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View Full Version : 2004 Mazda3 Sedan Grinding Under Load


kaleshnikov
06-26-2013, 05:41 PM
2004 Mazda 3
2L Auto
5 door sedan
270,000km

The car makes a strange grinding sound under heavy WOT acceleration in 1st around 3000+ RPM and sometimes in second at high RPM highway speeds. The sound does seem to be coming from the driver side, underneath somewhere. When the car is on an incline, the sound is much easier to make. On a decline less so.

In neutral no amount of revving causes a problem.

I've had the left axle & control arm replaced as these were broken. The sound still persists. After replacing these parts, the car does seem to make thumping sounds more when going over bumps. The grinding sound will also happen more if I'm accelerating while going over a road.

At this point my mechanic is stumped, and we're thinking that the BOTTOM/BACK engine mount might be causing this. It's not a common mount that fails, but we have no idea what else could be causing this. The passenger side engine mount was replaced a while ago.
kaleshnikov
06-26-2013, 05:43 PM
Here is a video I've recorded of the sound. This was turning left from a stand still.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZNBZLLnyrM
n00bMeiSter
06-26-2013, 06:13 PM
Hub bearings are probably gone.
Thumping over bumps is most likely blown shock/strut or stabilizer link. have your mechanic look at those. however I would recommend taking it to jimmy at street performance.
kaleshnikov
06-26-2013, 06:20 PM
Hub bearings are probably gone.
Thumping over bumps is most likely blown shock/strut or stabilizer link. have your mechanic look at those. however I would recommend taking it to jimmy at street performance.

I've had a bearing problem before, on that side, but wouldn't the bearing cause a problem more under steering? It was a constant whirling noise when the bearing was gone.

Mechanic says the struct & link are fine. I uploaded a YouTube video of the sound just waiting for moderator approval here
n00bMeiSter
06-26-2013, 08:09 PM
I've had a bearing problem before, on that side, but wouldn't the bearing cause a problem more under steering? It was a constant whirling noise when the bearing was gone.

Mechanic says the struct & link are fine. I uploaded a YouTube video of the sound just waiting for moderator approval here

Why would it cause problems when steering? It doesn't bend or anything.
When a bearing goes, it doesn't whir, it grinds (right up until it falls off). That whirring is the noise it makes as it's dying. I've replaced both of my front hubs (in the 2004's you have to replace the whole hub sadly), and it was pretty much what you described. Take it to Jimmy, he'll look at it and tell you exactly what the issue is. My money is in bearing and strut / stabilizer links.
kaleshnikov
06-26-2013, 08:33 PM
Will take it in to Jimmy, I read that he's quite busy and my schedule is a bitch so I hope that I can get him to see the car very soon