warren@ihnss.UUCP (Warren Montgomery) (09/20/84)
A while back I asked for opinions on a good substitute for a VW rabbit, given I could not get one with the features I wanted in the 84 model year and did not want to wait for 85. After a lot of looking and an early death for the car we were replacing, we bought a Mazda GLC. On the whole we are extremely pleased with the car, which handles well, gets good mileage, and provides an impressive set of features for the money. This is our first new car in 5 years, and the first with a "modern" emissions system, and I have some questions about it's operation that other GLC owners may be able to answer. 1) The car operates with the engine temperature 1/3 of the way between Cold and Hot most of the time, but when idling on a warm day quickly rises to 1/2 way and smells hot. It doesn't overheat. Is this just normal, or should I look for something wrong? 2) After driving in traffic for some time on a warm day I ocasionally hear a periodic muffled tone (somewhat like someone playing high C on an organ very quietly behind a thick blanket of insulation) that cycles on and off in about 10 second cycles. I haven't been able to localize it, but it seems to be coming from the right rear of the car. It's not dependent on running accessories or engine speed. Nothing operates abnormally and all of the guages are normal, but I am puzzled about what causes it. Any ideas? 3) The car sometimes hesitates during acceleration when partially warmed up. It starts well and runs well either completely cold or fully warm, and I have experienced this with just about every recent make car I have rented except for fuel inject models. Is this just inevitable, or can/should it be adjusted away? 4) Much of my driving is in weak signal areas for FM radio reception. The radio (a Clarion 4 speaker model that Mazda apparently sells as factory equipment) performs quite well on the whole, but sometimes gets into a pulsating mode, where the signal comes and goes, or the tone periodically changes, or the balance between left and right keeps changing. I'm not complaining, since under similar circumstances the radio on my other car picks up static, switches stations, and does other undesirable things, but I would like to know if there is some kind of stability adjustment that may be misadjusted. Again, my overall impression with this car has been very favorable. I have been very favorably impressed by the obvious attention to details in the design, and general sound feeling of the car. The engine compartment seems well laid out for servicing, and what I can see of the engine components seem well designed for durability. -- Warren Montgomery ihnss!warren IH (8-367) x2494
heiser@cca.UUCP (Bill Heiser) (09/30/84)
I don't have a Mazda, but I have a Honda Civic which also emits
the "tone" you described in your posting. I traced it to the gas
tank! Apparently, pressure builds up in the tank and is not vented
properly. The built-up pressure causes air to try to escape, causing
the humming tone...
warren@ihnss.UUCP (Warren Montgomery) (10/02/84)
(Actually about gas vapors in fuel systems) I got several responses to my posting describing a mysterious noise from the rear of my new GLC, suggesting fuel pump noises, or noises of gas fumes escaping in some way. I discovered the source of my problem one day while refuelling. Sure enough, as I started to loosen the gas cap it made exactly the same noise that it had been making before. Apparently the noise is due to gas fumes escaping from the fuel cap if you don't get the cap all of the way on. (It's highly likely that this is the source, since the fuel cap on my car requires a bit of effort to turn to fully closed.) Several owners of other japanese cars pointed to similar noises and at least one suggested the same cause (on an Honda accord, as I recall). The gas pressure problem seems to be even more noticable on this car than on my 79 Rabbit, which occasionally builds up substantial positive or negative pressure in the fuel system making it hard to open the cap. (Once there was so much pressure that gas started to leak from one of the hose connections in the filler spout). Is unleaded gas more volatile than leaded? How much pressure is safe, and are there any safeguards against excessive pressure. I never worried about pressure bursting the gas tank in my old Toyota, since it didn't build up much, but there seems to be quite enough pressure in the fuel systems of newer cars to create a hazard as they age. -- Warren Montgomery ihnss!warren IH ((312)-979) x2494