Chris' Mazda 323F V6

[hoodedreeper]

The previous couple of videos I've been experiencing some terrible audio, mainly due to strong winds. I felt it was time to start investing in my content creating, my first purchase was a new wireless microphone.

There's plenty of choice when it comes to audio upgrades but I wanted something that was easy to use but wasn't going to break the bank. DJI has entered the chat.

DJI are well known for their drones but I didn't know they also produce microphones, action cameras and more. They've recently released their 2nd wireless mic called the Mic 2 (inventive name, isn't it lol)

I watched more videos and reviews than I can remember but it ticked all of the boxes and I knew this was what I was looking for.



I apologise for the lack of photos for this update, the ones I do have are screenshots I'm afraid.

There were a few small electrical jobs that needed doing, starting off with the dash lights. I noticed only half of the speedo cluster illuminated at night. The top dash binnacle was removed, luckily I had this apart when I wired in the horn button. I also removed the climate controls to replace a blown bulb, but after inspecting it they're not your typical bulb so I'll have to revisit that at a later date.

Next up was the cigarette lighter socket. The illumination works but the socket itself doesn't. I checked the wiring with a multimeter and it was getting voltage.

I installed a universal unit from work and adapted the Mazda loom rather than re-making it. Luckily the female spade terminal was the same size, all I had to do was crimp a connector on for the earth terminal.

I also retained the illumination along with the light in the ash tray compartment.



The electric aerial on these models seem to fail, I knew sourcing a working replacement might be tricky so I opted for a manual version. Once installed I realised the connections were both DIN male, the only DIN female joiner I could find was on eBay but I didn't want to wait weeks for delivery from China.



The factory co-axial aerial lead wasn't a straight forward route straight down the drivers side, Mazda had to make it unnecessarily awkward. Instead they thought it was a great idea to go along the back of the boot and along the passenger side. From there it goes across in front of the passenger front seat and then along the centre console/dash where it plugs into a 1/2 metre aerial lead.

My hoarding paid off for once when I had a 4.5m lead tucked away in my spares. I decided to re-route it the same way. Doing this may seem excessive but I'm glad I did to be honest. When I lifted the carpet up I was greeted with a very soggy floor both front and rear footwells....doh!

This photo (screenshot) doesn't really show the extend of the water ingress, it was everywhere. I removed the A-Pillar trim to check the sunroof drain, but I've pulled it out of the connection behind the dash.



I removed the arch liner but I couldn't see anything obvious. More investigation is required, hopefully it's not too bad to sort.

The last job for the day was to sort out the driver side front fog light. Although not an MOT failure, the tainted orange light unit didn't look great and spoiled the front of the car.

I was lucky enough to find a new in box genuine unit on eBay for not a huge amount of money. I think I paid £54 in total





I did order a replacement loom, but it turns out it was incorrect. I swapped the brackets over, installed a new bulb and plugged everything back together to give it a test. Finally! A working fog light!

Nothing exciting, but all of these little jobs eventually add up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u733CIaCZCY