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Sedans Mazda Protege Mazda Protege Maintenance and Repair
3600 messages, Last post on Nov 28, 2009 at 3:21 PM
You are in the Mazda Protege Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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I have somewhat of a problem, wonder if anyone knows the answer to this..I am trying to replace a catalytic converter assembly on my 1997 Mazda Protege LX. I do not have an owner's manual for the car. Apparently there are two (2) different catalytic converters, depending on whether your MAZDA has a 1.5 L engine or a 1.8 L engine. I cannot find this info anywhere on the engine, in the engine compartment or anywhere else on the vehicle. Sometimes the VIN identifies these things, but I do not know how to interpret the number... The VIN on my vehicle starts with JM and ends in 7 digits. If anyone can tell me how to get this info I would appreciate it. Thank you. Doug
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newbie here, i need advice. i have a '94 Protege 4 dr auto, near new condition,not many miles. bought used, no trouble for several years then auto trans went out. too bad to repair. put wrecking yard trans in it, did good for about 1yr then after using passing gear one day it starting leaking trans fluid very bad,just pours thru,no hole in case. it sat for about 2yrs, now needs fuel pump and tank,bad rust. going to cost $500. to have fixed to run so the trans shop can fix or look at trans. what to do.... great car, great mpg, great engine but has what is termed " the ford fragile transmission". ?? thought about changing over to manual trans. money is a problem,limited. got 22yr old daughter moved back home,starting over. needs transportation. got suggestions???? thanks
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I just replaced my engine and the new one wont start. I'm getting fire to all plugs, and fuel to the injectors or at least i think fuel is getting to the injectors. I puled the fuel pressure regulator off and fuel is in the line leading to the injectors. I put the timing at TDC on the compression stroke and the rotor was at #1. I'm stumped. Any suggestions or tips. |
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Replying to: croft77 (Dec 22, 2007 11:01 am) type engine you have. Hope this helps. |
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Replying to: 1redtag (Dec 22, 2007 4:25 pm) I'll probably upset the protege fans, but I get the impression you need transportation rather than a car hobby. my advice is to unload the protege and find something else. you're looking at spending a grand or more on a 13 year old car that's sat for a couple years - sitting is bad. personally I wouldn't touch a car that old with an automatic. imo the cheapest transportation deal right now is a used Taurus. stay away from pre-96 because of tranny problems though. an alternative, if you're able to do some work, is to find another BG protege ('90-94) with a manual tranny and solid mechanicals. use your existing car as a parts car. swapping wheels/tires, even interiors, is much easier for a diy'r than a transmission swap. |
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Replying to: croft77 (Dec 22, 2007 11:01 am) My Mazda dealer charged me over a $100 for the trans flush and service at 30K. My mechanic must have been thinking about manual trans. He is also from the 'old school' so I tend to discount some of his advice. However I looked in the manual and there is NO mention of a transmission service being required. The flush or don't flush is controversial I know. |
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Replying to: croft77 (Dec 22, 2007 11:01 am) You can identify your vehicle at mazdausa.com. Join as an owner, enter your VIN, and the site will identify your vehicle. |
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Hey all. Well, after my post of December 2, things got worse. When slowing down, the car would surge between 36 & 39 MPH as well as around 15 to 20 MPH. , I made the dealership give me a free loaner car.(the service guy wanted me to pay $30.00 a day for the loaner.) Enough of this sitting around wasting my Saturday as if I have nothing else to do! I brought the car in on December 11th, got it back on December 15th. What was it? It turned out to be the EGR valve after all. (or so they thought - see below) At first they eliminated it, then looked at it and realized how full of junk it was. So, it was replaced to the tune of about $500. Well, I have been driving the car ever since. Do you think it is ok? NO! Christmas Eve day I am driving home. I feel the car hesitate then the "orange light of death" comes on (The check engine light). I dropped off the car on Wednesday after work. Current Status: They know it is misfiring again - they just are not sure why. On the way to the dealership, I felt the car shudder, not hesitate, like I lost 2 cylinders. Anyone have any clues on this? I need this car to be worth something for trade in! Thanks. Happy Holidays!! Dave |
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For the '01 Protege ES the owners manual says to inspect the engine timing belt at 60,000 miles and replace it every 105,000 miles. A non-Mazda mechanic I talked to says to change it at 60,000 miles. Should I wait a bit to change the timing belt (say 70 - 80k miles)? There's no easy way to inspect the belt, you would spend almost the same amount to inspect it as you would to replace it. Thanks for any advice.
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I decided to do some of my own investigating into the check engine light problem I'm having with my 2003 Protege' 5 and happened to stumble upon this website .... EUREKA I think I've come to the right place. My Protege has 130,000 miles on it and about six weeks or so ago I began having an intermittent problem with the check engine light coming on - typically it would flash for maybe 5-10 seconds and occasionally it would act as if it was going die during this 5-10 seconds, then it would go to a steady on position - sometimes it would stay on for a day or two, one time for almost a week but then it would just turn off. The code read a P0300 Random Misfire but the tech  the dealership couldn't get the car to repeat the action. Anyway, this has continued to be a hit and miss problem until yesterday when the check engine light came on & wouldn't quit blinking. Towed it to the dealer who tells me that my cat converter is toast but they can't figure out why - I'm still getting the random misfire code however, in their words, my car was running great & purring like a kitten. Come to find out that in addition to mine, they had TWO other 2003 Protege's in yesterday with the SAME exact symptoms (only their cats aren't toast yet) and they aren't able to diagnose those either. Because it's pretty unusual to have THREE cars w/ the same problem come in on the same day, they'll be calling their technical advisor today to get more information - I'm PRAYING that this is a known issue & that I'm going to get some help fixing it! I appreciate any information you can give me regarding any recalls, etc on this issue. Thanking you in advance - Debbi
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