Any idea what the torque requirements are for the nut on the wiper arms? Seems that if the blade freezes to the glass in cold weather, and you turn on the wipers, the drive shaft will spin in the wiper arm. Then itcollides with the right side. It only happens on the left hand (longer wiper) side of the 04 Mazda3 five door. It generally happens once or twice a year,so I crank the thing a little tighter each time I have to fix it. Natually it is becoming a real pain. Any knowlege of a good fix would be appreciated.

 

Snug would be my best guess, but you should really make sure the blades are not frozen to the glass before turning them on in the first place. Not a good idea. The refill/blade can tear when that happens. Also, you are putting excessive strain on the motor when it has that much resistance to it"s normal operating function. It could cause a burn-out in either the fuse or the motor windings. It will certainly overheat, however briefly.
Make sure that you can lift them from the windshield before turning them on.

 

BTW: This is the wrong forum for this post. It is for forum SITE problems and suggestions.
I will move this to General Tech.

 

I agree with Richard. The easy solution is to make sure the wipers aren't frozen to the glass prior to turning them on as the blade (rubber part) can rip. Generally takes a second or two to run an ice scraper along the edge of the wiper blade to clear off any ice holding it down...... not that I have that problem much in eastern North Carolina.

 

Sorry y'all, my WIFE is the culprit here, but she is now very much aware of the issue. Her latest encounter was after a drive to work following a snowfall, where she cleared the windshield prior to driving to work. The glass was clear when she parked, but when she came back outside after work, they had frozen on what appeared to be dry clear glass. I've been driving in winter conditions all my life (age 62), and have never had this sort of problem. Other than the (really) lousy factory tires, which are long gone, we both love this little scooter (04 2.3 5 door). It handles like a sports card, and is really practical because of all the cargo space. It could use another gear. I have an auto that sits at 3 grand at 70mph. Another gear could help the road gas mileage. 30+ would be nice.

 

Ah yes always blame the wifey (it's okay, we all do).

For an extra gear on the 5-speed manual you're preaching to the choir. An extra highway only gear would easily drop the rpms at 70-80 below 3k and improve the mpg a ridiculous amount. Oh and 30+ is very attainable if you're careful with your driving.... and I'm not talking hypermiling.

 

In 2006, or "07I believe it was (correct me if I"m wrong.I didn"t check my facts,) they added a 5-sp auto tranny option to the S (2.3L) models.
And for the manual driver"s, there is (was?) a company that was offering an overdriven 5th gear that replaces the factory 5th. Frankly, it didn"t sound to me like it was worth the cost or the trouble and would only allow 5th the be a cruising gear. As it is, even on flat ground 5th ispretty sluggish on acceleration. I usually end up downshifting to 4th as it is.

 

My 07 had a 5 speed auto and I was able to get above 32 MPG with it on long trips.
My biggest complaint for the wipers is the fact that the right side will stay in the bent position, and it does refreeze going down the road in Freezing rain and/or Snow.
And yes Remi, I am one of the lazy people that goes out and warms the car up when it is turned into an Icicle, since 3-5 minutes while I am walking the dog right before I leave is all it takes [8D]

 

Veeeery interesting...I didn't know the latest autos had 5 gears. Maybe Mazda has learned something since '04. The 4 speed was the only auto available then. I like the 2.3, but I would have probably opted for the smaller mill if it had been available in the 5 door, but I liked the 5 door too much to make an issue at the time. (I also liked the 17 inch wheels. Too bad the replacement Michelins were so expensive...)

 

IIRC, "06 was the first year of the 5-sp autos, but only w/the 2.3L? The 3i, 2.0 still came w/the 4-sp.