South East Area Tech Day (24 Oct 2004)

The kind of work carried out during the day varied considerably, but included:

• removing alloy wheels to clean them
  
• the fitting of a cat replacement pipe
  
• the fitting of a replacement air filter assembly
  
• the fitting of white dials
  
• engine tuning
  
• replacement of brake pads
  
• fault and 'noise' diagnosis
  

Thanks to Julian Knight from South East Area for organising the day. Even bigger thanks to Mark Fryer of Freelance Mazda who provided free technical assistance and arranged for the use of the garage on the day. Mark was a real star, flitting from job to job non-stop all day, giving advice and a helping hand wherever it was needed. I am particularly grateful for the help he gave me when I was replacing my front brake pads, and that he then did the rears himself in no time at all! Thanks also to Carol who made cups of tea and coffee all day long for everyone and offered us all biscuits too :-)

Mark also spent about an hour at the end of the day giving us a fascinating talk about the diagnostic equipment used on our cars.

Mark has over 20 years experience as a Mazda specialist and has now set himself up as an independent technician. Check out www.freelancemazda.co.uk.

Robert Pain