99 Mazda Protege problem

mpshutempshute Member Posts: 6
edited March 2014 in Mazda
I have a 99 protege with 37k miles and a very
annoying noise. When accelerating, usually at
lower speeds there is a fairly loud rattling noise
coming from the front. Once you are at a constant
speed, it pretty much goes away but when stepping
on the gas again, it will come back briefly. The
dealer claimed to have not heard it when they test
drove it and checked the heat shield , which I
guess can frequently cause a rattling noise, and
it was not loose. If anyone else has had a similar
problem, I would love to hear from you, my
warranty runs out at 50k and I would like to find a
solution before then! Thanks in advance,

Matt

Comments

  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    Do you have a DX/LX, or an ES? (I'm asking because of the difference in engines.)

    Does the rattling noise sound like it's coming from the engine itself (i.e. can you feel anything in the accelerator pedal when it's happening, or is the engine "pinging"), or does it sound more like a part (air cleaner cover, hood bracket, etc.)? You may try a slow acceleration on the highway and see if it's something loose that's resonating at a certain range of RPMs.

    Good luck -- I know rattles are hell to diagnose!

    MD
  • chikoochikoo Member Posts: 3,008
    looks like you got a timing problem.
    check your spark plugs!
  • pat455pat455 Member Posts: 603
    Hi folks,

    Matt, you must not have noticed it, but we already have a topic here on Mazda Protege Problems (Topic #1363). That would be the perfect place for this discussion to continue.

    Town Hall is a different sort of place than a lot of message boards. We are more of a community having discussions than just a question and answer place.

    You will almost always get more input to questions that you might have if you can find a conversation that is already underway to join. The easiest way to do that is to use the Topic Search feature on the left side of the page. And there is always a good chance you may find that your problem has already been discussed in an existing topic.

    So why don't you take a look at the topic I linked above, and if you don't find what you need, go ahead and repost there.

    Good luck!

    Pat
    Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
This discussion has been closed.