Car logbook

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Mazda Mazda3 's' Grand Touring

Listed for $12900, final price $12500. 3900 km to oil change.

bought from Madadi auto sales ltd. great guy.

Had to register in alberta on sunday.
Taradale registry
5850 88 Ave NE #5120, Calgary, AB T3J 0Z7

insurance wouldn’t give you a

Mazda 3 2016 abs module leak

The abs module in the front left side of the hood had a small leak from two stainless steel brake lines. presumably this side had been in an accident and the module was replaced and not properly tighened. Stainless steel tubing. 10 or 11 mm metric flange wrench tried.

Leaked again. Back to heated car wash

Princess auto flange nut to 3/8" ratchet extension to ratchet really improved access, tightened it right up. Need booster on to see leak I think.

Took to canadian tire for out of province inspection.

Rear washer

rear washer didn’t work. According to service manual, single motor for both front and rear. Polarity to the pump motor is reversed (h-bridge?) to select.

Thought there was no nozzle in the back. Bought a 10 mm socket to remove spoiler, didn’t come off, screws under trim, trim on the inside popped right off on clips(no tools) and the nozzle was accessible.

Opened the front mud flap (two stage plastic clips). Pump is a Trico 11-612 vs 11-618 for the hatchback. Repair dealer had put the wrong one in and plugged the rear line.

Used a hairdrier to heat up. Used a pair of channellock pliers to pull the old pump off of the fluid tank, top first. New pump came with a grommet. Didn’t add lube. Put the grommet in first, then pushed the pump in.

Rear wiper blade

Rubber blade fell apart. Bought a Reflex 12" J-lock wiper, RR12J. To remove the wiper assembly, you have to unsnap the cover over the hinge.

The J-lock was not the correct mount. Trico 12B is the OEM part. However, the rubber blade insert themselves were apparently identical. Removed the old blade insert by pulling it out of the assembly.
The new blade insert was more stiff, and had to remove the metal stiffeners, insert the blade into the old assembly, and then slid the metal stiffeners into the blade through one far end of the assembly.

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First true maintenance, April 17th. Got an oil change w/ synthetic, and swapped the winter tires for summer tires. Dropped off the car at Canadian Tire at 8 AM Easter Sunday, walked to the library for an hour, picked it up at 11. $218.

Dad bought two new tires without rims; apparently it’s safer to put new tires in the back, somewhat counterintuitively. They swapped the tires and installed the rims.

Lesson learned: go to the car wash the day before getting tires swapped out to get the grime off the rims.

Apparently you shouldn’t store tires outdoors. Luckily my apartment has a storage area fit for this purpose.

The receipt says that the tires should be re-torqued within 100 km!

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Saskatoon transit

Tried the transit system in Saskatoon. I’m pretty happy with it, and I’m quite confident that i would manage fine without access to a vehicle. i need to get up about half an hour earlier - it takes about 45 minutes to get to work (five minutes of waiting, twenty minutes of riding, and walking) using the 44 to 4 bus, whereas normally driving takes about fifteen minutes.

You need good-quality gloves and some kind face covering to stay warm while you wait. In about three weeks of travel to work and back, one bus did not arrive. There’s a good taxi system for emergencies. I definitely had to be more disciplined and careful with time. I found I generally left work earlier.

It costs about eighty bucks a month, or three dollars a fare ($6/day). If you’re a student or staff at USask or various other organizations, half-price monthly transit passes are available.

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The check engine light came on while driving to work.

I bought a code reader from princess auto (cheaper than canadian tire). P0421

The check engine light went out some hours later, but the code remained. I’m not convinced that the fault was not simply the large temperature swing of going from an underground parking lot to -20 C weather. In any case, the light came on once or twice again in the ensuing months.

I have heard that if the catalytic converter disintegrates, the overpressure in the exhaust manifold may destroy the engine. I was therefore reluctant to drive the car until it had been examined.

They tried installing a sensor from stock, but it was the incorrect part. They did not charge for this. It cost about sixty dollars for the initial diagnosis. The correct part was ordered from the dealership.

The car sat in the Canadian Tire parking lot for about three weeks while waiting for the new O2 sensor to arrive. I decided to pick it up without the part, as the weather became quite cold - averaging some -20 degrees celsius, and quite a lot of snow had built up - and I worried that the battery would be drained or the gas-line would be frozen. fortunately althoughthe engine labored on the first start, the battery was not dead. The windows and doors were frozen half an hour to thaw out, but it seems to be no worse for wear.

to repair would be about $350 dollars - a catalytic replacement would be about $1500.

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ran over a curb taking a turn too sharp. only damage appears to be to the wheel well - when the tire bottomed out it pulled some of the plastic clips out of the mudguard.

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the repair ended up costing about six hundred dollars. after the repair the check engine light code went away for several months - it came back very briefly, same code, but went away quickly again.

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Floored the gas going onto the highway - unncessarily. Heard an immediate snapping sound - thought I picked aomethibg . Warning came up to immediately

Drive belt was gone.

Fortunately there were two belts, one for water

Said:

Idler was worn but still turning smoothly
Overdue for oil change [check?]
Overdue for cleaning: carbon buildup on fuel system. $400. Said no.

Total came to $850 - stupid waste of money on my part.

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Bus code reader was broken. Not sutre thr ettitqiitte but I paid with card - good thing I had a card.

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Realized that it really is necessary for me to have a car - had to go to work semi-emergency at midnight. No buses at that time. Would have cost $20 for a cab - maybe x2, $40.

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I have a ‘last mile’ issue with the bus in that the most convenient route still has a 20 minute walk to work. This is a relaxing trip most of the time, but at peak times in the summer it will get bad; not to mentuon that it adds extra time to the trip. Been looking at cheap manual kick scooters as an alternative - you can bring bikes on the front bus rack here, but .

Could keep scooter & helmet in the fence at work.

Also, a little concerned about bed bugs on the seat. Not sure that’s a very justified concern - might be such a low probability, but I have enough possessions that would need to be treated that it would be a pretty serious undertaking. It’s kind of weird to be standing when there’s so many seats available. Trenchcoat

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I found I get distracted by music while driving - not massively, but if it’s a nice song and I want to sing along it’s not good. It’s easy to just turn it up, so I wanted some way.

Pulled fuse 12 in the engine compartment. This car has a Bose option, so it’s a 25 amp fuse in 12: otherise it’s a 7.5 in a different slot. Don’t seem to be any other effects, no warning lights on startup, and the warning chimes still sound as they should.

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Rode to work on the Dorkmobile today.

I bought a used Razor A5 lux I believe (n.b; A5 Lux Black label) for a really good price.

Helmet nestles perfectly in the folded scooter.

I think it’s perfect when don’t need to get to work at a fixed time.

I left work at 9 pm or so and got home about 10. Distances seem a lot shorter with the scooter, definitely more efficient. I was a little warm when I got in to work, but I rode fast. Took 8 minutes from when I left the bus to getting in the door at work.

Makes a racket when getting home at night on the cracked sidewalk. No matter, I went slow.

One thing I didn’t plan for was the dirt - wearing nice pants and shirt, the bag I put the scooter in wasn’t long enough, and it was easy to get some dirt on clothes.

I really enjoy this. I took the 45 bus home and ended up pretty far from home.

I’m fortunate to have a bus route that’s very tame - no crime in my area, etc. I think (some good advice from my dad) that it’s critical scientists don’t get very insulated from the commoner. To be able to solve the problems that people really encounter. Overhearing little bits of conversations, etc.

I totally recognize the quality-of-life improvements that people get from having a car.

People say kick scooting is low-impact, but my ankle was pretty sore after the (long) commute back.

Carrying a scooter also gives a good excuse to stand in the bus, which also mitigates my concerns about bedbugs.

The scooter is 30 inches long when folded. Was planning on making my own carry bag from a CanTire game bag, but amazon has some nice duffel bags that should be suitable.

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Going to tackle this intermittent P0421 code again.

Called Minute muffler. Good guy. They don’t have a way to get the part, would need me to get it from the dealer or they’ll try to rig in an aftermarket part (which doesn’t sound very good to me.

Dealership gave me a quote. $3000 - $1800 for the cat and $850 in labor.

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Dropped the car off at Glenwood. $4700 for the replacement. Front tires are a little worn, cabin aor gilter is due.

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If I don’t drive for a while, may get out of practice and it may be more dangerous.

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First day of school, sept 12, bus was super full. Need to take the earlier bus, the first one of the day, during these periods.

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Dad came over for a visit and we drove the car to Alberta. No emissions code came up. 600 km in total. Dad noticed the car was pulling to one direction and that the oil was not in good condition, gasoline smell, despite the computer still reading 2000 km to oil change. Got a 4 wheel alignment at kal-tire in Alberta, rear right wheel was far out of alignment.

Noted it was still out on the way home. Still needs to be re-aligned at some point.

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Car culture

I’ve been complemented a few times on my car recently, and it’s renewed a feeling I have: pride in an automobile is a n insidious little evil.

Of course the automobile is probably one of the most profound innovations of the 20th century. It allows transport in a way the train . It allows productive work in a large country like Canada or the US. The personal freedom it can provide is . Escape from an abusive situations, find friends, travel for work or play. For the cost of gas (albiet notvthe other costs, wh

Henry Ford’s idea of a car that the common man could afford

Like the feeling you get when wearing a nice suit.

Friends of mine purchased beautiful BMW with a pearl finish. So many marriages

Having a ‘nice car’ is so intrinsically linked with notions of success.

Reliable, safe car is also linked with one’s ability to make in income, yet for most people the cost to maintain it . Burden that’s difficult to grasp. You constantly live in fear of a malfunction, like my catalytic issue, costing a months’ income. Maintaining a car yourself is an enormous time sink. Again there are benefits here; my friend enjoys auto servicegain mechanical skills and an understanding of operation, but there’s also non-generalizable skills, duct-tape hacks and brute force.

Much pride is taken in a gleaming finish without A car is a tool that wears with use.

which is totally incompatible with the road varnish of rocks and brake dust.

It is expected that the steel will corrode with use, meaning bolts seize with . When I tried the simplest possible task - changing the tire with the built-in scissor-jack, I found the post on my car had rusted in such a way that the jac would not fit, so I had to put the jack in a more risky point on the frame. Jobs that would be trivial in the platonic ideal of gleaming, unworn parts, highly-engineered factory tools and order-of-operations, can quickly spiral in the reality.

Among the three or more vehicles that my fruend maintains, he spends a solid fraction of his time. This burden of time is one that people could use honing theur craft, learning new skills, or just relaxing with their family and recuperating for the next day.

This trip was not without risk. There were

The act of driving itself has interesting effects. There is good evidence that the length of someone’s commute is strongly negatively correlated with mental health. I have recognized that I just feel worse after driving in the city for a while - more anxious. It takes a level of unbroken focus and concentration that .

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Waited too late to change tires, couldn’t get an appointment, decided to change my own tires now. bought a wrench 21 mm socket Needed an extra-thin-wall deep socket; regular socket fit on the summer tires but not on the winter. I bought a bottle jack, but it doesn’t fit; using the scissor jack that came with the car. One corner is rusted such that the scissor jack doesn’t fit; needed to move it to a less safe part of the car.

Need to put tires with the most tread on the back for stability, measured with caliper depth gauge

Need to be careful with the rotation marker, needs to be correct

Torque spec

Was 21 mm. Tread was pretty much the same on the front or rear tires.

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• They took backpacks