Mazda 6–Throttle body ground

Well, this can be one of those mods which don’t add any value, and in fact there is a long debate on forum on how useful it is. But it cost me ~10$ so why not. And besides, I felt immediate improvement in throttle response (but that could be just in my mind). Anyway…

You’ll need:

• 8mm and 10mm wrenches
• 4 AWG wire + connectors (I got preassembled wire from NAPA with connectors and stuff for 6.99 + tax)
• Cable housing, some cable ties

Procedure is dead-simple: take the wire, wrap in cable housing, fasten with some cable ties, connect one side to the body (where your negative battery is connected), and another side to one of the throttle body bolt. You’re done. Pics below:

Mazda 6–How to clean throttle body

Today I’ll tell how to clean throttle body on Mazda 6i 2008. But, as usual, disclaimer:

I’m not responsible for any damage you may cause to your car or, even worse, to yourself using instructions provided bellow. I’m not a professional mechanic and whatnot, so use these instructions at your own risk. Read entire post first and be sure you understand everything before you start it. If you’re in doubt – seek professional help.

NOTE: Chemicals you’ll be using are extremely flammable and poisonous, so use your brain, work in well ventilated area, away from open fire and don’t spray anything on hot engine (you’ll injure yourself and set your engine on fire)! Don’t work on engine when its hot, you’ll have to disconnect the coolant hoses and you can get injured. Don’t spill coolant as it poisonous, especially for animals, your dog will die from kidney failure :(!

Dirty throttle body can cause all sorts of problems: “sticky gas pedal”, poor gas mileage and poor throttle response.

For this job you’ll need:

• hex screwdriver
• 8mm & 10mm metric wrenches
• needle nose pliers
• Piece of plastic bag and couple of cable ties
• Empty 1 gal. milk bottle
• small brush (toothbrush, painting brush, any king of brush you don’t need)
• Carb and choke cleaner (or throttle body cleaner)
• Brake cleaner

Let’s get started.

Start by disconnecting the negative terminal off your battery.

Loosen two bolts holding intake hose (one on throttle body, and another one next to MAF sensor). You need to remove the hose that goes from intake hose (just squeeze the blue clip and slide it off).

Once the intake hose is removed, disconnect the throttle body position sensor. Slide the red clip a little bit and disconnect the TPS connector.

Disconnect the the upper coolant hose the goes to throttle body. Use needle nose pliers and slide off the clip that holds the hose. Than CAREFULY disconnect the hose. Use a small piece of plastic bag and cable tie to seal the open end of removed hose.

Now remove 4 bolts that hold throttle body (8mm wrench) – green arrows on picture below.

 

There is another lower coolant hose that goes from throttle body (red arrow on above image), you can reach that once you detach the throttle body. Do the same what you’ve done for upper hose.

This is how surge tank looks like inside (below). Cleanup that mess a little bit. Spray a little of carb cleaner on a rag and wipe it off (you won’t be able to remove everything though). Don’t spray carb cleaner inside surge tank!

And this is how your dirty throttle body may look like:

Now the fun part: get your carb cleaner, brake cleaner, brush and cut off the top of the milk bottle.

Cover the connector, coolant lines and remove rubber gasket from the throttle body (as carb cleaner dissolve it). Its better to replace the gasket each time you remove the throttle body, but I reused mine.

Now, spray good amount of carb cleaner inside the throttle body. Use brush to reach everywhere, clean it thoroughly. When its clean, spray the throttle body with brake cleaner, it will clean remaining carb cleaner.

DISPOSE USED CHEMICALS PROPERLY (or at least don’t dump it on the ground).

Clean TB:

Assemble everything in reverse order:

And you’re done!

Mazda 6–Replacing front fender inner liner

Its hard to call a DIY or a guide, it just some random pics I took replacing mine… The other day I found out that my driver’s side fender liner has a big hole in it. Probably some big debris got caught between the wheel and liner and destroyed it. Not a big deal I’d say, but I really didn’t like it.

So I found a replacement line off eBay for 15$ shipped. And here is the replacement process

First of, disclaimer:

I’m not responsible for any damage you may cause to your car or, even worse, to yourself using instructions provided bellow. I’m not a professional mechanic and whatnot, so use these instructions at your own risk. Read entire post first and be sure you understand everything before you start it. If you’re in doubt – seek professional help.

And pics :

New inner fender liner:

And the old one removed from the car:

And.. done

Mazda 6 – 60K? Time to clean your throttle body!

Check out the next post on how to DIY!

Mazda 6 : Replacing spark plugs

First of all, disclaimer:

I’m not responsible for any damage you may cause to your car or, even worse, to yourself using instructions provided bellow. I’m not a professional mechanic and whatnot, so use these instructions at your own risk. Read entire post first and be sure you understand everything before you start it. If you’re in doubt – seek professional help.

Stuff you’ll need:

• Spark plugs – Mazda 6i 2008 has ILTRA5-13G spark plugs – NGK Laser Iridium 3811 is a good replacement
• Spark plug socket
• Anti-seize lubricant
• Dielectric grease
• Torque wrench (optional, but highly recommended)
• 3/8 ratchet key and extension
• 8mm, 15mm keys

Let’s begin.

• Disconnect battery’s negative terminal
• Remove plastic cover from engine

• Cleanup the area around ignition coils thoroughly, use whatever necessary (vacuum, toothbrush, etc) to make it clean, you don’t want any debris around when you remove your spark plugs.

• Use 15 mm key to remove those little plastic thing that holds engine cover.

• Disconnect coils wires.
• Unscrew bolts that hold ignition coils
• Remove coils

• Now, take spark plug socket and remove a spark plug (I’d recommend doing one spark plug at a time)

• Take new spark plug, put it in the socket
• Apply small amount of anti-seize lube
• And screw it back in place

Use torque wrench and tighten up spark plug to 8-17 ft-lb

last one….

• Its time to reinstall ignition coils, but before you do, put small amount of dielectric grease in it.

• All coils are in place

• Put engine cover back in place and reconnect battery.
• And, you’re done!

Before you throw away your old spark plugs inspect them for any signs of oil or white residue.

Don’t forget to setup your clock, radio, and power windows as those were reset when you disconnected the battery.