VASpeed3

I always pull the stick, wipe it off, reinsert it into the tube, pull it back out, then take the reading.

Try that method a few times in a row and see how it works for you.

 

If you know that that's what works (I have no reason at all to think otherwise), I'll do it. My rant came from the fact that I'mthe sort who has to understand the howor whysomething works before I trust the answer it gives me.I have yet to reach that point, but I appreciate your help!

Question, if you have a blade dipstick, what does it read on the first pull after the engine has been still for a while?

 

If there is virtually no oil on the first pull, where did it come from on the second?????

========================

VASpeed3 ... Only thing I can think is ... the dipstick being in the tube blocks the oil from getting up into the tube. Maybe the gasket seal at the top of dipstick is so airtight it does not allow the oil up? Removing the dipstick unseals the tube, allowing oil up into it ... which is why you get a reading on the second pull. Not saying I total buy into the theory, but maybe ....

In my case (my 2007 with 2.0),I tried something last night.With the car sitting for over an hour, if I do not insert the dipstick completely ... like maybe an inch short of being fully inserted ...I can see aline, above which the metal blob is dry (as opposed to the metal blob coming out looking like it was fully immersed). This would support the idea that they simply made the dipstick the wrong length.

I was the other day talking with a mechanic who worked on Chevrolets for many years, who told me stories of certain models and years where the messed up and put the wrong dipstick with the wrong engine.

The perspective of other M3 owners would be appreciated.

 

So, I went to the Mazda dealer today, had them pull a dipstick out of a Mazda 3 on the lot, and compared it to mine. They were identical, so I am now convinced my dipstick is OK.

The tech told me that the 4.5 quart capacity listed for the M3 is the "bone dry fill" capacity they use when they first fill the engine at the factory. This is more oil than the engine needs for oil changes, as the engine is NOT bone dry ever again. Even if you let it drain for an hour, it would not be bone dry. He said to put 4.25 quarts in with a filter change. Based on this, I wouldrecommend owners tell their oil change people to put in 4.25 quarts (at least for the 2.0 engine).

I went back to the oil change place, and they fixed it. They actually drained out all the oil, and refilled it - kudos to them for caring enough to do this! I guess it helped that I didn't go in there all angry and full of profanity. The oil level is now "full" per the line on the dipstick. I feel much better.

The oil change place'scomputer system strangely said to put in 4.6 quarts ... where did THAT number come from?

Another thing the tech at the Mazda dealership told me was that, effective the 2006 engine, they changed the dipstick - notjust physically, but also where exactly in the engine it resides -because so many owners of 2005 and previous year vehicles had issues with the accuracy of the dipstick reading. He showed me a 2004, and the dipstick is placed VERY differently in the engine. FYI. Sorry, it sounds like some of you might have a bum dipstick.

 

Im sorry guys but ill have to admit and so call me a walking contradiction because i dont Fu*king care but regaurdless of the 1980's jap cars are betters. american made atuo makers fu*ked thier own reputation by thinking quantity over quality is God. Im sure im not the only one before I had this mazda 3 (my first and last mazda btw) i owned a 95 Honda accord been in three major accident at 211,000 and purred perfectly like a freakin kitten. and before that i owned a 95 Dodge Intrepid with the 3.5L 24V V6...the biggest money pit ever it has on 85,000 miles on it and my family and I have spent well over $7,000 to keep this piece a **** alive....

I would really like to see your recalls on these hondas and toyotas because personally a faulty clock or a ****ed up ash tray lever or cig lighter is hardly my idea of a dangerous recall that will serverly kill people and damage thier reputations. Lets not forget Ford with the EXPLODER with the **** *** tires that resulted in flipping over killings literally thousands of people that year. (Alos FORD picked up a new acronym for this as well Flipping Over Results in Death). As far as I know, no foregin auto makers tops that so far. Going along with a steady pace of fords, lets not for get the pinto where it would pretty much spontaneous combust if the wind hit it from the wrong way from behind...Sure, bringing up the pinto is pretty much beating a dead horse but still realvent to the topic. Sure you'll see a ford or chevey or a mopar OCASSIONALY have 150,000 and hats off the luck but the number of american cars with that kind of mileage compare to the foregin car market isnt even remotely close. and to those which extremely high mileage how many times have you rebuilt that engine or have had significant engine work done. Im not talking basic gas, oil, occasional sensor, bateries ect....

As far as this mazda goes im not to impressed with the service i got between this and the honda. Mazda does not and i mean 100% does not stand behind their product and will sell you out any way they can. (at least in St. Louis anyway) I threw a CEL 128 and 126 which first thing that comes to mind is a thermostat and it was but they tried to tell me the problem was i had a small crack in the intake boot allowing SIGNIFICANTLY cooler air to enter the engine and thus since the car was running cooler it threw thoes codes...what a freakin joke.

Chevy and ford and dodge trucks...decent....Chevy, Ford, Mopar cars, (85+) blow *** and are money pits. Lets just say hell would have to freeze over and thaw and jesus would have to walk the earth again before i even CONSIDER buying another mopar

 

How about 533,000 Toyota trucks recalled due to failed ball joints (you know loss of vehicle control)
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news0...ll_joints.html

Or the 30,000 Scion TC's with airbags that inadvertantly deploy
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2...on_recall.html

Or the 420,000 Toyota cars globally recalled for faulty engine parts that could lead to loss of oil and the engine to stop
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...071800681.html

Or the 320,000 Toyota Sequoia minivans recalled due to faulty seatbelts....
http://www.autoaccidentlegalcenter.c...a-recalls.html

Or the 81,000 Honda Accords recalled for faulty airbag sensors
http://www.japanesecarswatch.com/hon...0-accords.html

Or the 45,000 Honda Hybirds recalled for defective voltage converters (causes them not to run)
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2...recalls_4.html

Or the 561,000 Hondas recalled due to a defective part in starting the engine.
http://www.autonews24h.com/Auto-Reca...le-recall.html


Believe what you want to believe, the facts are out there if you choose to look for them. All I did was type "Toyota recalls" into yahoo search.

 

As for your theory about the Firestone tires....Again, do your research. I believe it was Car & Driver that did a test where they blew out the left rear tire on an Explorer@ 70 mph, and they were able to brake the vehicle, in a straight line, WITHOUT EVEN TOUCHING THE STEERING WHEEL. No loss of control due to the blow-out.

Poor driving skills (yanking the wheel when the blowout occurs, causing loss of control), bald tires (many with over 80,000 miles), excessive speed (in excess of 85 mph), overloaded trailers, and too many occupants (7 people in a 5 occupant vehicle, 4 thrown from vehicle were not properly restrained and died) were the main causes of the deaths with regards to the Explorers. Explorers had no higher rate of roll-over than any other SUV on the market. I personally think Jacque Nasser screwed up when he recalled all of those tires. That thing got way out of control because of how the press played it out.

 

Oh yeah....

I put 143,000 miles on a 1984 Cavalier with hardly any repairs (pounded on that car in college)
I put 146,000 miles on a 1993 S-10 4wd, again beat the **** out of the truck, no issues
I put 76,000 miles on a 1996 GMC jimmy (in 2 years), again, no problems
I put 84,000 miles on a 1999 Subaru....A split oil filter caused the oil to spray down the engine, the front engine seal failed, the power antennae didn't work for ****.
I've put 48,000 miles on my 3 with no issues, and my wife is just over 51,000 with her 6 with no issues.

Apparently my experiences have differed from yours.

 

well yeah every car is going to have ****ty years but still thoes recalls you posted which i would agree would be potentially dangerous are from what year ranges? regardless of the fact the foregin car market has been in the US what...since the late 70's early 80's (majorly). Even so, compared to the amount of foregin recalls to american recals is no where even close. undoubtly the american market has gotten substantially better at building vehicles and i would have no problem buying an american vehicle knowing it wont nickle and dime me to death starting at 60000 miles. The new GM plan 10/100k is going to help them out alot but if you think about it the wouldnt need to put such a rediculous warranty on these cars if they stood behind their cars and built a quality car. most foregin markets dont have that (or without buying it) like i have a 10/100k which is pointless because ive voided it out due to countless mods lol. But at the same time mazda will tell me my wiper arm broke (not that it actually happend) and tell me it was because i have a cold air intake. However they couldn't bull**** there way out of telling me my rear wheel bearing went out at 48k. Mazda actually had to bite the bullet and process it under my warranty. I was waiting for them to say well with this cold air intake and custom exhaust it looks like you drive this to wrecklessly and therefore it was misuse and its not covered

 

The reason that you see more American recalls over time are numerous...A couple are:

1)The Japanese manufacturersseem tohave a habit of hiding a lot more issues than what the US manufacturers admit.Mistubishi got into a ton of trouble a few years back for that, and again recently. If we identify an issue, we immediately get that information out. The Japanese do not.

"Mitsubishi Motors said on July 18 it would offer to recall or check 692,000 cars and trucks in Japan at a cost of five billion yen ($46 million), after acknowledging it hid customer complaints from the Transport Ministry for eight years." http://money.cnn.com/2000/08/22/reca...call/index.htm

Also......numerous other cover-ups....
http://www.mitsubishisucks.com/cars/scandals/2000/

2) Back in the 70's/80's, Japan was a very small player in the overall automotive market in the US (% market share), they made many fewer cars, and as such they had less opportunities to screw up. They also launched their vehicles in their domestic market (Japan) to iron the bugs out before they shipped them over here. We don't have the luxury of a guinea pig market to test out new products.

Those recalls are on Toyota's/Hondas that are available today. Didn't you look at the links or are you not really interested in having an informed opinion on the subject? (rather than the blatant bias you currently have). These should be their highest quality vehicles assuming continuous improvement. (unless you are saying that their quality has been slipping lately)

I'll be the first to admit the US cars sucked in the 70's/80's....newsflash, we are almost 20 years removed from the 80's..Times change. Get over it.

You state Mazda didn't challenge your wheel bearing at all, (i.e. meeting their obligations per the warranty) yet you characterize it like they did fight it, they might as well fight it, you seem to want to accuse them of that anyway (whether they did it or not)

FYI....Dealerships are all independently owned and operated....i.e. the manufacturers have no control over how they run their businesses. If you have a bad experience with a dealer, find another dealer and report your experiences to the District Service Representative so that Mazda Corporate knows which dealers are getting complaints and low customer satisfaction.

If you really want to know why the Japanese are crushing the US automakers (profitwise), let me give you 3 main reasons that give the Japanese a $3000-$4000/vehicle advantage over the US Mfg.

1) Yen-dollar conversion - this gives them more buying power, i.e. they can put more content into a vehicle at a lower price than we can

2) Retirement benefits - Toyota hasn't had a Union workforce for 100 years and the subsequent costs associated with it. Right now there are 2-3 people collecting retirement for every person working at the Big3. That cost translates directly into the cost of the vehicles being produced

3) Health Care benefits....Japan has Nationalized healthcare and as such, Toyota doesn't have to carry the cost of benefits for it's employees. We do.

Feel free to have your own opinion, just do yourself a favor and have it be an informed one.