Above Average Maintenance Idea List

[rdtk1]

Hey peoples,

So I have a 2012 mazdaspeed 3 in canada. 175,000km by todays date. Purchased it in spring of 2018 @ 117000kms. I drive 135km to work 5 days a week and then also it takes me everywhere else I need to go. I would like my car to last to atleast 480km and I am hoping with enough maintenance I can bring Powertrain and other engine bay components last the long hail.

So just fishing for some ideas to help this 500,000km come true. Of course all maintenance items in the owners manual will be done or have been done.

Transmission fluid was changed 125000km with OEM fluid. There was some sycro issues so I added ceramizer gear oil additive which fixed it!
-every trans fluid change will have ceramizer added. In my experience it works! 1+ yr tested.
-will change to redline and add ceramizer next spring. or should I stay with OEM fluid??

Engine oil is changed with Castrol Edge 5w30 Full synthetic @ under 8000km
-just put in mobile 1 extended performance with mobile 1 extended performance filter. plan on changing in 16000km or 4 months. Will use ext. per. whenever I can get on sale, otherwise I will use Castrol Edge/Mobile1/QuakerState. Always full synthetic.
-I will add cerimizer engine oil additive. Love cerimizer!

Coolent was changed earlier this summer.

Spark plugs were changed out with oem NKG on time

Oil catch can added on last oil change

CRC turbo and intake valve cleaner used. Its suppose to clear 41% of the gunk.....

K&N air filter cleaned every 6 months.


Yet to be done....

Brake fluid will get tested soon. Plan to flush on next brake job. I always grease up the calipers during pad/rotor change.

EGR valve will be cleaned perhaps next spring. If I can get an AP, i'll delete but for now I dont have $800 CND to spend on an Cobb AP.

I would like to add Di-electric grease to every connector excluding interior connectors. Need to find a giant tube on the cheap.

I would like to add an Oil drain bolt with magnet

I have a turbo oil restrictor bolt but have not installed yet.

I did process a can of sea foam last summer. I'll do that again just before next oil change.

Anyone have any additional items I can add to this list?
Train of thought right now is the cleaner the fluids the longer the components will last.

Not sure what I can do for steering fluid aside from replacing the fluid in the overflow. There is a ceramizer for that too which I will add if there is no way to drain and fill. I apologize for my lack of knowledge for steering rack components..

Where the hell is the gas filter?
Where is the transmission filter?
Anyone know where I can get a transmission drain bolt with magnet.



Please please throw the ideas at me!!! Much appreciated!

[ProChargedLS2]

1) Stay away from OEM fluid. Honestly it's shit, if it was worth sticking with nobody would be running unicorn jizz and ranting about how much better it is, same with redline.
Can't say I've heard of ever heard of anybody running Ceramizer on this platform but if you think it works go for it.

2) Did you gap your plugs when you replaced them? Or did ya just slap those suckers in

3) Running valve cleaner is nice and all, but with a direct injection motor you're only gonna clean off the shit that's flaking and not sticking to anything. If you really want to have clean runners and valves get it sand blasted with walnut media. No injector/valve cleaner will do the work you need it to. It will clean but you're better off saving your money to have somebody sand blast it.

4) EGR delete will help keep shit clean and you might gain a few horsies and fuel economy. I have mine completely deleted and don't notice it, but you probably won't. It's still there though.

5) Good idea for the magnetic drain bolt, but some people say restrictor bolts are bad. If it's smoking at idle raise the rpm 100-300 and/or add thicker oil. Personally I'm not big on them, there should only be enough shaft play to allow 1-3 oil molecules in. If there's excessive shaft play it'll smoke, and adding a restrictor bolt will help with the smoke but you'd also be starving an already dying turbo of lubricant causing a chain of events to happen. Just my .02, idk your turbos condition.

7) Again with products like sea foam, it's gonna clean a very unremarkable amount of gunk out. You really should just get it sand blasted (with walnut media, please don't use sand lol)

My dad got 500k miles out of his 2011 Silverado and the truck was in pristine condition when he sold it. Some parts were replaced here and there, but nothing big. No motor rebuilds, trans, nothing. If you take care of your car and follow preventative maintenance, and listen to the car you can make it last as long as you want. Obviously shit happens but if you're anal and treat it like a Goddess you'll have her for a long time.

As far as coolant goes, when I did mine (some would call this going overboard, idgaf) I ran a coolant flush through with the old shit, then ran distilled water with some coolant flush (don't use this stuff like it's a toy), and kept flushing and running distilled water through until it drained as clear as I put it in. Distilled water is cheap, and you'd be happy knowing the coolant you put in is running as clean as it was in the jug. Also suggest cleaning the reservoir when you do this.

Our fuel filters are an in-tank basket filter, not on the fuel line. It's supposedly a "no maintenance filter" that lasts as long as the vehicle itself but hey, you do you. Definitely wouldn't hurt anything but your wallet replacing it since it's only 20 bucks (25 canadian dollars?) If you wanna do fuel pump shit that isn't the cdfp, put a Deatschwerks DW300c in. Won't increase fuel pressure in the motor but it could add stability under spirited driving conditions.

Steering fluid you can mess with. I'd only put Lucas in. They've been around the block and have proven results time and time again. It's a good additive I use.
Pretty sure you have to take the pan off the trans to get to the filter. I've never seen a tranny filter listed on any vendor for our car.

Some other tips I'd do is check your rotors and pads. Pads are easier to measure than rotors, but you could prolly find a cheap digital micrometer somewhere. I think you generally discard pads at 2.5mm. Keep an eye on your turbo. I despise the k04, and it's widely known they quit after 80k miles (130k km?). Pick up an OBD2 reader from amazon, cheap 20 bucks and monitor as much parametric data it allows you to. Watching something bad happen on a gauge is much better than watching your car being towed.

Our trans plug thread pitch is M18x1.5, so just search for that. Did a quick google and found one for a Camry and WRX. A lot of people go with the Dimple Magnetic drain plug

If you have other questions just ask. Enjoy the novel I wrote

[rdtk1]

1) I ment to put in redline but ended up getting royal purple, then syncros were messed and was grinding gears. The put in OEM which helped a bit but then put in Ceramizer which helped a lot! So redline a bad idea? I thought i read 1 or 2 complaints about Lucas in our trans. also saw someone say they put in motul. Not sure which way to go now...

2) I through them in... I didnt have a gap tool. It is something I do want to do, go back and check them.

3) Yes I agree the cleaner is not ideal but they do claim up to 41% of deposits to be removed. I dont think I would have the money to pay someone to do it. If I can find a good price on the walnut sprayer, it is something I would like to do soon. Found 1 from china for $800 CND which is a bit to rich for my blood, atleast right now. I am just hoping the clear give me a little more time before I have to do a cleaning of some kind.

4) Ya I would like to delete but I dont want to until I have a Cobb access port to disable the engine code. Since I do so much driving, I would prefer to only have the engine light turn on if there is indeed a problem. Kinda scares me if the light is on and then something else happens and then I am driving around with a second engine could without even knowing.

5) as for the restrictor bolt, no i dont have any reason to put it in at this time. It was an impulse buy. read the wrong thread and got freaked out. I'll leave it uninstalled, thanks!!!

7) I agree again, most cleaners dont do to much. But I was driving around with a Lean condition for a good 8 months before I was able to sort it out. Check engine code pointed to bad o2 sensor. 3 garages all said o2 sensor. ended up being Mass air flow sensor. So if I can clean atleast some of the gunk $10 was worth a try. Hopefully CAT will survive...

My dad got 500k miles out of his 2011 Silverado

I hope to be so lucky!

as for Coolant, I had a coolant hose pop off. Coolant went everywhere. A lot of it. So I refilled. Then a few weeks later, I had to replace ac condenser which meant pulling radiator Assembly, so I think i got most of the old coolant out and refilled with a mixture of prestone for asian models and mazda oem coolent.

as for Fuel filter, I like my spirited driving!

Steering fluid you can mess with. I'd only put Lucas in.
thank you, i will use Lucas for steering fluid replacement!

I have replaced rear with PowerStop "Evolution Geomet®" Routers with Akebono pads on the rear. Very impressed with Rotors coating. First time I have seen a coating work in my life. Plan to do the same for my wifes fronts (versa ). When I go to do the fronts, I am going PowerStop Cross Drilled and Hawk HPS. I have used Hawk HPS twice and liked them. As for measuring, the existing fronts work but they are from used car dealer and after seeing everyhting else dealer installed, I am sure they are crap. I'll just brake hard all the time and force myself to replace.

I dont think i have had a single turbo issue. But I always sit in my car for 1+ mins before I turn the car off. Even if I am 15mins late for work, i wait that 1+ mins before turning off my car! I try to let the car warm up before starting my drive. Maybe related, maybe not.

Our trans plug thread pitch is M18x1.5, so just search for that. Did a quick google and found one for a Camry and WRX. A lot of people go with the Dimple Magnetic drain plug
I was able to find some plugs for cheap. Need to research a little to see if they are good or garbage. I dont want magnet falling off bolt just because I want to save $15
I did see M18x1.5 for trans and m14x1.5 for engine drain bolt. Thank you for the confirmation on size!!!!!

If you have other questions just ask. Enjoy the novel I wrote

Thank you for this novel and your time! Truly!

[rdtk1]

Also I have owned multiple odb2 scanners but none of them worked with the Ms3 or not with the cell phones I have owner during same time. I ordered a think car s1 adapter. I'll have to post a review later on

[ProChargedLS2]

Originally Posted by rdtk1 Also I have owned multiple odb2 scanners but none of them worked with the Ms3 or not with the cell phones I have owner during same time. I ordered a think car s1 adapter. I'll have to post a review later on

I had the one from Dash Command. Worked great for what it only being like 20 bucks?

Honestly you really don't need to spend the effort or money to replace the fuel filter. If you want to add stability and consistency to your fuel under spirited driving, and without going 5th, 6th, or 8th port you can upgrade the itfp, but it won't increase your fuel pressure going into the motor. Unless you plan on doing backflips in your car I wouldn't spend the money.

No redline is good shit, that's one of the two ones essentially everybody runs. It's either fords motocraft unicorn jizz or redline. Personally I like what I've heard about Torco RTF, especially in gen2s so I'm gonna run that when I get some motivation (I dropped my motivation and don't feel like picking it up)

Yeah dude, if you just threw them in I would get a gap tool asap. Shits like 25 cents. I'm assuming you know how a spark plug works and the potential harm an improperly gapped plug could do. Supposed to be around .026 to .030, my most recent ones came out of the box at .060+!!

Cleaners do a lot on other cars, but I'd suggest reading up on it on our platform. It's direct injection so it'll help but it's not something I'd spend money on.

The Dimple Magnetic drain plug is a good one. 30 bucks or so if I recall, definitely not one of the cheapo ones.

[rdtk1]

Dimple drain plug is $36 usd. They do look amazing but way to expensive. But they gave me idea to put magnet on oil filter. I should search for trans filter how to

[ProChargedLS2]

Well you get what you pay for. Personally I wouldn't cheap out on anything that has a magnet attached inside of my trans. Imagine the magnet coming off or malfunctioning in your trans with all those gears moving. Yikes.

[rdtk1]

Well I live in canada so this could easily cost me over $75 cnd after convertion, taxes, shipping, and boarder taxes so I'll have to look for alternative. My damond mount was on sale for $90. It cost me over $250 cnd.

[ProChargedLS2]

Originally Posted by rdtk1 Well I live in canada so this could easily cost me over $75 cnd after convertion, taxes, shipping, and boarder taxes so I'll have to look for alternative. My damond mount was on sale for $90. It cost me over $250 cnd.

Fair enough, just keep in mind when you buy cheaper stuff you get low quality assurance with the product. Maybe you could look into make one from neodymium or another very strong magnet. Doesn't seem like it'd be difficult to make, just some handy craftsmanship and measuring!

[rdtk1]

I have been researching the power steering flush and realized I have 1qt. Of mazda m5 aka m-v atf. I can't seem to find what its certified for. One mazda parts site states it can be used for power steering fluid. I have no use for it but don't want to throw it out.

Anyone know if it's fine for our rack? Would like to use it to flush system out before putting in synthetic atf like Lucas or maybe valvoline max life.

[ProChargedLS2]

Originally Posted by rdtk1 I have been researching the power steering flush and realized I have 1qt. Of mazda m5 aka m-v atf. I can't seem to find what its certified for. One mazda parts site states it can be used for power steering fluid. I have no use for it but don't want to throw it out. Anyone know if it's fine for our rack? Would like to use it to flush system out before putting in synthetic atf like Lucas or maybe valvoline max life.

I use synthetic with a mix of Lucas power steering additive.

[rdtk1]

2012 mazdaspeed3 Manual for power steering fluid states : Mazda Genuine ATF M-III, M-V, or equivalent (e.g. Dexron® II)
My last car was a 2008 mz3. The atf fluid I bought for it was mazda m5 atf. Must be the exact same oem fluid.
As for valvoline products here is some info.

Carquest Auto Parts - Professional Customers › ...PDF

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...B5bPHd5uFgw5AJ

I am Leaning more valvoline because I can buy locally.