[tito_jackson]

I'm having a problem with my 3 day old mazda3 that is driving me absolutely crazy. Any advice on how to deal with it will be greatly appreciated.

There's a rattling noise coming from the front right door. When the road is smooth, it doesn't make the noise. If I hit a bumpy stretch, I hear the rattling.

Another way to tell is by shutting the door. When you hold the inner handle firm and shut it, the noise doesn't come. If you shut the door without holding the inner handle, there's a rattling noise at the end. It is the only door that does it.

Is there any way I can investigate this myself? For some reason, I don't trust that the service department at the dealership would do a good job.

This should be under warranty right? Is this a legitimate gripe?
I'm afraid that it may be too small a problem for them to care, but it drives me up the wall, especially because i like to drive without the radio often.

-Tito Jackson

 

[Kazbaeden]

You could take off the panel and tighten any loose screws, perhaps.

 

[cowtown]

Yep, they'll investigate the rattle but if I were you I'd take it in before long. At this point in time there is no good reason to try taking it apart yourself and investigating. The last thing you want is the guys blaming you for the rattle.

I took my Pro5 in to look at a rattle I was having and they went right in and too a look at it. Appears that when the aftermarket speakers were installed the door panels got a little tweaked so they weren't sitting right, and that was after a year of owning it that they checked it for me.

 

[margomaps]

I thought I noticed a little bit of door rattle when driving my wife's new 3. Again, not on smooth surfaces. The fact that the rattle subsides when you're holding the inside handle might suggest that the latch mechanism (linkage or cables?) are a little loose in there, allowing it to bounce around inside the door unless it's tensioned.

IMO this is certainly something that you could legitimately complain about to the dealer, but your dealer might feel otherwise. Also, it's certainly possible that in trying to fix the rattle, the dealer will return your car to you in worse condition than when they received it, and the rattle still might not be fixed.

If you can get a hold of the shop manual for this car, you can find out the proper procedure for removing the door panel. Once removed, you can see about tightening up any loose parts you come across. Might want to wait 'til you've had your car a little longer though. Good luck.

 

[tito_jackson]

excellent, thanks very much.

its 3 days old, and i realize that i still haven't yet filled out the dealership survey, for which they asked me to give them all 10's.

its particularly bothersome today as its the beginning of a long weekend, so i'll have to wait until tuesday morning to bring the car in.

what is the process here? does one usually make an appointment and take it in, or can i just show up considering i just bought the car?
(i've always been a city guy, this is my first car)

-tito

 

[cowtown]

Best to make an appointment but make sure it's earlier in the day so they don't rush through it.

 

[tito_jackson]

cow, did they fix the rattle in your pro5?
-tito

 

[pghmazda3guy]

I have a rattling problem in my front driver side door. I mentioned this in my first posting with the pictures. It appeared only when it got extremely cold. The first week i had the car, it was in the 40s and 50s and i didn't hear anything. When the cold snap came and it has been in the 10s and 20s, the rattling appeared. I called my dealership about it this past week and my car has an appointment bright and early monday morning to get the problem fixed. The dealership was completely helpful about the whole thing and didn't treat it like a minor annoyance (its not really a big deal, its just that with all the money i spent, i want a quiet car). My salesguy even set up the appointment, i didnt have to do a thing. He even offered to give me a ride to my office from the dealership. So far even with this minor problem, i have nothing but good things to say about the car, Mazda, and my dealership and salespeople. I'll let you know how it goes, and if they can fix the rattling.

 

[Kazbaeden]

its 3 days old, and i realize that i still haven't yet filled out the dealership survey, for which they asked me to give them all 10's.

Wait... they gave you a survey and told you how to answer? What's the point in a survey then? In any case, use it as leverage. "You don't check my rattle, I don't fill out all tens!"

 

[tito_jackson]

i think mazda mails the survey. the salesman told me that they need all tens, and that i'm to contact him immediately if i can't answer all 10's.

this is the sort of thing that i'd be willing to pay someone to fix, if i knew they could definitely fix it.

it is ass cold here, so maybe thats where the rattle comes from.

i saw a link to someone's instructions for removing the door panel. is this definitely a bad idea? i'll find the link and post it.. it was from another mazda bulletin board.

-tito

 

[Kazbaeden]

I wouldn't say it's a horrible idea, but I supose if you can get a dealer to do it for you, then that's all the better.

 

[Black7]

I haven't had the door panel off the car yet but on most cars i have owned, the door handle and lock mech use connecting rods to activate both these areas. The rods snap into place insise the door usually along the door cross members. Sounds like one of the rods has popped out of the c-clip that hold them in place. Your call but I would pull the panel off to have a look.

 

[cowtown]

I would recommend against it personally unless you have business in there like a speaker install. If you do decide that you must go into there just be ultra careful and don't be surprised if you introduce some new problems on your own.

And for the record yes and no. They didn't find anything untowards but had commented that the panel could have been tweaked. They took extra care in making sure it was put back together right and I didn't really notice anything since then.

Cold weather does bring out squeaks and rattles to be sure, but there is no real reason at this age of car that you shouldn't get the dealer to look at it. If the balk just keep going higher up until someone in the dealership gets tired of hearing about you though I would be surprised if they did give you crap about it.

 

[tito_jackson]

thanks everyone for your suggestions. i'm going in on tuesday morning (dealers are closed monday, here in america, i believe)...

i'm going to use the survey as leverage. if they can open it up and look at it, i'll be happy. if it doesn't work, i'd be willing to pay someone or do it myself.

 

[tito_jackson]

here's the link to the guy who removed his door.

http://forums.mazdaworld.org/index.php?s=3fa0aaeb58d68ad00939f55fad458985&showtopic=3601&st=20

 

[tito_jackson]

i just spoke to my dealership, wayne mazda here in jersey. they said this will be the first 3 they've had in for service (and they're a massive dealer), but they're confident that they can get rid of the rattle and the guy didn't sound at all as if its a minor problem. i'll write more tomorrow after i get it back, but so far, it sounds good.

 

[pghmazda3guy]

My 3 was in for service today of the door. They treated it like any other problem, fixed it (at least as far as i can tell from the drive home from the dealer) even with the high 10s temps. The service manager said they were going to check with Mazda to see whether there was a bulletin out about this problem, because they have heard about it from other people too, and then he would call me to let me know. Hopefully it is gone though and not a continuing issue.

 

[Fobby_Monkey]

I had the same problem. They fixed it today.. i think they used some glue or some seal stuff.. at lease that's what it smells like

 

[max_sensation]

cost u anything to fix that?

 

[pghmazda3guy]

Nope, it was a warranty repair.