[EVERY NEWS05] MAZDA MPV

Hi, it's very cold these days. Some people already started to look for studless winter tires. I think the market price of used studless tires will be getting higher soon.


I have written about TOYOTA, NISSAN, Mitsubishi poplar vehicles. Then today's topic is one of MAZDA's poplar family car, MPV. MPV is short for "Multi Purpose Vehicle". The one of original point is a movable left second line seat. MPV's second seats are for 2 passengers, and this left side seat can move horizontally. So you can use second seats as 1 bench seat and 2 separate seats. At August 2002 year's model change, a right second line seat also became to be able to move horizontally.

MAZDA MPV(1997~)

HAND-POWERED SLIDE DOORS
Once a rubber seal bet ween a slide door & B pillar deteriorated, the door become heavy to open. Please check slide doors' condition & try them when you look for a vehicle which have slide doors like MPV.

Before the first minor change in 2002, MPV's hand-powered slide doors didn't have a door-fixing system. So it was possible that a slide door close by itself because of its weight if you open the door on a slope. After the minor change, its design was reconsidered & a door-fixing system was loaded so that door was locked when it was full-opened, and it doesn't move unless you pull the door nob. If you have young kids, please pay attention whether the vehicle's slide doors have a door-fixing system.

ELECTRIC SLIDE DOORS
I have sometime heard a trouble of electric slide doors that the door don't close perfectly. These are some of main reasons of the trouble. It may be good to check the following parts once you look for good vehicle.

(1) Trouble of an auto closer
An auto closer is a motor that assist the door close pulling it. If this motor broke down, the door may stop OR slow down just before it close.

(2) Clogging in the clearance gap between a door & a body
If small stones or something are in the clearance gap between under a door & its body, MPV's safety system sense it & stop closing. Cleaning under a slide door (a place which slide door's wheel pass on) is necessary in this case.

(3) Rust on the body flame
Wheels of MPV's slide door move on its body flame(bottom of step) directly, so it doesn't have rail part for slide doors. If rain water have heaped in this flame part, it may goes rusty & be shaved by slide door wheels. Then the door became not to be able to close at correct position. To avoid this problem, please check whether rain water have collected on the place which slide door's wheel pass on, and whether a drain to discharge rain water haven't clogged.

ENGINE MOUNTS
Engine mounts are parts to fix an engine in vehicle's body. They soften vibration of an engine is conducted to chassis, etc. If engine mounts deteriorate, oil inside of them leak. Engine mounts are not so many in Used parts market because sometimes they are broken once engines are removed from vehicles and rubber parts are easy to deteriorate. Vehicles that has deteriorated engine mounts may cause noise before long. So please check their condition before purchasing.

This engine mount have caused oil leaking. You can see brown oil is oozing around the engine mount.

[EVERY NEWS04] NISSAN X-TRAIL

Long time no see. The fall is finally coming. Today I picked up one of the very famous SUV, Nissan X-Trail.

X-Trail was produced as a rival of TOYOTA RAV4 & HONDA CR-V. But X-Trail carried through to be an off-road vehicle even other SUV changed their concept to rich machines. After the first model change, X-Trail improved its driving performance and functionality keeping its concept, an off-road SUV. X-Trail has many equipment for out door activity, so very poplar among users who like camp, long driving, off-road driving, etc. From 2007 through 2009, X-Trail was the best seller SUV in Japan.

Nissan X-Trail(2000~)

AIR CONDITIONER SYSTEM
I sometimes found records about air conditioner(A/C) trouble of X-Trail. Their main symptoms are these.

(1) Wind blow from A/C panel but not cool.
(2) Wind doesn't blow completely.

If relay of A/C compressor have broken, A/C can't send cool air like (1). This trouble have found from some X-trail. Please check the relay if you got trouble in A/C.
In case of (2), don't you hear an loud sound from under the assistant driver's seat? If so, it may trouble of a blower motor. It is electric motor which spin a fan of A/C. If it is broken, it can't send air.

In passing, when you turned on A/C with AUTO mode on a cold day, vehicles don't send air till its water temperature is getting increase. It is to avoid to cool a passenger room, not a breakdown.


BACK DOOR CONDITION & BODY FRAME
If a back door(tail gate) goes down by itself when you open it, its dumper rods may have worn away.

Or, if a back door doesn't close well, lock parts of a door may be deformed because of shock or something. Repairing lock parts only is not so difficult, but I want to ask you to check a distortion of its body frame once you realized such condition.

as you know the main reason of a distortion of frame is a car accident. So if its body frame has distortion, this vehicle may has damages on other important parts even visible body damages had fixed. So please open a back door, and check whether body frame has repair marks, whether it has a distortion between body  & all doors carefully.

FULL MODEL CHANGE ON AUG, 2007
After the model change on August 2007, X-trail added the electric control 4WD system. That is a driving assist system that control engine torque, speed at a downhill, break, etc for all load condition. Passenger room are waterproofing type to against dirty. Its luggage board in the luggage space is detachable so that you can wash it. Under the luggage board are trays to put your luggage away with great efficiency. These items are really useful if you work with this vehicle, when you go to out door activity.