2010 Mazda 3 Maintenance Advice

[The Critic]

My best friend's 2010 Mazda 3 is due for scheduled maintenance. She is also moving out of town permanently, so she wants me to make sure everything is "brought up to date" at this maintenance visit.

The car currently has about 12,500 miles and was purchased in 7/2009.

So far, I have done the following:

3,000: oil change
6,000: oil change and rotate tires
9,200: oil change

Next Thursday, I plan to have the Ford/Mazda dealer do an oil change with Motorcraft 5w-20, rotate the tires again and do a checkover.

I have also purchased a Fram engine air filter and will be adding a bottle of Gumout Regane High Mileage to the fuel tank.

My question is should I replace the engine and cabin air filters as well? A Fram engine filter and a Mazda OE cabin filter together are about $36, not a lot of money but still not a small amount. Do you guys feel this is necessary after 12,500 miles and nearly 18 months? Mazda recommends the cabin air filter replacement every 25,000 miles and engine air filter replacement every 35,000 miles. The cabin air filter replacement interval seems unusually long to me since our Nissan recommends every 15,000 miles or annually.

What other maintenance should I do at this time?

Thanks.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I would check the engine air filter, if it is not too dirty I would leave it until 25-30k miles, the engine air filter works best in the second half life. Cabin filter is hard to remove to check for its condition, I think it should be changed at this mileage.

 

[sciphi]

Drive it.

Well, check for pulsation in the brakes, pad life, check the fluids, and check tire tread depth. All should be A-OK with a 2010 car at 12k miles.

 

[Bster13]

Check PSI of tires and spare tire in the back plus check for any uneven wear. Check fluids under the hood including windshield washer fluid.

 

[SLCraig]

I wouldn't even think about it with 12k.. All is well.

 

[J. A. Rizzo]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
I wouldn't even think about it with 12k.. All is well.


+1 12k is early for most maintenance items. 30k isn't even high for a cabin filter if the filter has a large surface area relative to the airflow. Unless the manual specifically calls for something at 12k that hasn't been done, I would say leave it alone.

 

[meangreen01]

I'd maybe check the cabin filter. I know this is a MZ3, but in my MZ6 the cabin filter is rather small and fills up quick. Not 12k quick, though, more like 20-25k and it's full.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Our Forester gas mileage went DOWN after I put a Fram air filter in it - and the old one had 40K and was clogged with stuff like you would not beleive - I have to take a pic and post it! Car was getting ~30 now it gets 27. Advice - DONT TOUCH THE AF - not needed yet. I think a clogged AF IMPROves FUEL MILEAGE WITH maf AND fi. mAKES SENSE, ACTUALLY.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Sorry your best friend is moving away permanently

 

[fdcg27]

The fuel system cleaner will do no harm, and might do some good.
The engine and cabin air filters shouldn't need replacement for a while yet, although you would do no harm in replacing them.
I'd return the filters, run the Regane, change the oil, and leave the rest alone.
Nothing is worn out in 12.5K, and the car really doesn't need another tire rotation.
At its cuurent age and mileage, it's virtually a new car.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
The fuel system cleaner will do no harm, and might do some good.
The engine and cabin air filters shouldn't need replacement for a while yet, although you would do no harm in replacing them.
I'd return the filters, run the Regane, change the oil, and leave the rest alone.
Nothing is worn out in 12.5K, and the car really doesn't need another tire rotation.
At its cuurent age and mileage, it's virtually a new car.


The Ford/Mazda dealer is going to do a "Works Package" for $39.95 + tax/disposal which includes an oil change with MC Blend, a new Genuine Mazda filter, tire rotation and inspection. CapriRacer recommended rotating tires every 6k (or so), so I figured that I might as well do it at that interval, as I always have with cars I maintain. How often do you rotate the tires?

As for the filters, I think I will pull both filters and depending on the condition, either put them back or replace them. The cabin filters are fairly small on this car so I don't know how long they may last. My friend is a female so she won't be able to change these filters herself; if I am able to change them now myself and save her the money, she may be better off.

The dealer is also going to reroute the microphone for me per a TSB to address a fade out issue. They already went ahead and ordered the parts even though they won't see me until next Thursday. Some dealers really go the extra mile, I must say.

 

[Finklejag]

I hope the cabin filter location is easier to get to on this generation 3. You had to remove 75% of the dash to get to the cabin filter on the 04-09 3's.

 

[Bster13]

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/maintain.shtml

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Our Forester gas mileage went DOWN after I put a Fram air filter in it - and the old one had 40K and was clogged with stuff like you would not beleive - I have to take a pic and post it! Car was getting ~30 now it gets 27. Advice - DONT TOUCH THE AF - not needed yet. I think a clogged AF IMPROves FUEL MILEAGE WITH maf AND fi. mAKES SENSE, ACTUALLY.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted By: The Critic

...
As for the filters, I think I will pull both filters and depending on the condition, either put them back or replace them. The cabin filters are fairly small on this car so I don't know how long they may last. My friend is a female so she won't be able to change these filters herself; if I am able to change them now myself and save her the money, she may be better off.

...
Forget the AF. Opening an airbox is like doing surgery when not needed. You can intorduce some nasty debris into the engine no matter how careful you are. Leave it and play with the cabin filter instead.

 

[KrisZ]

That cabin air filter will be a very good exercise for you Critic

, you will be on your knees, your back and sides, probably on your belly as well, especially trying to get these filters in.
If you thought changing oil was bad because of low temps then I hope you will be doing it in a heated garage.
Let's hope your friend will appreciate your efforts

Word of advice, get knee pads.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
That cabin air filter will be a very good exercise for you Critic

, you will be on your knees, your back and sides, probably on your belly as well, especially trying to get these filters in.


Thankfully the 2010s are much easier:

http://mazda3revolution.com/forums/2010-mazda-3-how-guides/2788-how-change-cabin-air-filter.html

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
That cabin air filter will be a very good exercise for you Critic

, you will be on your knees, your back and sides, probably on your belly as well, especially trying to get these filters in.


Thankfully the 2010s are much easier:

http://mazda3revolution.com/forums/2010-mazda-3-how-guides/2788-how-change-cabin-air-filter.html


Lucky you, you would be cursing the first gen 3.

At least Mazda listened and fixed this issue.

 

[Thermo1223]

The bigger question is why 3k OCI crud?

Mazda states every 5k SS or 7.5k otherwise especially if you are using Motorcraft Blend.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: Thermo1223
The bigger question is why 3k OCI crud?

Mazda states every 5k SS or 7.5k otherwise especially if you are using Motorcraft Blend.


Mazda recommends every 4 months or 5k for severe service and every 6 months or 7.5k for normal service.

The reason why the oil is being changed every 3,000 miles is because my friend reaches the time limit before the mileage limit.

First service at 3k was done in 11/09, over four months after she bought the car. The next service was done in 4/2010 at 6k, more than 5 months past the last service. And the most recent service was done in 8/2010 at 9k. See the pattern?

An oil change at the dealer costs around $35, and is cheap insurance for safeguarding against warranty denials in the future due to oil-related issues.

 

[Thermo1223]

Well to me time in the CA climate would be less on an issue than time in the great white north of PA. However if you wanted to go by the book I see your point.