Hey all, I think this is the right forum but if not please move it.

I bought a 05 mazda 3 s sedan mt on march 2nd. It has 111,6xx miles on it. I love the car fun to drive alot quicker than my old truck and a stick is way better than an auto. However the reason I'm posting, I bought the car from a independent dealer which can be kinda sketchy but I have a 50/50 parts labor power/drivetrain 30 day/1000mile warranty. It drove great on the test drive and for the first day and a half. I took my brother who is a toyota mechanic to look it over as well as a friend who has been building race cars since he was about 14. They both checked off on it and it seemed to be in pretty decent shape. Here are the problems.

-There is now a chirping noise coming from the front passanger side of the car. Mainly only noticeable at low speeds or from a stop through 2nd gear.(probably a belt or timing chain?)

-Last night noticed it is misfiring alittle in the number 2 cylinder(counting from the passanger side of the car to driver, so could be #3 if numbered from driver to passanger) Hopefully just spark plugs.

-The idle rpm has dropped from just above 1k in N to around 5 in N, hopefully just caused by the misfire as well has it being alittle sluggish coming out of first making me have to really slip the clutch to make it smooth if not its extremely jerky.

-There is a sweet smell coming from the engine bay after its been running so most likely a coolant leak somewhere but the temp gauge does not show that its running hot.

There are no cels and it starts right up. It's completely stock all fluids look to be full. I am taking it to a ford dealer tomarrow morning my family has gone to for almost 20yrs now which said they work on mazdas (my car has same 2.3L that my dads ford fusion has). Would it be more benificial to take it to a mazda dealer? This is the first car that I actually bought and will be paying for for the next 3 years so I want to get it running perfectly.

Sorry for the essay but I wanted to make sure everything was as clear as possible. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome tot he club, larz. I don't have a 3, but I don't like the sound of those symptoms. I see that you're in Cali.. Check your PM's.

 

Sounds like plugs, but don't forget the wires! A bad plug wire can cuase this as well.
That would be the first thing I would do. Then maybe really check and see if there is a coolant leak........keep a close eye on that level for quite awhile.