Alex's Hobbies » Car

Sonax Xtreme Polish & Wax 2 Nano Pro

AnA — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:06:32 +0000

As Chinese New Year is round the corner; I have decided to polish and wax for my coming 5 years old car. This is a routine which I will do every year. I normally will polish and wax my car twice a year. So, before Chinese New Year is one of this good time to do it.

After some shopping, I had decided to get the product from Sonax for my this year’s polish and wax. The product is SONAX Xtreme Polish & Wax 2 Nano Pro. I find it pretty good.

Previously, I had tried Autoglym and Zaino Bro. Both give me reasonably good results. But, this Sonax is even better in my opinion. It produces better shine. One very good advantage of this Sonax is that the polish residues is very easy to remove as compare to the previous products I had used. For now, hope it lasts. Cheers!

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All New Mazda3

AnA — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:30:31 +0000

I am very excited over the launching of the all new Mazda3 which will be out for booking around March/April 2009 in Singapore. By looking at those pictures currently available in the websites, I love the design and features it has to offer. Only one thing which I think I may not like it is the dashboard; it seem to occupied too much space as it covered from driver’s to passenger’s side. I still prefer the design of the current Mazda3 for the dashboard.

Well, my decision may change once I look at the actual car itself. Hope I will not be disappointed. Really looking forward to view the actual car. Well done Mazda’s designers and engineers. Cheers!

Tires for my Car

AnA — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:53:26 +0000

It is coming 2 years since the last time I change my car tires. Recently, the noise from the tires is getting worse. It goes woo, woo…. I could not take it anymore and thus decided to change my tires on one Saturday. After some research, I have noted 3 models of the tires as candidates. The Michelin XM1, Bridgestone GR80 and Yokohama DB ES501. Since I had been using the Michelin XM1, I would like to try the others.

Many people recommended Bridgestone as GR80 as it has both quietness and grip. I had tried Bridgestone before, although not the same model as GR80 but something close. I find it gets noisy after few months of usage. The rubber seem to harden pretty quickly. Maybe I should try something else.

Yokohama DB ES501 is the tire which I always wanted to try. The reason is it seem very quiet as the threads are very fine. Of course, you have to compensate in term of grip I presume. Since I do not drive fast, it may not be an issue. Furthermore, as quietness is my first priority, I will go for tires which meet this category. Without much hesitation, I go for it.

The first impression when the ES501 were on the wheel; it seem smaller as compare to my previous XM1. Although I got the same size tires, 195/65 R15. The Michelin just seem nicer and bigger on the wheel.

OK, just put the look aside; it is time to test it out. The moment I drive, I could feel it was totally different. The woo woo noise was gone. Interestingly, the engine noise seem louder now. The road noise from the tires were gone. I think this was the best upgrade I ever had. I was overjoyed.

Heard ES501 rubber is soft and it may not be durable. But for now, whose care … I just enjoys the current quietness. As if I am having a new car. Cheers!

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Remove Watermark on Windscreen

AnA — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:22:02 +0000

All of us must had experience watermarks on windscreen or glass. The watermarks on car windscreen and windows which are very hard to remove. I had tried many glass polisher but none seem to work as good.

One of my good friend passed me a solution. It is a Abrasives of glass specially to polish glass and clear watermark. I gave it a try. To my surprise, it is one of best I had ever tried and it cleared the watermark without much effort. Great product for the price of only S$2 per pack. The combination of the polish solution and the sponge really works well. I am going to stock up for future use. Cheers!

Bosch Wiper

AnA — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:40:20 +0000

It is time to change to a new wiper again. As Singapore has a tropical climate. It rain all year round. So, keeping the wiper in top condition is very important. The stock Bosch’s wiper is pretty good but it does not last. The reason could be due to softer rubber they use for their blades. But, soft rubber blades will reduce the noise during the wiper operation. Thus, creating a quiet and smooth wipe.

After some marketing, manage to find another alternative wiper. It is also from Bosch. But it is designed for our climate…that is the topical climate. This wiper is using “Tropical Rubber Formula” and very suitable for our climate. The blades rubber is a little harder than the stock but it last longer. The wiping noise it produced during operation is still very acceptable in general. Guess this is the trade off. Nothing is perfect. We have to compensate at time. It happen in life too. Anyway, this is a good wiper in my opinion at such a low price; it is considered very value for money I think. Cheers!

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Coolant change for Mazda3

AnA — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:13:00 +0000

Two years is up and it is time to change the engine coolant. After some consideration, decided to go for the OAT coolant for my Mazda3. This OAT is suppose to be better than the conventional coolant and has longer life. As this is my first time doing this coolant change for car, I read the manual to determine how many liters of the coolant I should purchase. Manual stated about 6 liters. So, I got 5 bottles of 1 liter as I think some of the water/coolant will still remain in the cooling system which will make up to 6 liters eventually.

Basic procedures are shown in the pictures below…

The OAT coolant I am using…

The basic tools which we need…

Dismantled the cover from the bottom of the engine compartment…it has 7 screws and 2 clips.

Locate the position of the coolant drainage plug and placed a container under it as shown below…

Unscrew the drainage plug with a coin and plier…if need use a flag screwdriver as shown…be careful of the hot coolant coming out from the drainage plug…

Open the cap from the coolant reservoir to release the vacuum and the coolant will rush out from the drainage plug…

Once all old coolant was drained out, close the drainage plug and top up the coolant reservoir with clean water. Start the engine and let the water circulated within the engine for a few minutes. Then, drain out the water. Do this a few times until there is no sign of the old coolant left in the coolant system (by looking at the colour of the water).

Now, it is time to top up with new OAT coolant. All in all, I only used up 4 liters of coolant. So for me, I have one bottle extra. Anyway, I just keep it for future top up.

This Shell’s OAT coolant is red in colour…Enjoys!

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Mazda3 Taillight change

AnA — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 05:20:19 +0000

Not long ago, water went into my beloved Mazda car’s taillight. After some findings and investigation; noticed that it was due to the rubber seal problem. The rubber seal cost price is about S$35 a pair. Mazda agent will not sell individual piece; it comes in pair.

Luckily, I came across someone selling the “Transparent” taillight. This “Transparent” taillight is always on my wish list since the first day I got my car. I always wanted to change my red taillight to these transparent ones. Without hesitation, I purchased it. It was cheap consider it come in full set; a pair of main taillights and a pair of reverse light. It only cost me S$140 for a full set of four.

Below are some pictures of the taillight change…

Original Red Taillight …

Partial change …

Fully change to “Transparent” taillight …

From far, the “Transparent” taillight looks good. But upon closer look, it seem the workmanship is not as good as those red ones. Take a look at the joining part of the taillight’s housing; you will understand what I mean …

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Mazda3 using Reusable Cable Tie

AnA — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:33:31 +0000

Found one of the engine harness clip damaged during a verification on the harness. I think such harness clip will damaged over time due to the engine heat. So, maybe it is advisable to do a check during every routine car servicing.

Understand from Mazda’s agent that the original grey harness clip is not easy to find. We have to find alternative. After a long search, finally managed to get the Reusable cable tie as alternative to replace the original grey harness clip. Below is the picture showing the original grey harness clip and the Reusable cable tie.

Ensure the engine harness does not touch the engine …

Some pictures of the Reusable Cable Tie …

Quick release by pressing the release level. I find the ability to release for the new reusable cable tie is better than the orginal clip …

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Mazda3 engine harness clip

AnA — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:30:14 +0000

Few weeks ago, I had opened my Mazda3′s car bonnet to top up the wiper’s water reservoir and notice a burning smell from the engine area. After some verification, found one of the grey colour Mazda3 engine harness clip damaged. The worn out plastic particles from the clip fell off and touches the engine and thus causes the burning smell.

The damaged original grey harness clip …

The original grey colour clips for the harness is impossible to find. According to Mazda’s agent, they also cannot get it; if we wanted to get the original grey clip, you have to get the whole engine harness and it cost more than S$1K. I think I will not be crazy enough to pay S$1k just because of one grey clip. The only harness clip available which could be ordered is Clip HA (BC5A-67-CC1). It costs S$10; and pretty expensive for just a clip. It is black in colour and it is the closest clip I could get as compare to the original grey one. I decided to give it a try.

Two weeks passed and the black clip harness finally arrived. I had tried it out immediately upon getting it at Mazda Agent. It fits well enough but not perfect. The push mount portion tends to break loose with a light pull. I wonder will it disconnect by itself while the engine is operating. The vibration from the engine may cause it to break loose. Anyway, will monitor it for a few days to confirm.

The new and old harness clip …

The new harness clip …

For those whom wanted to find another cheaper alternative; the closest substitute is a push mount type just like the one as shown below. If still cannot find these; then get those normal black cable tie like the 2nd picture shown below. But wondering will these cable tie withstand the engine’s heat. Well, guess have to try to confirm. Cheer!

Push Mount Cable Tie

Photo : Panduit

Normal Cable Tie

Photo : RS

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Mazda3 headlight housing melted

AnA — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:56:06 +0000

Previously, my Mazda3′s headlight housing was melted internally. Although this problem had been rectified a while ago, I just want to highlight it here.

During that time, my Mazda3 was among the first batch of the new Mazda3. One and a half year later, noticed the internal black colour plastic portion melted. This melted portion is directly under the main headlight bulb. It seem to get worse over time.

I did not change anything such as HID bulbs or something. All remains as stock. However, as my car was still under warranty; I had requested Mazda’s Agent to verify and they got it changed. After that change, the headlight remains good up till today (2.5 years later).

The new batch of headlight’s housing comes with a Chinese ‘zhi’ character before the HCHR-205 on the transparent cover. The old batch does not come with this character. So, if you see this ‘zhi’ character; your headlight housing is the newer batch and should not encounter the melting problem. This shows that Mazda knows about the problem and has constantly improving on it. Good for consumers I guess….Cheers!

Melted black plastic portion…

The new Mazda3 headlight with the Chinese character ‘zhi’ before the HCHR-205…

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