You may not have it then because it's a pretty distinctive sound. In mine it's more like rustling leaves or iron filings in a tin can come from the glove compartment.

I just left the dealership where I have a Mazda regional tech specialist working on my car. I asked him what he knew about the marbles in can sound that many have and he thought that Mazda is working on a TSB to restrict the flow into the heater core.

Interesting, sounds like they are at least working on something.

Boy..if Mazda reps are reading this thread, it should be a HUGE wake-up call when 8 owners are reluctant to leave their cars behind because they are afraid that the ineptitude of the techs will mess it up even more!! I used to have it, but it went away? Not sure though..since the sound is not too noticeable unless you have the windows rolled down and are tuning into it..

^You'll notice it clearly with windows up/down/sideways doesn't matter. Loud and annoying. It appeared in my 8 after about 25,000 miles. I just dropped it off at the dealer this morning after describing the sand-can-thing. They said they'd get back to me today.

so has anyone here got there prob fixed yet? the noise comming from the glove box.....i guess by now we all assume its the heatcore......any fix yet boys......i would take it to the techs but honestly you guys in this site are alot smarter ....

I dont think Mazda reps are reading any of this. The regional Tech Specialest told me this only because I asked him. He told me that the problem with the internet is that someone will anounce their problems and everyone jumps on board and make it a bigger deal then what it is. All we can do is continue to take our chances at our dealerships and eventually they will tell Mazda...

Quick update on mine: Took the car in and let them know about the noise. I sat with the mechanic reproduced the noise. The noise is greatly diminished in the cold weather (in mine anyway) and he could barely hear it. A few weeks ago I was able to hear it well as the temps were Fall-like in CT but now winter has finally arrived (1 degree F this morning :( ).

Anyway, I was able to reproduce it enough and he said to bring it back on a warm day when its really acting up. I will and will let you know what happens.

I get the marbles regardless of temp but when I pushed her a couple days ago it seemed a little less obvious. Will try again tomorrow. I'm hoping it might be resolving itself thru more aggressive driving.

i had the marble in the can noise for about 6 months, then my motor seized up on me. i wonder if the two incidents are related.

can you explain what you mean by "seized." How did they diagnose the cause?

Yes, do tell.

I put on my MS exhaust yesterday, it nullifies the marbles sound for the most part =)

I have an 04 AT and it's lost its marbles

You don't need to be tuned into the sound to hear it, its loud enough,
but I only hear it when I use 89octane. When i use 93 its completely gone.
I'm testing with a few more tanks with 89 octane to see if it has anything to do with that the cars used to or maybe it just doesnt liek that 89 gas which sux cuz 93 costs more.

ok so now to bring this thing back i just got to the 3300 miles mark and i have the sand in can sound. i am gonna call tom and set an appointment and take it there but can anyone verify that replacing the heater core gets rid of the problem...thanx

I wanted to let everyone know that the problem has been fixed. LET ME START BY SAYING THAT THIS FORUM IS ONLY A GUIDE, ALTHOUGH MY PROBLEM WAS AIR/WATER PINGING AROUND IN THE HEATER CORE, YOUR PROBLEM MAY BE DIFFERENT.

What the dealer did was place a restrictor on the water tube going into the heater core. This slowed down the water enough to not have the noise. They assured me that this resolution will have no long term affects on the cooling system.

PLEASE DON'T ALL GO TO YOUR DEALER WITH THIS FIX. If you have this problem, I would suggest having the dealer diagnosis it since your problem could be different.

Congratulations dhallag, your persistence is to be commended, now join Club Marbles (or would be that ex-Marbles in your case). One questions though, they put a restrictor on the tube, so does that mean your heater core is getting less flow than before or does it simply cut down on the turbulence? Remember, though there is a restrictor in place, the resistance might be keeping the flow more laminar, which might actually result in more flow.

this is interesting stuff

thanks LionZoo... the flow of the water in the heater core is less than before.

In some cases this MIC can be Heater Hose related...see this link on repair Fix..

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...&postcount=295