Had my rx late 06 plate, for a few months, has a bit of a tendency to pull about on rutts in the road. Recently started to make a rattle creak noise on acceleration. Its bugging me as to what it is.

Any hints. Im bothered its something serious but its just been through the mot without a prob.

Wheels have been off recently for cleaning, and the car has just had fresh coils with 30k on the clock. Due an oil change.

Bit of a clunk on heavy slow speed turning at full lock.

 

any info on your differential? Last fluid change? What kind of fluid? etc.

 

Just mazda dealership history printout with nothing specific. When are the intervals for change and would this make a creaking noise on setoff? Its on 30k miles now

 

well for what it is worth, I had an issue with my diff within 2000 miles of ownership (purchased car new). Made loud groaning noises whenever i would make slow full lock turns. I dont recall there being noise on straight acceleration though. They replaced my fluid and added a ford "friction modifier"

 

Bothered its a 'swaybar' antiroll bar bush that needs grease or is perished. But would have thought that would turn up on an mot. It does pull about at speed over ridges in the road like it needs tracking.

 

have you got down to take a look to see if they are indeed damaged?

 

Not had chance yet as I only noticed it yesterday and its been dark out whenever ive been able to get near the car.

If it helps identify I drove about 25 miles last night and it only appeared after about 15 or so. Thinking it may be a heatshield. Dont know what could have changed underneath as its never done it before in about 3k of ownership.

Wasnt there again this morning all the way into work which is about 25 miles.

 

for the pulling/tramlining i would think a careful inspection of the tires for condition, and proper inflation and then if that is found to be ok, an alignment would be in order. the Rx8 has an odd alignment spec, its indexed to ride height, but with a huge tolerance. IMO the car should just be set to the exact number, and the tolerance should be thrown out.

as far as noises go, the trick is to duplicate the noise when the car is not moving. of all things kicking the tires can work really well...

 

THe noise has only lasted 2 days and has gone back from where it came. It my have been something in the boot or something that has since fallen off

What pressures are the tyres supposed to be at, I have the standard issue alloys which im sure are 18 inches but the sticker in the door jam states for 19s.

Cheers

 

You can check all that stuff. It shouldn't be making noise. How many miles?

However, realize it's not a FWD family sedan, esp when equipped with summer performance tires. RWD, 50/50 weight distribution, and wide stiff low-profile tires will make it much more sensitive to uneven road surfaces as well as any errors in alignment.

 

Mazda's sticker is incomplete, it just says 32psi, here in the US. it should say 32psi cold, if you do 32psi hot, the tire light will be on in the morning.

my car has one tire that got eaten by a bad alignment, and the other 3 are newish, and if i have the bad tire on the rear, it does pull, even with a good alignment.

some shop replaced the right rear suspension, and didn't align the car?!?

 

THe sticker states 32 in the front and 39 in the rear. Quite high for a front wheel drive.
I have never and will never drive a family sedan, I have almost exclusively driven rear wheel drive cars be them front engine or mid (opel manta through to MR2). Mainly without all the modern assists.
The only thing that tramlined like this was an fto with rims larger and wider than should have been on it, that made it very sensitive to alignment.

The rx is not the first car of this type I have had. It wont be the last but it is the first with 18's this wide. Enjoying the engine loads after getting used to driving it.

I'll get it tracked and make sure its in line.

 

its RWD, funny your sticker is different than the US one

 

Sorry I put two different sentences together in my head, I meant 39 in the rear is quite high for a front engine car as the wieght is usually more on the front wheels.

Im not that much of a numpty really.

I dont know why it states for 19s either as they are 18's on my car. Just standard alloys not the r3 ones (which I would love).