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(Hey, I can see St. John's Church -- er, where Patrick Henry gave that speech for those of you who don't remember your Colonial history -- from my office window here in Richmond.)
Meade
Yeah, the new windshield was fine.
It's the BRAKES that got me.
Seems my passenger-side inner pad is worn pretty doggone thin. (Hey, I DID make it almost 57,000 miles on the originals, and I drive a 5-speed.) Well, the guys at Firestone offered to install new brakes there and send me on my way with a good inspection sticker, but I opted to not spend their $200-plus and do some research while I have the time. Our Proteges have ceramic front pads, which cost a little more, but last longer, produce less dust, and don't have the propensity to SQUEEEAAAAALLLLL. The Firestone guy was pretty good about prepping me for my research.
First call I'll make is to my Mazda parts department to get a price on their pads. If I didn't have a slight pulsation that makes me want to get my rotors turned, I'd just buy them from Mazda (happy maltb?
Anybody got any quickie recommendations before I surf off to brakeland?
Meade
P.S. I pulled Zoomster forward into his spot in the deck this morning. That pink sticker is such a disgrace ... I know he's depressed. Maybe a nice wash and wax next week when all this rain finally blows outta here will cheer him up.
The way I did it was as follows:
Interest on loan: 1.9%
Interest in money market: was 3% and is around 2% now.
I put $2000 down and financed the rest. Actually , only $1600 but by PhD was worth $400 in bonus cash from Mazda. At the time its all I had. I made the required payments + put $250-1000 in my money market every month. When the funds reached the payoff number I killed the loan. If I did have $15k cash I would have bought the car clean and not financed it at all even they were offering 0%. I really really really dont like debt. Even at 0% it bothers me to make payments. Granted if it was a $30-40k car (and I had the cash on hand)then I would seriously consider floating the loan at 0%. Then we are talking about a $1000+ "savings".
Check the rotor surfaces. If they feel pretty smooth, then you can forgo machining them.
"If I did have $15k cash I would have bought the car clean and not financed it at all even they were offering 0%."
Why? If you need a car and a company is willing to borrow you the money FOR FREE FOR 4 YEARS, why wouldn't you do it? Basically, Mazda is saying: "Here's $15K, do what you want with it for 4 years". What are you going to do? Pay cash for a depreciating asset or use the free money that Mazda gave you to use for 4 years and invest it? If you plan on paying it off as soon as possible, you take the rebate and not the financing. The only way you realize the savings of 0% financing is if you let the loan go till the end and if you don't plan on doing that, take the rebate instead of the financing. There are money market accounts out there that have a low minimum balance and don't require a deposit every month and you can have payments deducted from it. Like I said before, if I had the $15K, I'd rather have the $15K working for me and not Mazda.
I know I need to have my rotors turned since they're pulsating a little, and I'd like to have my stops nice and smooth again, as smooth as my new tires!
Since I last posted, I made a few phone calls. Mazda's pads are $51.55, and taking my rotors in to have them resurfaced will cost me anywhere from $30 to $50. So after taxes etc., I'm looking at about a hundred bucks to do this myself.
Well, my local Merchants Tire & Auto (new store in an upscale neighborhood) just beat the heck out of Firestone, Meineke and Midas. They'll install ceramic pads and do the rotor turning for $169, give me a free replacement (not lifetime, but one replacement -- which should be all I'll ever need with this car anyway), and the guy offered to waive the $15 fee to get the car re-inspected afterward.
So with the re-inspection fee, I'm looking at spending about $115 for the DIY job, or $170 to let someone else get down and dirty and not waste my Saturday.
Call me silly, but being a homeowner, a new dad, and a guy with a bunch of honey-dos on the back burner, I think I'll cough up the $55 difference and let Merchants have at it. Already made the appointment for tomorrow afternoon.
Meade
And I can speak to the fact that dust is very minimal with ceramics. Compared to other cars I've owned with semi-metallic pads or organic pads, my ES's front wheels have been very light in the dust department.
Meade
Meade
Hell, the car's got 57K on it. I'll probably keep it another 40K or so. I really don't think I'll have that much trouble with any kind of brake pad -- at least I'm getting the best in whatever brand they use. And I get one free replacement while I own the car too.
Heck, I just made a good switch this morning from Goodyear to Firestone ... because I had my syn oil changed while I was having the inspection. Goodyear had been using some lesser-known synthetic brand (can't even remember whose), but Firestone gladly used Mobil1 and did it for the same price Goodyear was charging.
I just won't mention the fact -- oops, here I go -- that at one point I walked up to the window and witnessed the snot-nosed mechanic putting REGULAR oil back in my car -- luckily they didn't start the car before I witnessed their boo-boo -- so he had to raise the car again and drain out all his fresh dino oil and give me my Mobil1. And before you start saying "my God, you've screwed up your engine," NO, I haven't. The pump wasn't running, so it all basically went right from the filler hole to the oil pan. If anything it gave my engine a good double-cleaning this morning!
Doesn't change the fact that the guy was a moron, and I keep wondering what would've happened if I hadn't stood up and walked to the window and caught him. Now I guess I've got to stand there and watch them every time?
MORON!!!
Meade
"Now I guess I've got to stand there and watch them every time?"
After working in that business, I sure as hell would watch every single move they make if you must have someone else do it. Whoever gave me the tip on the Rhino ramps, thank you.
I sold my 15-year-old set of old metal ramps because the front of the car would drag on them before the wheels got to them. Are the Rhinos the "plastic" ones? Do they fit the Protege's front end better? How much do they cost? Etc.?
Meade
P.S. What started me wondering about the oil he was using, btw, was when I noticed him pulling what appeared to be an air hose from the ceiling of the service bay to my engine area. I asked the desk guy what was going on, and he explained that they pump oil that way nowadays. "Even the synthetic oil?" I asked, which made him do a quick double-take and run out there. But even so, it kinda makes me wonder ... from what I saw from the window, I couldn't see any kind of gauge or readout on the end of that hose. How do they tell how much oil they're putting in your car when they dispense it through a hose hanging from the ceiling?
they cost $30
they are awesome for oil change
get them.
BTW, my 2001 ES has no problem clearing the Rhino Ramps.
30 bucks huh? Not bad! Where'd ya get 'em?
Meade
why would ur engine be screwed if you put dino and follow up with a synthetic?
Both are oils and all new cars are designed to tolerate both varieties.
And I was going to say, u dont make mazda protege at home.
They are rated to handle 12,000 lbs. of load (6000 each)
I picked them up at my local Pep Boys.
Any semi-large auto chain store should carry them.
Meade
Meade
I'm curious to know what the GoodYear place was using for Synthetic oil. Was it Redline or Royal Purple?
The sad fact is that it is true.
Since the last few weeks I have been experimenting with the ECU on my 1999 Pro ES with astonishing results. Let me explain to you what I have been doing before i tell the results.
What I have been doing:
I would disconnect the -ve terminal of the battery for exactly 10 seconds. this gives it time enough to reset the engine parameters, but still retains the trip odometer mileage. disconnecting for a longer duration resets the trip odometer to 0.00
The results:
After I reconnect the -ve terminal, the engine runs smooth like an inline 6. Throttle tip-in is simply amazing. You would have to drive it to believe the change. Remember the engine jerk issue when the A/C comes on that I have always been complaining about? Well that also goes away.
But after a few hours of driving(takes me about 3 days), the engine starts feeling like a common 4-banger and the tip-in is also not-so-great. And to top it, the engine jerk issue also comes back.
I reset the ECU like I described above, and VOILA!!! ZOOM....ZOOM.....
So now the question is:
Why the heck has the ECU on my car require to be rebooted just like a windows PC in order to run smooth and silky?
WHY?????
fowler3
The only thing I could do with $15k is put it in some kind of interest generating account. That would have been great 3-4 years ago when you could get 6% in a money market and 7-8% on CDs. In that case I would have taken the 0%. Right now you have to tie up your cash for 3-5 years to get 2-3%. I dont really need the money on hand now and I really have a mental problem with debt. Its purely mental I and I have learned to accept it. Think of it like the 3000 mile oil change....its not necessary but people "waste" money to do it because it makes them feel better. Thats the weird thing, I have no problem running regular oil to 7500miles. I have done it for about 15 years now. Does not bother me at all. When the warranty is over my Protege is going to 15k (once a year) changes with no change in filter (with synthetic).
On to the subject at hand though... I wonder if I "rebooted" the system on my GS would it make a difference there? I may give it a shot tomorrow.
Do yourself a favor and get a creeper as well. I finally broke down and got one from Sears. I "upgraded" to the mid-level one as my long torso threatened to flip the cheap one everytime I sat up (if I wanted to keep my head on it, my hip would be just past the last pair of wheels).
I think the central computer is running a runtime variant of Windows. I recall that being mentioned sometime before the '99 was introduced, and I thought "uh-oh" as I've never been impressed with the "stability" of Windows (98, Me, 2000, NT, or XP Pro or Home). It was the only thing I was skeptical about when I researched the gen-3 Protege. Well, they didn't really make that big a deal about it and wasn't mentioned again, so far as I know.
On a tangentially-related topic, I heard two of Western Europe's big mobile phone carriers dropped Microsoft's mobile phones due to unresolvable software issues. Big surprise there, huh?
The Atenza is the Japanese Mazda6.
Now you're going to make me late for work while I look up this recall.
First few paragraphs:
Mazda to recall more than 380,000 vehicles
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automaker Mazda Motor will recall 382,505 vehicles sold in the United States and other countries to repair faulty fog lamp parts, a transport ministry official said Thursday.
Mazda told Japanese authorities it will recall Atenza sedans and station wagons, MPV minivans and Roadster sports cars, a ministry official Tokuhiko Kude said.
No injuries related to the defects have been reported.
Improper installation of fog lamps could cause a light bulb and its socket holder to fall off their glass housing and possibly start a fire, Kude said.
The Atenza models may also need repairs for possible defects in a brake fluid leakage indicator.
Of the total being recalled, 324,505 were produced in Japan between Dec. 10, 1997 and May 16 this year and were exported to a number of countries, including the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia.
and it's also called 323 in other regions of the world.
I wanted to do that in order to reduce NVH and when I look under, it is already done. Dang!
(Of course, having it done aftermarket will thicken what's there and also cover things missed since the factory one is sprayed on before the car is fully assembled. And everyone knows we need undercoated exhaust systems because we all love the smell of burning tar so much ...)
Meade
But on the other hand, the braking performance is far better than with the Original pads that came on the car and I dont know what was on my 1999 ES as OEM.
maybe it was a faulty wire/plug/coil that's making the performance sluggish