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Be sure to check out Protegeclub.com and do a search on gauge installation. The needles are very delicate and break easily. $300+ for a new cluster.
Man, do I like that instrument panel above!
fowler3
In other news, my Protege turned over 50K today. I'm slightly pissed, though, because I didn't get to take a snapshot of the mileage. I was distracted. Here's a shot of the car at 50,005 miles....STOPPED, hehe.
http://www.knology.net/~negatize/images/IMG_0685%20copy.jpg
Funny, at times even the service department likes to sell you add-ons to create extra profit for the dealership. I was offered... and I politely declined an Engine Power Flush (oil sludge out) and MotorVac Carbon Clean (fuel system cleaning) services. The funny thing was how my service rep, marked declined, on his copy of my service reports after he pitched those services. I had a feeling a sales push was under way because, they would page most everyone in the service waiting room to pick up the hospitality phone and have them talk with their service advisor. Every couple of minuets you would here Mrs. Smith or Mr. Green hem and haw something about next time or maybe at a later time. It was truly funny to see the looks on their faces. :-)
-Larry
Mine has been doing that. Did the lube take care of the problem?
I'm attributing it to the fact that the key has worn down somewhat over the years. Maybe I just need to switch to key no. 2 or just have a new key made ...
I'm at 49,200 this morning. Time to call the dealership for that last-minute in-warranty look-see!
BTW, I've been on synthetic oil since about 38,000 miles. Are you still using dino oil, and if not, have you considered going synthetic?
Meade
P.S. (To Pat's chagrin) They're calling for 8 inches here tonight, with a lowball of 5 and an "in places" estimate of 10! Hopefully I won't have to come in to work tomorrow ... but I'm going to beat the supermarket rush this evening; we need a few things and since my boss is in Atlanta, I might take an "extended lunch" and stop by the store. No problem buying cold stuff at lunchtime; it's 16 degrees right now and only supposed to get up to 33 today -- so my Protege will have a new job this afternoon -- REFRIGERATOR!
;-)
Todd, to answer your question about what the red lighting on the radio, etc. would look like with those blue gauges, it would look like my VW does inside. I will snap a digpic of the car lit up tonight when I get home and post it so you all can see if you want.
"BTW, I've been on synthetic oil since about 38,000 miles. Are you still using dino oil, and if not, have you considered going synthetic?"
-Meade
I have the dealer rotate my tires every 4,500 miles and change my dino oil at the same time. They top off my tires at 32 psi and refill the wiper fluid and best of all I get to go into the show room and sit in all the new Mazda and Toyotas!!!! I love going to the dealer every 10 weeks or so. I would feel like I'm wasting my $$$ changing synthetic so often. I'm just a new car junky!!
-Larry
I have heard that the most oil companies put more detergents on the higher octane fuels. Myself, I put an 93 fuels now and then (1/5 tank) to clean the engine.
Bruno
That would be a reason for me to do it. I think it would be cool to see that stuff in German if I had a German car. Who cares about the reminders when you can still read the numbers?
Also, for some reason I thought all of the Jetta's illumination was blue. I guess not.
The problem is, 93 octane takes longer to detonate, so it's leaving carbon buildup in my engine. It doesn't 'clean' your engine out, it does the opposite.
http://member.rivernet.com.au/btaylor/BMWText/technical/RoughIdle.html
[... Note: Carbon Buildup was a common problem for the E28 535 caused by poor fuel quality. Many BMW's experienced rough idle due to carbon buildup while still under warranty.It is recommended you use premium gas at least once in every 4 fill-ups. The premium gas contains more detergents to remove the carbon deposits from injectors and gum/varnish buildup on valves. That said however, some Oil Companies add no additional detergents to their regular or premium fuel products... Ask your fuel company for information. ...]
Bruno
The new gauge panel is like $225 when you have to have VAG-COM to switch it out. Don't know if I wanna go through all that, but I have been thinking about it...
Bruno
Bruno
Please, everyone who's posted in the last 2 hours, read this link!
http://theserviceadvisor.com/octane.htm
Meade
I've always thought that you're not supposed to use 93 octane unless your manual recommends it. The Protege is designed to run on 87, so if I use 93, it's not burning all of the fuel which leaves deposits.
Oh well, what do I know, I'm not a mechanic!
- the government regulation requires a *minimum" amount of additives in all gas. Nothing to prevent the oil companies to put more than government regulation.
- I believe some of them indeed did, because I read a scientific study by a car magazine few year back: they bough the gasoline from the gas station and do the laboratory analysis, and there is a difference in the amount of detergent.
Bruno
- check your ignition, starting with the sparkplugs as your mechanics have suggested.
- use a fuel additive to clean your engine
- push your engine now and then to the redline.
Bruno
And Mike ... I know, I know. But it appears some folks never read it.
All I know is, never, ever, put a higher-than-recommended octane in your tank if your car doesn't call for it. If the engine starts to ping, there's a problem (most likely a MAF or oxygen sensor) that needs to be identified and fixed. And you probably started the problem yourself by putting in higher octane fuel than what's recommended, leaving deposits from what wasn't burned in your engine.
Hey, don't fret, I still love you ... and the gas companies do too!
Meade
I don't use exclusively 93, just once every 5 tanks. May be the detergent of the 87 is enough to avoid carbon buildup, but this hasn't been proven. I don't want to take a risk with my engine.
Here is one more website: http://www.carprices.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?name=fueladditives.html
Bruno
"Most U.S. gasoline has additives, and vehicles that consistently use a higher-octane fuel can avoid the need for such an additive. "
I can hear the money burning out of hundreds of people's pockets as they buy premium gas now....
"Gas recommended: 87 (R+M/2 method) or HIGHER."
Then followed by some constraint related to mixing gas with light hydrocarbon molecules such as ethanol and methanol.
Bruno
The 2.0 does has one.
it's the same one from the MP3
I got it from www.mazdastuff.com , they have the whole kit for $99
from
http://www.chevron.ca/ProductsServices/Retail/Gasolines.htm
Bruno
Hope Edmunds gets this web site running faster. It took 40-minutes to download the front page and 6-minutes each to load the other pages. Sheesh!
fowler3
keep in mind, since this is the last year of the current Protege, it should be relatively bug-free as it has had 5 years of refining.
15200 sounds like a decent price for a base ES. Auto or manual?
check the TMV on this site for a more concrete price.
good luck in your car shopping.
another reason to get the '03 Protege because it's such a great deal!
also check if there are any rebates on them, I bet there are, again to move inventory :-)
That old browser of yours probably doesn't like this new site.