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Comments
Watch how you say it ...
;-)
Meade
Oops. I promise not to be so pessimistic in the future, Mr. Ford. Don't forget to keep those windows open while your at that motorlodge on the highway to ... The fresh air might clear your head before Mazda completely vanishes - lost in Greenfield Village somewhere.
Oh, I'm just kidding folks.
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I miss you, Love Train!
Meade
Chikoo: Here is the link. If it doesn't work, go to google.com and use the advanced search. Type Mazda Protege 2000 in the spot "with all of the words", and type electrical problems in the spot "with the exact phrase". Scroll down till you see the link called "LIVE WIRE". I couldn't get the PDF to open so I used html version, which is what this link should be.
http://www.google.com/search q=cache:BUP1PBmQqrIC:www.pprok.com/Aug2001LiveWir .Pdf+Mazda+Protege+2000+%22electrical+problems%22&hl=en&lr=lang_en
Sorry I couldn't make this a link because it it over 115 characters, and Edmunds prompt said it does not accept words over that amount.
Any advice on how to elevate this situation at Mazda? If I didn't have this move coming up I would be patient and wait for it to get worse, but I feel like Mazda is setting me up for disaster because the car is under warranty and they don't want to replace something until the car breaks down.
because the Dealer is the final word....until the Mazda rep steps in.
Getting to the MAzda Rep would take even more time.
I guess I could try to put a lot of miles on the car in the next few days (over the weekend) and hope that the problem either does not reoccur or that it gets worse quickly so they can fix it early next week. The problem with that is I'm very busy preparing for my move and preparing my house for sale.
No way around it, this is very bad timing. I bet if my car wasn't under warranty they would have already slapped a new alternator in the car and said it was definitely the problem.
'02 LX, Auto trans, 2260 miles.
please let me know if i should worry....
I ***MUST*** show that article to a VW guy here at work that can't believe a Protege beat a ferrari in a test.
It was from last year's Car and Driver Mag. I think.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE post the link.
Thank you sooooo much.
BTW, I installed a nice 10-Cd changer in the PRO yesterday and will drop a K+N in about a mth.
Later peeps.
Dinu
Your TO-area PRO maniac
thanks again for the help Todd!
and oh yeah, my car also reached 20k miles today, woohoo!
Also wanted to say hi to Fowler, who has been to Hawaii and has been to Anna Millers, I ate there the other night.
Where the heck have you been???
--Dale
Meade
{Figured I might as well say it myself...save the rest of you from fighting over it.}
Meade
(How's the car doing? Have they fixed that light and dashboard trim yet?)
http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=4940
And this:
http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=4953
Meade
If I do get another one, it will be a 1.8T wagon. They are built in Germany, not Mexico.
I'm just curious because I've heard that exact point refuted many times over in the Jetta board.
Hey, um,....so Mike's been getting on my case to wax my car. Yes, it's been over a year, two Chicago winters outdoors, 12,240 miles, and my Protege still has the factory wax. Or what's left of it. If there was ever any on there to begin with.
What's a good way for a beginner to get started?
And Mike, don't suggest that autopia site again...that was VERY overwhelming.
What's the shortest time it will take me to do this?
--Dale
waxing for a beginner? couldn't be easier, get a bottle of Meguiar's Gold Class, get a waxing application pad, dampen it with water, pour some Gold Class onto it, apply on car in small circular motion, wait for wax to 'haze', then wipe off wax and buff car with 100% terry cloth towel. (this step is also known as 'wax on, wax off, daniel-san')
start from the rooftop, then the hood, then the trunk lid, and then work your way down to the bumpers. Don't forget to wax your alloy wheels too!
and yes, please wash and dry the car first before waxing.
While it's easy and somewhat rewarding to do it yourself, it's not against the law not too.
Now if you do want to do it yourself, why not drive over to Pete's house and have a big waxing party. You could get a lesson and get your car waxed at the same time.
I'll have to consider them both carefully.
Thanks, Hank and Raymond.
Bonzai!
Interior: Optional most of the time as I keep my Pro clean inside. Occassional vacuum and dusting.
Wax: Now this can vary. IF you just use some lame cleaner wax, it'll take you about another half hour. Nu-finish works ok too, but it didn't give off as great a shine as the stuff I use now.
PLEASE don't use Turtle Wax or something like that. Get some good stuff like Meguiar's or Mother's or 3M for now. <----I just mean store bought....If you're into mail-order, Klasse is supposed to be really great as our friend Old-Head can tell you.
IF you are nuts like I am, it took about 4.5 hours for my buddy and I to do his wagon and my Pro. We washed twice, used pre-wax cleaner, glaze and seal, and wax. We used all Mother's California Gold products.
For washing, use a sheepskin mitt, or 100% cotton chenille mitt, or Microfiber mitt. Do not use sponges as they can grab a piece of dirt and drag it across the surface of your paint!!
Use only 100% cotton towels for drying....there cannot be any nylon or crap like that as it will cause scratches. Actually, the best thing to use now (according to the hard-core auto detailers) are Micro-fiber towels. They are supposed to be more absorbent and won't scratch your paint.
To apply wax, you can use terry cloth applicators for cars. You'll know what I mean when you see em. Buff the wax out with Microfiber or 100% cotton towels.
You WILL notice a difference after you're done. I cannot stress how great the paint looks after you've done it all. It really is worth the effort.
Oh...forgot to mention that Mother's or Meguiar's are probably going to be carnauba waxes and will only last 3-4 months. For a longer lasting wax, you need an acrylic like Zaino or Klasse.
Hank is right to....Factory wax is not from the factory. The dealer may wax it for you as part of the PDI, but it will be long gone by now.
Ray is also right...there are places that do it for you. But I like the satisfaction of doing the job myself.
But Paul raises a good point. He actually got to see where I park my car, and it IS a pretty tight spot. I don't think there's any access to water out there, either...didn't stop to think about that.
What if I drove through the car wash (all windows up, of course), and then went to the park or someplace with the wax?
Or do you think I can trust a more full-service place to do a good wax job for me?
Steve
I think your car is pretty good looking now though, white cars hide alot of stuff on them that you can't see. It might help to wax it though, if the water still doesn't bead on the surface.
Also, you can try this. If you have a car wash place that has one of those power sprayers, you can sometimes go in there, spray your car, and then use your own wash mitt on them. I know that the coin-op places frown on that, but there's a place I use sometimes that you take a ticket and pay $.50/min so they don't care that I'm using my own mitt.
After you wash your car in there, drive out and immediately dry off the car, otherwise you will get waterspots.
Then, if there's a parking lot close by, go in there and wax your car. People may give you strange looks, but who cares??
I abhor any sort of drive-thru wash. I did it once, just because it was the middle of winter and needed to spray the underside of my Pro. NEVER again. It did such a poor job of cleaning.
It's up to you to use a full service place. Your cash-ola
Plus you'll never have to wax them.
;-)
(BTW, you already know (don't you?) what kind of wax I use. It usually takes me about two hours; I don't rush when I wax my car. And I prefer to wax it myself so I can take the time to do it right, hit every spot -- including the wheels and bumpers, by the way -- and so I can discover all the latest paint chips that I need to fill in with touch-up paint. Waxing is a love thing.)
Meade
Paul is right...no room in my neighborhood to do it at the curb...so I'm glad to hear that Steve drives thru the wash and then waxes elsewhere.
Meade: In my time on this earth thus far, I've already suffered two broken ankles, one broken leg, and one broken foot. No roller blades for me
--Dale
Trust me. I just found out one.
This memorial dya weekend, I took my car to the local car wash that uses Lamswool cloth(rather than rubber, nylon, etc). So it is very safe.
After the washing and drying, i took my PRO to the nearby KOHL's empty parking lot and started the polishing job. Took me around 1-1/2 hours. What a smooth polish!!(Thanks Larry) It is so smooth that after I finished polishing, I happened to put the bottle on the rear trunk...and before i knew, it was sliding down. I thought the rear trunk was flat, but no, there is a little crowning which I realized after this incident. Anyway, no damage since the bottle was tightly closed.
Next day at school, I do a street parking and drop the coins in the parking meter. When I come back, I see a ticket on my windshield for meter expiration.
I read the ticket and it says:
Make:MAZDA
Color: Black
My God. My car is emerald green, how did it turn black?
It appears that the polish is so deep and wet that the dark emerald green in twilight looks like BLACK!!
So u see the relation between Klasse polish and Parking Ticket!!
So the question is:
Should I consider this ticket as a compliment to the polish job?
I said YES.
What do u guys say?
I wonder if you can get out of the ticket because the information is incorrect??
I thought about trying the same thing when I got a ticket in my Pontiac that claimed it was a Mitsubishi. How could you be that far off? But the ticket had my plate number, of course, which identifies the car fairly well. ;-)
Honestly, as somebody trying to enter the law enforcement profession, I shudder to think of making mistakes like that.