpsclub.com/forum/gener...hand-3mps.html
http://www.ozmpsclub.com/forum/gener...100-000km.html

Thanks for the threads mate i will look into it more. Re the gearbox problem, it seemed to be the main issue over on MazdaSpeed 3 forums in the states, basically causes the second gear to pop out when decelerating and grind occasionally.

How do you find the shifting feel in these? I am coming from the BRZ and a Honda Integra DC5 Type R which both had great shift feel and preciseness.

That's probably due to people bashing the gear box around and not taking care of it

Have heard of this, but mainly on people who take car to drag strip

There is upgraded shifter forks on MSF

Biggest issues for a gen 1, busted engine mounts and smoking turbos

Cheers for the response, the example i am looking at has only 45000km so hopefully the turbo wont be an issue on this for a while. Busted engine mounts are expected so i don't have a problem with that either.

Only concerned with this second problem, even though its a small part it will cost 5x the labour just to fit a replacement.

The other option i was considering in the same class was the XR5 Focus.

[GibbA]

Thanks for the threads mate i will look into it more. Re the gearbox problem, it seemed to be the main issue over on MazdaSpeed 3 forums in the states, basically causes the second gear to pop out when decelerating and grind occasionally.

And are these stock powered cars, or ones with a few bolt ons? Because a lot of the cars there are kinda a little crazy power wise

[stevan]

And are these stock powered cars, or ones with a few bolt ons? Because a lot of the cars there are kinda a little crazy power wise

Seems to be a combination of both according to;

http://www.mazdaspeedforums.org/foru...thread-134845/

Looked like a pretty serious issue over there?

[Jmac]

We have had a 3 and 6 MPS, no issues.
When its cold in the morning I double clutch for the first 3 streets and like any normal gearbox never force it..

[SarcasticOne]

These gear boxes are not smooth... They're built to withstand a fair chunk of torque, not to be precise and smooth...

Coming from Honda and brz, I think you'll hate it... I occasionally get to drive a friend's rx8, have massive gear box envy

[GibbA]

Seems to be a combination of both according to;

The Official "2nd Gear Is Dead" Thread - Mazdaspeed Forums

Looked like a pretty serious issue over there?

I'm with @Jmac on this one. I've read the forums for over now and here, i've never heard about it. Yes i've heard a little about it over there but not HEAPS.
I know about the deal with some people upgrading to brass shift pads but as @SarcasticOne said, it's mainly people who have been taking their cars to the strip, tracking them ALOT.

Look at the signatures of the people who are reporting the problem. It's bit turbo after big turbo, meth kits, 300,400+hp etc
"Mine started 2 weeks after going big turbo, started popping out of gear then two days later no second at all.18000 miles on 2012"

Depends how crazy you are planning on going with the car as to how worried you should be. All in all, never heard of anyone here with the issue.

Other thing to look out for when buying apart from the busted mounts and smoking turbo is the stretched timing chain. It hits against the inside of the VC with a kinda irregular "tick tick tick tick...." thing. Plenty of videos on YT about it.

[stevan]

We have had a 3 and 6 MPS, no issues.
When its cold in the morning I double clutch for the first 3 streets and like any normal gearbox never force it..

Good to hear, the BRZ was impossible to get into second at all when cold!

These gear boxes are not smooth... They're built to withstand a fair chunk of torque, not to be precise and smooth...

Coming from Honda and brz, I think you'll hate it... I occasionally get to drive a friend's rx8, have massive gear box envy

My Mrs has a Mazda 3 sport and the shift feels like a truck, I assumed they would be very different gearboxes though?

The Honda transmission feel was a thing of beauty, even with my tuned motor it lacked useable torque under 4500rpm. I will likely have to find one in Sydney to test drive...

[Jmac]

Good to hear, the BRZ was impossible to get into second at all when cold!



My Mrs has a Mazda 3 sport and the shift feels like a truck, I assumed they would be very different gearboxes though?

The Honda transmission feel was a thing of beauty, even with my tuned motor it lacked useable torque under 4500rpm. I will likely have to find one in Sydney to test drive...

Dont get me wrong, compared to most hondas it feels like a bucket of bolts but like anything, I make sure to treat it right through the heat cycles.

[chef]

I havnt heard of gearbox issues in Australia , only issues is Wong Wong, from talking to Mechanics that know the MPS is that the general consences is that they are very strong box, main issues is turbo seals and timing chain/VVT even if low KM seals can go on a GEN 1 at any time.

[stevan]

I havnt heard of gearbox issues in Australia , only issues is Wong Wong, from talking to Mechanics that know the MPS is that the general consences is that they are very strong box, main issues is turbo seals and timing chain/VVT even if low KM seals can go on a GEN 1 at any time.

What kind of costs are associated with repairing the turbo seal or timing chain problems ?

[GibbA]

What kind of costs are associated with repairing the turbo seal or timing chain problems ?

Timing chain VVT problem etc is up to 2k from dealer. Replacing turbo, usually people replace with something else. Not sure what a new KO4 is worth..

[slixx]

These gear boxes are not smooth... They're built to withstand a fair chunk of torque, not to be precise and smooth...

Coming from Honda and brz, I think you'll hate it... I occasionally get to drive a friend's rx8, have massive gear box envy

+1
With the right oil, engine mounts, and a good warm up they come good


Peter "SLIXX"

[chef]

What kind of costs are associated with repairing the turbo seal or timing chain problems ?

Turbo seals can't be repaired most people upgrade turbo , BNR1 from states cost $900 US , BNR3 I think is $1100 uS plus delivery and fitting and timing chain is as Gibba said.Turbo seals is more of a problem than chain is . I'm at 90000 KM and chain and turbo is fine.
If your worried look at a Gen 2 as most of issues are fixed with this Model.

[GibbA]

^^ And it will still be in warranty

[stevan]

Turbo seals can't be repaired most people upgrade turbo , BNR1 from states cost $900 US , BNR3 I think is $1100 uS plus delivery and fitting and timing chain is as Gibba said.Turbo seals is more of a problem than chain is . I'm at 90000 KM and chain and turbo is fine.
If your worried look at a Gen 2 as most of issues are fixed with this Model.

The car is to be used as a daily so I don't want to spend more than around $24k which would put the newer model out of budget.

Seems its mostly about how well they have been serviced and a bit of luck, overall though it seems like there will be a large risk of at least one of these things occurring which isn't appealing.

[GibbA]

The car is to be used as a daily so I don't want to spend more than around $24k which would put the newer model out of budget.

Seems its mostly about how well they have been serviced and a bit of luck, overall though it seems like there will be a large risk of at least one of these things occurring which isn't appealing.

As long as it's in good order when you go for a look, the owner isn't a hooligan and kms are reasonable, you SHOULD be ok but i'm not saying this with a guarantee.