Mazda 3 Owners Manual: Underbody Maintenance
Road chemicals and salt used for ice and snow removal and solvents used for dust control may collect on the underbody. If not removed, they will speed up rusting and deterioration of such underbody parts as fuel lines, frame, floor pan, and exhaust system, even though these parts may be coated with anti-corrosive material.
Thoroughly flush the underbody and wheel housings with lukewarm or cold water at the end of each winter. Try also to do this every month.
Pay special attention to these areas because they easily hide mud and dirt.
It will do more harm than good to wet down the road grime without removing it.
The lower edges of doors, rocker panels, and frame members have drain holes that should not be clogged. Water trapped there will cause rusting.
| WARNING
Dry off brakes that have become
wet by driving slowly, releasing the
accelerator pedal and lightly applying
the brakes several times until the brake
performance returns to normal:
Driving with wet brakes is dangerous. Increased stopping distance or the vehicle pulling to one side when braking could result in a serious accident. Light braking will indicate whether the brakes have been aff ected. |
Bright-Metal Maintenance
Use tar remover to remove road tar and
insects. Never do this with a knife or
similar tool.
To prevent corrosion on brightmetal
surfaces, apply wax or chrome
preservative and rub it to a ...
Aluminum Wheel Maintenance
A protective coating is provided over the
aluminum wheels. Special care is needed
to protect this coating.
CAUTION
Do not use any detergent other than
mild detergent. Before using any
...
Other materials:
Liftgate Upper Trim Removal/Installation
1. Detach tab while pulling the liftgate upper trim in the direction of the arrow
(1) shown in the figure, then detach clips and pin while pulling in the direction
of the arrow (2).
2. Detach tab while pulling the liftgate upper trim in the direction of the arrow
(3) shown in the figure, ...
Locking, Unlocking with Request
Switch (With the advanced keyless
function)
All doors and the liftgate can be locked/
unlocked by pressing the request switch
on the front doors while the key is being
carried.
(5–door)
The request switch on the liftgate can only
be used to lock all doors and the liftgate.
Front doors
Liftgate (5-door Lock only)
To lock
To l ...
SRS Air Bag Deployment Criteria
This chart indicates the applicable SRS equipment that will deploy depending
on the type of
collision.
(The illustrations are the representative cases of collisions.)
X: The SRS air bag equipment is designed to deploy in a collision.
*1 (With Front Passenger Occupant Classification Syste ...
