[Ghoulish Delight]

Earlier this week I had my oil changed. They showed me my air filter, which clearly needed replacing (I think it's been 40000 miles or so). "Thanks, I can replace it myself."

I forgot to account for the fact that I'm an ass.

To be a little fair to myself, the Mazda 3's engine is a wonder of Japanese ingenuity. It's a lot of engine in not a lot of space. Meaning everything is positioned precisely, like a game of engine Tetris. Add to that the fact that, partially for aesthetic reasons and partially for air intake reasons, every component is covered with molded plastic cowling. So to get to the air filter - unclip the battery cover, unscrew the panel holding down the battery duct cover, unclip 4 clips holding the air filter cover down, unclip a couple of wiring harnesses, lift filter cover (which doesn't fully detach without significantly more unfastening).

I did most of that, and was able remove the old filter. I then tried to install the new filter. To no avail. I simply couldn't lift the cover far enough out of the way to slide the new one in.

Feeling like an ass, I did some checking to make sure that driving to the nearest auto shop without an air filter wouldn't destroy my engine (the verdict being probably not...but possibly) and walked up to the window. "This is going to sound stupid...because it is."

Now, the nice mechanic (who didn't charge me for this) did find a couple more attachment points that afforded another couple of inches of leeway in lifting the cover out of the way. But the biggest factor...I was trying to put the filter in upside down. I may or may not have been able to get it in right side up without releasing those last couple of bits and getting those extra inches, but most likely I would have.

I'm an ass.