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:
Seat Warmer Unit Inspection
WARNING:
Handling a front seat (with built-in side air bag) improperly can accidentally
operate (deploy) the air bag, which may seriously injure you. Read the service
warnings before handling a front seat (with built-in side air bag)..
CAUTION:
After removing a front seat ...
Installing Child-Restraint Systems
Accident statistics reveal that a child is
safer in the rear seat. The front passenger's
seat is clearly the worst choice for any
child under 12, and with rear-facing childrestraint
systems it is clearly unsafe due to
air bags.
NOTE
Even if your vehicle is equipped with front passenger seat w ...
Forward Obstruction Warning (FOW))
Forward Obstruction Warning (FOW) is a system which alerts the driver of a
possible
collision using an indicator and warning sound in the instrument cluster while
the vehicle
is being driven at about 15 km/h or faster (10 mph or faster) and the system's
radar sensor
determines that your veh ...