Mazda MAZDA3 2010–2013 — technical service bulletin
Bulletin 03-001-14-2919 · NHTSA communication 10098146 · issued May 5, 2014
Technical service bulletin
communication type
Equipment
component
2010–2013
model years
4
vehicle entries
Official summary
Some new vehicles may exhibit oil seepage underneath the bearing bracket (a) on the right side of the joint shaft. This is caused by the oil content separating from the grease applied to the bearing and spline seeping from the seal and bracket.there is no functional problem with this issue since the amount of oil seepage is very small compared to the amount of grease. Note that the oil seepage will stop while the vehicle is in use.if you encounter a customer complaint about this concern, wipe off the oil with a rag. Do not replace the joint shaft.
What a TSB means. Technical service bulletins are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls, and repairs are not automatically free (warranty extensions are an exception worth checking). The full document is available via NHTSA’s vehicle lookup.