2014 MAZDA MODEL 3 4-DOOR Owners Manual

6–35
Maintenance and Care
Owner Maintenance
Replacing Rear Window Wiper Blade (5-Door)
When the wiper no longer cleans well, the
blade is probably worn or cracked.
Replace it.
CAUTION
To prevent damage to the wiper arm
and other components, do not move
the wiper by hand.
1. Remove the cover and raise the wiper arm.
2. Firmly rotate the wiper blade to the right until it unlocks, then remove the
blade.
CAUTION
To prevent damage to the rear window,
do not let the wiper arm fall on it.
3. Pull down the blade rubber and slide it out of the blade holder.
4. Remove the metal stiffeners from the blade rubber and install them in the
new blade.
CAUTION
Do not bend or discard the stiff eners.
You need to use them again.
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Maintenance and Care
Owner Maintenance
5. Carefully insert the new blade rubber.
Then install the blade assembly in the reverse order of removal.
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6–37
Maintenance and Care
Owner Maintenance
Battery
WARNING
Wash hands after handling the battery and related accessories: Battery posts, terminals and related accessories contain lead and lead compounds,
chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and reproductive harm.


Read the following precautions carefully before using the battery or inspecting
to ensure safe and correct handling:

Always wear eye protection when working near the battery:
Working without eye protection is dangerous. Battery fl uid contains SULFURIC ACID
which could cause blindness if splashed into your eyes. Also, hydrogen gas produced
during normal battery operation, could ignite and cause the battery to explode.


Wear eye protection and protective gloves to prevent contact with battery fl uid:
Spilled battery fl uid is dangerous.
Battery fl uid contains SULFURIC ACID which could cause serious injuries if it gets in eyes,
or on the skin or clothing. If this happens, immediately fl ush your eyes with water for 15
minutes or wash your skin thoroughly and get medical attention.


Always keep batteries out of the reach of children:
Allowing children to play near batteries is dangerous. Battery fl uid could cause serious
injuries if it gets in the eyes or on the skin.


Keep fl ames and sparks away from open battery cells and do not allow metal
tools to contact the positive (
) or negative () terminal of the battery when working
near a battery. Do not allow the positive (
) terminal to contact the vehicle body:
Flames and sparks near open battery cells are dangerous. Hydrogen gas, produced
during normal battery operation, could ignite and cause the battery to explode. An
exploding battery can cause serious burns and injuries. Keep all fl ames including
cigarettes and sparks away from open battery cells.


Keep all fl ames, including cigarettes, and sparks away from open battery cells:
Flames and sparks near open battery cells are dangerous. Hydrogen gas, produced
during normal battery operation, could ignite and cause the battery to explode. An
exploding battery can cause serious burns and injuries.
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6–38
Maintenance and Care
Owner Maintenance
NOTE
Before performing battery maintenance, remove the battery cover by pulling the tab.
Ta b
Battery Maintenance
To get the best service from a battery:
 y Keep it securely mounted. y Keep the top clean and dry. y Keep terminals and connections clean,
tight, and coated with petroleum jelly or
terminal grease.
 y  Rinse off spilled electrolyte immediately
with a solution of water and baking
soda.
 y  If the vehicle will not be used for an
extended time, disconnect the battery
cables and charge the battery every six
weeks.
When replacing the battery, refer to the
specifi cation charts (page 9-4 ).
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6–39
Maintenance and Care
Owner Maintenance
Battery Replacement
If the buttons on the transmitter are
inoperable and the operation indicator
light does not fl ash, the battery may be
dead.
Replace with a new battery before the
transmitter becomes unusable.
CAUTION


6–40
Maintenance and Care
Owner Maintenance
3. Insert the small, fl athead screwdriver
into the gap between the cover and
the transmitter, and then rotate the
screwdriver to detach the cover.
4. Remove the battery cap, then remove the battery.
5. Insert a new battery with the positive pole facing up, and then cover the
battery with the battery cap.
6. Close the cover.
7. Reinsert the auxiliary key.
CAUTION


6–41
Maintenance and Care
Owner Maintenance
Tires
For reasons of proper performance, safety,
and better fuel economy, always maintain
recommended tire infl ation pressures and
stay within the recommended load limits
and weight distribution.
WARNING
Using Diff erent Tire Types:
Driving your vehicle with diff erent
types of tires is dangerous. It could
cause poor handling and poor braking;
leading to loss of control.
Except for the limited use of the
temporary spare tire, use only the
same type tires (radial, bias-belted,
bias-type) on all four wheels.

Using Wrong-Sized Tires: Using any other tire size than what is
specifi ed for the vehicle (page 9-10 )
is dangerous. It could seriously aff ect
ride, handling, ground clearance,
tire clearance, and speedometer
calibration. This could cause you to
have an accident. Use only tires that
are the correct size specifi ed for the
vehicle.
Tire Infl ation Pressure
WARNING
Always infl ate the tires to the correct
pressure: Overinfl ation or underinfl ation of tires
is dangerous. Adverse handling or
unexpected tire failure could result in a
serious accident.
Refer to Tires on page 9-10 .

Use only a Mazda-genuine tire valve
cap: Use of a non-genuine part is
dangerous as the correct tire air
pressure cannot be maintained if the
tire valve becomes damaged. If the
vehicle is driven under this condition,
the tire air pressure will decrease which
could result in a serious accident. Do
not use any part for the tire valve cap
that is not a Mazda-genuine part.
Inspect all tire pressures monthly
(including the spare) when the tires are
cold. Maintain recommended pressures for
the best ride, handling, and minimum tire
wear.
Refer to the specifi cation charts (page
9-10 ).
After adjusting the tire pressure,
initialization of the tire pressure
monitoring system is necessary to make
the system operates normally.
Refer to Tire Pressure Monitoring System
Initialization on page 4-107 .
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6–42
Maintenance and Care
Owner Maintenance
NOTE
 y Always check tire pressure when tires
are cold.
 y Warm tires normally exceed
recommended pressures. Do not release
air from warm tires to adjust the
pressure.
 y Underinfl ation can cause reduced fuel
economy, uneven and accelerated tire
wear, and poor sealing of the tire bead,
which will deform the wheel and cause
separation of tire from rim.
 y Overinfl ation can produce a harsh ride,
uneven and accelerated tire wear, and a
greater possibility of damage from road
hazards.
 Keep your tire pressure at the correct levels. If one frequently needs infl ating,
have it inspected.
Tire Rotation
WARNING
Rotate tires periodically: Irregular tire wear is dangerous. To
equalize tread wear for maintaining
good performance in handling and
braking, rotate the tires every 12,000
km (7,500 miles). However Mazda
recommends to rotate every 8,000 km
(5,000 miles) to help increase tire life
and distribute wear more evenly.
Refer to Scheduled Maintenance on
page 6-4 .
During rotation, inspect them for correct
balance.
Do not include (TEMPORARY USE ONLY)
spare tire in rotation.
Forward
Also, inspect them for uneven wear and
damage. Abnormal wear is usually caused
by one or a combination of the following:
 y
 Incorrect tire pressure y Improper wheel alignment y Out-of-balance wheel y Severe braking
After rotation, infl ate all tire pressures to
specifi cation (page 9-10 ) and inspect the
lug nuts for tightness.
After adjusting the tire pressure,
initialization of the tire pressure
monitoring system is necessary to make
the system operates normally.
Refer to Tire Pressure Monitoring System
Initialization on page 4-107 .
CAUTION
Rotate unidirectional tires and radial
tires that have an asymmetrical tread
pattern or studs only from front to rear,
not from side to side. Tire performance
will be reduced if rotated from side to
side.
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