As chilly fall temperatures settle in across Canada, most of will soon be reaching for our windshield defroster controls if we haven’t done so already. Imagine when you’re sitting there, waiting for heat to appear to help defrost your windshield and none appears. We have all had to at one time or another use our sleeve or a cloth to wipe the windshield, but most of us try to avoid this. While not an end-of-the-world problem, it can be a safety concern when a problem persists. Hence the reason why most provinces require a vehicle to have a functioning defrost system to pass a road worthiness safety inspection.
From the why isn’t this a safety recall list comes a common problem on Mazda 3′s with manual heater system from the early to mid 2015 model years. There is an abundance of these vehicles on our roads along with a myriad of usual suspect causes such as a faulty engine thermostat, failed blower motor or burnt blower motor resistor. But what I am referring to is something a little different.
As you turn the heat selector dial from cold to hot, a geared mechanism immediately behind the dial actuates a cable. This cable runs deeper into the dash where it connects to a plastic lever that activates and manages the interior cabin temperatures. A couple of tabs that hold this lever into its housing wear out over time and the whole thing falls off. When this happens, the temperature system automatically defaults to its coldest setting.
A geared mechanism behind the heat selector dial actuates a cable to control the heat.Lou Trottier/The Globe and Mail
A geared mechanism behind the heat selector dial actuates a cable to control the heat. In this case, the tab has fallen off.Lou Trottier/The Globe and Mail
Not a difficult repair once you know where to look. After you have removed your glove box, which is generally a two-minute adventure, you will see the cables and levers I am referring to. With one free hand turn the temperature knob back and forth and follow the moving cable back toward the temperature control unit. If I’m right, it will have fallen off completely or be very close to doing so. In a pinch, pop the lever back into its home and the system will function again as normal. This is only a temporary repair though as it will fall off again at some point. Mazda has a small repair kit for approximately $30 usually in stock at most dealers. A stubby Phillips, flat head screwdriver and small amount of grease are all the tools you need to install this updated lever set. And you’ll need patience because while it is a simple task, it is a tight space. Now, as to why this isn’t a recalled item, that’s a discussion for another day.
Your automotive questions answered
Hi Lou:
This isn’t about maintenance – it’s about the thinking on electric cars and how they fit into general electricity consumption. Many articles are centred on the concept of commuting to work in an electric car; getting it home and then recharging it overnight.
Meanwhile green power enthusiasts accept that a limitation to solar power is that it’s not necessarily available when it’s needed. The solution to this is storage batteries – which are heavy and expensive.
So instead of thinking of electric cars as emission-free transportation (depending on how the electricity is generated) – maybe we should be thinking of them as mobile batteries. These could be charged at work during the day when solar is active, and discharged at home when it’s cold, dark and you need the oven on. Technology that can put a man on the moon should be able to dial in a shut-off switch such that the car will have enough range to get you to your desired destination the next day.
Your thoughts? – Jim B., Calgary
I’m an avid guitar player and huge fan of vintage electric guitar gear. I guess I can be called old-school as I still use amplifiers that use vacuum tubes because I am fond of the way the vacuum tube sounds. What has that to do with batteries and electric cars? Well, nothing specifically but I feel there is relevance when discussing the technological jump that occurred when the semiconductor was invented and the transistor was introduced to the world. When this occurred the vacuum tube was almost instantly retired except in limited audio applications such as my guitar amplifiers. In my opinion this was a pivotal point in tech history that opened the door to the modern computer generation. When you think about the changes that have occurred in our everyday lives over the last 70 years because of the development and implementation of the microprocessor, we all should be in awe. I believe we are still awaiting a technological jump in the order of that same magnitude when it comes to battery energy storage density. Electric cars have been around since the mid to late 1800s, yet they were abandoned because fossil fuels simply contain more usable, easily extractable energy. The world is slowly changing as batteries can store more energy by volume, but its slow progress. In the same manner it appears solar conversion is still not there yet either, but I like your idea of considering electric cars as mobile batteries. You might be on to something.
Hi Lou,
I appreciate your column very much and hope The Globe will see fit to re-establish the Drive section soon. I understand your dilemma regarding the technician shortage. This isn’t unique to your trade as trades training right across this country is lousy, particularly in Ontario where we have gutted secondary school tech programs.
While I see a number of factors contributing to the technician shortage, I believe independent owners like yourself bear some responsibility as well. In the old days of the gas station/corner garage it was not unusual for a kid to start out pumping gas, becoming a journeyman and eventually owning all or part of the garage. I know we aren’t going back, but guys like you need to think more about using succession planning as a retention tool. Give these techs a pathway to owning a piece of the business seems like a good thing to me. I will leave things at that for now and simply want to say thanks for your column, I look forward to finding it each week.
Kindest regards, – Paul T., Bath, Ont.
My most senior technician recently retired rather suddenly just over a month ago, leaving me in a complete panic. I thought I had a few more years to find and have him train his own replacement, but his health comes first. I completely understand his decision to retire so suddenly. Every shop owner I talk to is in exactly the same situation, everyone is understaffed as retirement of senior staff is hitting us all.
I tend to avoid openly discussing my career from this perspective publicly because I sometimes peruse the comments sections here and elsewhere online and see how consumers refer to auto technicians as thieves and such. It makes me sad that so many hard working, intelligent, highly skilled men and women are thought of so lowly just because of a few bad apples.
All of your points are completely valid Paul, however the No. 1 factor in difficulty recruiting young people into this industry is pay. Auto technicians simply are not paid on par with other trades. I’m not going to go into how much it costs to properly equip and run an auto repair business as it is far too expansive a subject to cover here. However, like it or not, all of you who complain that car repair is expensive now are in for a real shock over the next decade.
Lou Trottier is owner-operator of All About Imports in Mississauga. Have a question about maintenance and repair? E-mail globedrive@globeandmail.com, placing “Lou’s Garage” in the subject line.
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