Piston Slap: Shifting In, Wiping Out, Zoom-Zoom-Zoom

David writes:

I am driving a 2010 Mazda3 2.5 with a 6 speed manual. 9000 miles in, the trans is still sticky, especially going into 1st while rolling. What could help reduce this?

Second, the automatic wipers are amusing to watch. How exactly do they work?

In Panther love, I sighted a sleek black Signature L, a rare one. 6 inches more rear leg room and 1 1/2 inch wider track. Should be a nice ride. The longer wheelbase helps reduce the inverted bathtub look.

Sajeev Answers:

Oh yes! The only mode of transport better than a Signature L would be yesterday’s Cartier L. Or even better, yesteryear’s Fleetwood Series 75, any vintage will suffice. These irrelevant (yet always necessary) sightings of Panther Love show how everyone appreciates a bit of classical American proportioning rollin’ down the road. Too bad FoMoCo couldn’t re-pop the 1995 Cartier so the genre could go out with a bang, instead we get that “inverted bathtub look” as you so eloquently pointed out!

Now where were we again? That’s right…

A sticky trans is a tough problem to arm chair. Perhaps it is easier to shift once the transmission warms up after a cold night of resting. Or maybe an aftermarket shifter would make the job more accurate. Or maybe a heavy-ass 8-ball shift knob would act like a sledgehammer to your quandary. My advice is to search the forums for your Mazda3 and see if a fluid change to some other design (synchromesh, full synthetic, etc) would help. My second tip is to steal one of those round things from a pool table and screw it onto your gear stick.

Automatic wipers are amusing? I rather dislike them. And I’m not the only one. These systems (not just your Mazda) use a rain sensor mounted between your rear view mirror and the windshield, thus mounting the sensor on the glass, with a clean and convenient place to run the wiring. This might be one reason why you see options like a compass or auto dimming mirror packed with said wiping system: wrap it into one wiring harness to save a few bucks! Brilliant.

Anyway, the system then manipulates the car’s conventional wiper motor much like the “mist” feature normally seen on your steering column. But instead of giving you the control via lever, the system does it for you. Which is fine, but I’ve encountered many a rainstorm where the sensor thinks everything is hunky-dory, but the portion of the windshield I use to see stuff is blanketed in water droplets. That won’t get wiped away! Much like having a manual transmission, I prefer the interval wiper system with a handful of cycle times that I can choose.

Bonus! A Piston Slap Nugget of Wisdom:

This rant is valid because, at the end of the day, driving is all about me. Or you. It’s not about the eyeball sandwiched between your windscreen and your rear view mirror. Believe that.

Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com . Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry.