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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
I posted last month about my protege and the way it is running, after reading several posts here I have narrowed it down to 3 possible problems, one being the timing belt, it has 176, 000 miles on it as far as I know it has never been changed, a stuck egr valve or air leak, When I first start it and try to drive off you can hear it backfire through the exhaust, is this typical of a bad timing belt, and does anyone have any idea the time and difficulty of changing the belt so that I can get an idea if it is a do it yourself or a garage job.   
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Replying to: schesney (Feb 04, 2008 3:29 pm) Highly unlikely that it's the original timing belt - unless you were born under a very lucky star. MOst timeing belts need to be changed at 100K miles. In the case of Mazda the risk of a broken timing belt is disasterous. It sounds like you are due to have yours replaced soon. Unless you are mechanically adept, I'd suggest getting it done by a pro. If you mess up, the timing belt could cook your engine. Then that $500 job is looking like several thousand dollars. While you're at the garage have them check out the other problem. The EGR problem is fairly easy to diagnose.
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Replying to: autonomous (Feb 05, 2008 2:10 pm) If you can afford it, pay a professional. If you DIY, seek online help from one of the dedicated mazda forums. Either way, while you're in there, replace the water pump and all belts. Otherwise you'll be paying the labor all over again. |
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Replying to: autonomous (Feb 05, 2008 2:10 pm) The 95 is a non-interference engine. http://www.gates.com/downloads/download_common.cfm?file=428-1466_web.pdf&folder=- brochure Some people drive until the timing belt breaks, tow it to a garage and get the belt replaced. You'll have to decide if you want to do that. Just depends on how long you plan to keep the car and what maintenance you want to do.
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Replying to: erics6 (Feb 07, 2008 8:46 am) Of course, it will happen on the way to your job interview with Donald Trump. |
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Replying to: davidingilbert (Dec 03, 2007 5:50 am) We are having the same problem with our Mazda Protege 2002. Have you figured out the cause? Suggestions? Thanks, KPresley
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Replying to: kpresley (Feb 13, 2008 6:06 am) I too ran across this post from davidingilbert when I started having CEL issues with my '02 P5. There have been several posts regarding this problem since this that would give you a great overview of the challenges we each faced prior to having the problem resolved. In addition to davidingilbert, see posts from winston3x and myself or go directly to posts 1201, 1204, 1219, 1222, 1227-1230, 1235 and 1237. If you want to skip all the history though and cut right to the chase - davidngilbert posted this update (#1187): Debbi - here is the latest. What they ended up doing was replacing the coils from one Protege and putting it into my wife's car. So far, so good. We only have had the car back a few days, so we are not sure if this is going to work or not. The dealership was not 100% sure either seeing how they can only put so many miles on a car. I will keep everyone posted. Thanks. Dave Replacing both of the coils (in addition to new plugs & wires) proved to be the resolution to my CEL issue as well and so far at least, replacing the coils appears to have solved winston3x's issue as well. Good luck to you ~ Debbi
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Replying to: debbi1229 (Feb 13, 2008 2:34 pm) First, Debbi and the Gang! Goodness, THANK YOU so much!  Your kindness in discussing your problem, is helping me resolve my wonderful Misfire Code I hope tomorrow. The Coils will be replaced and then I will update you all to let you know if that did the trick. Already, Sparkies changed, EGR valve cleaned, Fuel Injector Cleaned, so I feel so confident that it is the Coils! What do you all think about getting together a letter to Mazda, to let them know their faulty Coils have caused so many problems for all of us. I love driving my 2002 P5! But I think I had a lemon.  It only has 57K miles on it, it had a new transmission replaced in June. I mean the most I drive Zoom Zoom is less than 4 miles a day. I read somewhere that you never should change the transmission fluid in a Mazda. It is odd, a month before I had Tranny issues, I had my fluid changed, and I think that was the culprit for it. Sorry didn't mean to get on another rant, but thought I would bring up my experience with that too. I have my fingers crossed but again Thank you so much for sharing your information! This is why the internet is awesome! 
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Replying to: debzoomzoom (Feb 15, 2008 5:50 pm) Dealer will be called monday, and then Yay! zoom Zoom I hope will be fixed! The good news though, my car did not have the shakes and drove very good!!! Zoom Zoom Zoom!
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I have a 1992 Protege, 1.8 SOHC. When I start it cold, the idle is around 2000-2500 rpms. Any clues? |
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