Mazda Protegé

steven39 · September 2003

the main selling point me choseing the pro es
over the 04 civic ex was features. pro es has 4 wheel disks- better stereo 6-disk cd, better warranty, and much better handling plus service loaner cars for warranty repairs. dealer even throw in first free oil change at 3500 miles.and there is one` more major option that came standard with the pro es that does not come with the civic es and that is 100% MADE IN JAPAN!!!!

forlop · October 2003

I purchased this extra remote keyless entry key from ebay. But I couldn't find programming instruction for it. Does anyone know where to get it? Thanks.

doublesix · October 2003

Interesting enough, the other day I contacted Mazda USA regarding the maintenance of automatic transmission fluid, and was told that there is no suggested service schedule for Protege from the manufacture. They just recommend to have a dealer inspect the fluid during every major checkup, and then decide whether the fluid should be replaced.

boggse · October 2003

I'll take a lot at the service manual and let you know if I come up with anything.

tomciviletti · October 2003

http://forums.mazdaworld.org/index.php?s=1658dbedc0121186d60b6c50- 08ede7c1&showtopic=2031&st=0&#entry23512

dinu01 · October 2003

1. Open driver's door
2. Turn the key to on position (not ACC, but ON)
3. Turn the key off and REMOVE it.
4. Repeat the last 2 steps two times removing the key each time. Keep the key out.
5. Press the light switch in the door (that turns the light off when the door closes) three times.
6. There should be a chime similar to when your seatbelt is not fastened. (Mine did not chime but the door locks went down)
7. Press the lock button on your remote two times.

Let us know if it works!

Dinu

forlop · October 2003

This is another wonderful thing about owning a protege. I always can get help here. I will let you know how it goes when I receive the remote. Thanks again.

moparbad · October 2003

Picked up my Protege LX last night. Silver, auto, ABS-Airbag pkg., Sunroof-CD changer pkg., cassette player.
Where can I buy accessories for the best price? Cargo net, cargo tray, etc..
So far the only surprise has been the maintenance requirements being more extensive than I expected. Maintenance is required more often and looks as if it may be more costly than the maintenance on my VW Golf TDI. The much lower purchase price should balance out the maint. cost.

vocus · October 2003

There is no way the maintenance would be more costly on the Protege than the VW. Not from my experience anyway. Of course, I had a 1.8t and not a TDI.

boggse · October 2003

A few places that sell Mazda parts and accessories at a discount include:

http://www.mazdastuff.com/
http://www.finishlineperformance.com/
http://www.mazdadiscountparts.com/
http://www.trussvillemazda.com/

Maintenance is pretty cheap on Mazdas in general compared to the Jeeps and VWs I have owned in the past. I hope you enjoy your new Protege.

fritz1224 · October 2003

I just bought 4 BF Goodrich Traction T/A tires for my 2k ES. It's a new tire that comes in the hard to find 195/55/15 and it's V rated. Has a mileage tread wear warranty of 60,000 and is an all season tire. The OEM RE 92's were just about shot with only 25,000 miles on them and with winter fast approaching I didn't want to push my luck with them. The only thing I didn't like about the new tires is that they are directional which means they can only be moved front to back and have to stay on the same side of the car. With only 100 miles on them so far I can't say how they will hold up, but I'm sure they'll last a lot longer than the RE 92's. UTQG of 440 AA and A. Cost $449 total.

mazdafun · October 2003

They probably are asking you to follow a 3000 mile interval between oil and oil filter changes. This depends a lot on the driving conditions. 3000 is a good interval for the stock filter and regular oil if you drive lots of short trips, lots of stop-n-go traffic, really hot, really cold or in very dusty conditions. Most urban environments are like this.

On the other hand, if you drive mostly freeway miles with little congestion, then you can probably go for longer (5000 or 7500 miles).

I drive mostly short trips. But I change my oil and filter every 5000 since I use synthetic oil and use the larger capacity filter.

Other than inspecting some things every 15000 miles, the only major items I recall are timing belt change (or inspection, depending on your state) every 60000 miles and replacing the coolant and transmission fluid every 2-3 years, battery at least every 4-5, plugs every 30k etc. Those hold true for pretty much any vehicle (I don't believe the 100k tune-up intervals some makes advertise...I think it'd be pretty tough to remove plugs that have been in an engine for 100k miles...and I've used platinum-tipped plugs in the past and found almost as much wear on them when changing them as the "regular" plugs...so I've switched back). I think they're betting on most folks trading in or selling or returning (leased) these vehicles before they reach 100k miles.

mdaffron · October 2003

What year/trim is your Protege, how many miles do you have on it, and how many problems have you experienced?

I'll start.

2000 ES 5-speed.
63,000.
Zero.

Meade

boggse · October 2003

Welcome back, Meade!

2003 Protege5 (Auto/SAB)
11,000
Mazda Auto-Dimming Mirror replaced 3 times before they found one that worked. This was the dealer's fault for not testing it before they returned the car to me.

Ted

mdaffron · October 2003

It was interesting seeing the Protege and P5 parked out on the street in front of my house on September 18, facing (by coincidence) directly into the easterly winds of Isabel, watching the horizontal rain that was being propelled by sustained winds of 45 mph and gusting to near 80. I've never witnessed a wind-tunnel "smoke-test" before, and I finally got my chance -- for several hours. Textbook aerodynamics, and since my car was parked in front of the P5, I got to see how my "wake" reacted on Tammy's car. (How gentlemanly of me, putting Zoomster in front to catch any debris and protect Tammy's car. Heck, now that I think about it, I should've put hers in front since it already has a cracked windshield!!!)

Zoomster had to have been confused, feeling like he was zooming down the highway while his wheels weren't turning.

Both Zoomster and ZUMNMOM (Tammy's P5's vanity plate) weathered the storm with no ill effects, even though their undercarriages served as a popular gathering point for all manner of arboral debris! Thank God everyone put their big 'ol green Supercans in their sheds as the county suggested; I would've loved to see one of them come tooling down the street at 50 mph!

I've posted some pics of the hurricane's aftermath at my home south of Richmond on the Yahoo group, along with a much more lengthy description of what we went through two weeks ago tonight, if anyone's interested. Much of it is not related to Proteges, naturally, so I'll refrain from getting too verbose here. Thank you to everyone for thinking of us during IsaHELL!

Meade

dinu01 · October 2003

01 ES
67-68K kms

CD Player replaced - ate my Sandstorm CD (:
Spoiler LED had 3 lights out
2 rear right tail light brake lights replaced
all "chrome" Mazda, logo, Protege badges replaced due to a little chipping on them

That's it. Not real problems if you think about it. Mostly me being anal about having a perfect car (see the badges)

The rest were fixed w/out fuss by my dealer.

Gotta love the PRO!

Dinu

mdaffron · October 2003

I did have to replace my CD player, but that was because I put a CD with a stick-on label in it -- something that was specifically said not to do in the manual. Even so, the dealer warranteed it. And I damaged a the clip that holds the springs for the trunk (right under the parcel shelf) -- again a blunder by yours truly, trying to wedge a box that was too big into the trunk -- but once again, Whitten Mazda in Richmond replaced it under warranty. Good guys, those Whitten brothers. Funny commercials too. (Whitten can pay me later ...

)

Interestingly enough, in 3-1/2 years of ownership, I have had not one bulb go out on me. Not even the dome light.

Dinu, just wondering -- how did you chip those badges? Also, concerning the spoiler light -- I've wondered about what to do if/when any LEDs ever go out in mine. Did they just replace the whole light assembly, or are the LEDs replaceable separately, or what? Come to think of it though, I've never seen an LED-equipped spoiler light on any car with any LEDs out. Whatcha doin', shooting the high-pressure self-service car wash wand directly into it or something?

I have noticed one thing that unfortunately is not covered by the rust PERFORATION warranty -- something you guys with spoilers might want to check out. Under the trunk lid there are four torx screws -- two on each side -- holding the spoiler to the trunk lid. I've noticed that one of those screws (on the right side) has some bubbles forming around it under the paint on the inside of the trunk lid, indicating rust is starting there. I've done this kind of repair before and it isn't hard; I just have to remove the screw, put the wire brush on my drill, sand down the rust to the bare metal, reprime and paint the coin-sized area, and reinstall. Had to do the same thing on a much larger scale around the right rear light assembly on my '78 Corolla back in 1985. I was very impressed how my handiwork came out at age 20!

Meade

dinu01 · October 2003

They replaced the whole strip of LEDs. There are screws if you look from below/underneath the spoiler. Easy installation - just took a few minutes. I have no idea what the cost is but I suspect it's not cheap. I've seen some older Accords with spoiler lights out.

As for the badges, they were all chipped. Either showing minuscule rust spots or faded like some acid or bleach was spilled on them in droplets. Very tiny, needle point-sized rust in the middle, then white discoloured "chrome" around it. Not too noticeable, but it NEEDS to be perfect

The new ones are OK.

Dinu

reitrof · October 2003

2002 P5, 5 Speed
35,000 mi

CD player replaced.
No other issues.

garcia92 · October 2003

I have a 2001 ES and Love it. Lots of power and reacts well. Great Suspension and wheels. Most of the problems I see on others Protege is due to either buying a base modle or beating the hell out of the ride. I have a buddy with a 2002 Mazda Speed. Nothing but problems until Mazda come out with some fix. Most problems due to using leftover equipment from other cars. With minimal upgrades(intercooler, blow off valve, boost controller, flash upgrade from factory)it now is a street machine with no problems. The protege is the best bang for the buck. No matter if you go with the ES, 5, or Mazda Speed. Mazda is doing a lot right now in the performance area just look at the RX8 ahhhhhhh the RX8.

tomciviletti · October 2003

"99 es 5sp
31k miles

cd player fritzy at times
door lock cover plate broke off, stuck in keyway
buzz in dash [someday i"ll find the damn thing!]
difficult to drive slowly

mazdafun · October 2003

Purchased Jan '99.
Currently 45250miles (or thereabouts).

When new, the steering wheel was off by about 15 degrees. Fixed under adjustment period warranty.

Driver-side plastic door lock flap cracked and fell in. Replaced driver and passenger door lock cylinders with new ones with metal flaps under warranty. I now use the keyless entry remote; batteries are cheaper than lock cylinders since my car's out of warranty.

CD player stopped playing CDs this past spring. Replaced it with a JVC SX-780, which makes even better use of the aftermarket Pioneer speakers I installed. And I can plug in my iPod for long trips too.

AT sometimes "stumbles" when accelerating after coming to a brief stop or a crawl. I can manage around this quirk by pausing a little longer before accelerating, but still annoying.

Other than the issues above, no problems. It's been a blast to drive too, especially after adding the strut tower bar.

vocus · October 2003

My auto used to stumble in the 99 DX I had. It started around 35K miles, but I traded the car at 38K so I never got it looked at. Funny everyone's CD player went nuts too, mine in the DX used to hold CDs captive, but again I never did anything about it.

I have noticed on the road that alot of Proteges have burned out taillamps, the top part of the taillamp only though. Anyone notice this?

according2me · October 2003

It is indeed possible to go 100K with NGK double plats. I changed my OEM plugs (above NGK's) @102K miles and just for curiousity checked the gap. They were still gapped correctly. I was shocked.

These plugs had platinum on the center electrode and the ground electrode. They were $12/each to replace, so I went cheap and replaced with NGK coppers.

I had also heard the horror stories about plug removal at 100K, but I had no such problem. I changed them first thing in the morning, when the engine was cold and they popped right out.

I'll probably stick with the coppers for the next 100K.(@30K intervals)

gee35coupe · October 2003

Copper plugs. They were Champions but still copper. I blew em one night while "testing" my top speed on the interstate. When I slowed doen the car would barely run. Checked the plugs and they were burned right up. I'll never cheap out on my plugs again.

dinu01 · October 2003

NGK OEM every 30K miles.

Dinu

newcar31 · October 2003

NGK or Denso plugs in my Hondas and Mazdas. I think the platinum plugs are an absolute rip off.

The regular plugs are cheap enough that you could replace them every 15,000 miles and still spend WAY less money than replacing platinums at 100,000. I have never burned up any spark plugs, they are always pretty close to stock gap when I replace them. Now, if the plugs were a pain in the [non-permissible content removed] to replace, I might be more willing to use platinums, but the Protege's plugs are easy.

As far as burned out light bulbs are concerned, I haven't seen a 99-03 Protege with a burnt out bulb. I haven't really noticed any newer cars that have a high percentage of burnt out bulbs except for VW/Audi cars. I've seen TONS of those cars with burnt out bulbs.

gee35coupe · October 2003

Try on a Lexus LS400. That's a job. Especially if you change the wires too. I couldn't even do the distributor cap and rotor because of one of the shields. I went Iridium. Normally I used Platinum +4's. Just because I like the way they look. Duh.

German cars in general seem to have a lot of burned out lights. Older Celicas, LS400's, and Camrys used to seem to have a lot of out tail lights.

newcar31 · October 2003

are probably going to be tough to replace the plugs. My 91' Mustang basically had a truck engine shoved into a relatively compact car. The plugs were hard to get at, and there were 8 of them.

My parent's 92 Camry didn't burn out any bulbs in 11 years. Unbelievable.

gee35coupe · October 2003

But my sister's 94 didn't. Go figure.

Getting to the plugs was no problem...Once I removed all the pretty covers and intake piping.

alternator · October 2003

I finally got around to installing that back-up alarm in my 2002 Protege LX. Your info that the red/yellow wire was the hot wire for the back-up bulb was certainly correct, but I made the mistake of thinking I knew where to find a temporary ground to test the alarm. Apparently everywhere I thought was a ground was not, or was painted over too thick to be a ground. So the alarm didn't work. I removed the rear tail-backup-stop-side lamp housing to make sure that the red-yellow wire actually went to the back-up bulb. Well it did, so I deduced that I must not have found a proper ground. I subsequently found a clear hole on a flange just above the tire (behind the trim panel) to bolt the alarm to, and the alarm works just fine.

Originally I just didn't want to fuss with removing the lamp housing, but having done so I can say that it is very easy to do for those who might want to change any of their rear lamp bulbs. Simply remove the three brass-colored nuts. However, besides those nuts, there is a little hidden plastic "snap-into" socket that requires you to give the lamp housing a bit of a tug to free the housing (that socket is not mentioned in the owner's manual).

I truly believe that back-up alarms should be standard equipment on all vehicles. It can save lives.

dinu01 · October 2003

My neighbour (the one with the $29K CAD Corolla with no pwr windows, etc) has one that says "Your attention please. This car is backing up" when he puts it in reverse. It's sooo *$#&*& annoying, I can't believe it myself. But I guess it's to keep kids safe. A little too loud for me though, hence me being annoyed when I hear it - rarely.

Dinu

steven39 · October 2003

just picked my pro es today and all i can say is iam very impresed.its silver and every where i go people compliment the car.this is a very solid car that rides and feels like a much more expensive car.i checked out the honda civic and the corolla and the accord as well but i wanted something stylish,fun to drive, and reliable as well and the pro fit the bill to a tee. the 2500 rebate didnt hurt either, plus the fact that the protege is 100% made in japan,trust me it does make a difference.not even the accord is made in japan and i test drove that also before deciding on the pro and believe it or not the pro felt more solid than the accord probably due to the fact as i mentioned already that its made in japan something that the accord cant claim, plus the pro has much better warranty and i needed a smaller car cuz i cant paralell park for beans.

according2me · October 2003

You just need to search them out.

protegextwo · October 2003

Interesting enough, the other day I contacted Mazda USA regarding the maintenance of automatic transmission fluid, and was told that there is no suggested service schedule for Protege from the manufacture. They just recommend to have a dealer inspect the fluid during every major checkup, and then decide whether the fluid should be replaced."

Well, I believe it is cheaper to maintain a vehicle than it is to repair the same. True?

Every 5,000 miles:
Oil & filter change
Rotate tires

Every 10,000 miles:
Replace air filter

Every 30,000 miles:
Change Transmission oil & service
Antifreeze/ coolant replacement
Replace spark plugs and wires

-Larry

vocus · October 2003

Maybe 'burned out' isn't the right word. The light is still on, but it looks very dim for some reason.

I have seen a couple Jettas with burned out taillamps myself actually. And headlamps seem to go on Golfs and Passats alot too.

As far as plugs, they must be hard to change on the 1.8t motor. VW told me it would cost $170 to change them at 40K miles for me.

boggse · October 2003

That's becuase they have to remove that nice plastic cover over the engine. Very labor intesive. ;-)

Karen_S · October 2003

Mazda Mania Chat
Tuesday nights - 6-7pm PT/9-10pm ET.

mdaffron · October 2003

I ... LIKE IT!!!

Meade
Mazda Maniac

mdaffron · October 2003

This from Consumer Guide, at the end of their news blip about the coming Mazda3:

"An even smaller Mazda2 may also turn up. This is said to be based on the redesigned replacement for Mazda's Japanese-market Demio, a tall-body mini-minivan with 4-cyl engines in the 1.3-1.5-liter range. No word yet on timing or even whether the idea has Ford's blessing, but we'll keep you posted."

Please do!

Meade

mdaffron · October 2003

Sorry, but as most of you probably know, I've been gone for two weeks due to IsaHELL and a family vacation. I don't know if this has made the rounds:

http://carpoint.ninemsn.com.au/reviews/reviewstory.asp?id=5382

Meade

vocus · October 2003

That's not the only thing actually. You have to remove one or 2 of the coilpacks as well. I took off the engine cover anyway because I was working on it, so that's not too hard to do.

mazdafun · October 2003

At least in the 6?

?

?

the_big_h · October 2003

so who's the first special guest from MNAO???

moparbad · October 2003

Only 90 miles on my Pro and it was slipping around in the rain. Is my observation that Potenza is a lousy on wet surfaces what others have experienced?

alternator · October 2003

Yes, that is exactly the right word to describe the 2004 Mazda3 sedan (bulging hood, mini SUV look), as opposed to the elegant, near-perfect proportions and shape of the 1999-2003 Protege! IMO obviously.

ashutoshsm · October 2003

What, the 2.3L uses premium down under?

Differences
1. Compression ratio 10ish:1 as opposed to our lower 9.5-ish:1
2. Different (high pressure) pistons
3. Tuned (timing etc, combustion advanced (retarded?)) for RON 95 or higher.

MAJOR difference: 10-15 more HP and 10-15 more lb-ft

They toned it down for the US 2.3 to keep it a regular-sipping car. I, for one, would have paid the premium (for premium!) to get the Euro/Aussie/Asian engine

ashutoshsm · October 2003

I, for one - belive the Protege has gotten better looking with every generation. The 3 looks gorgeous! (A lot like my 6)

The only issues people seem to dislike are that they shortened the trunk overhang to make it smaller than the 6 (makes sense, it is one size down!) and the bulges (fenders and hood - which I LOVE)

If I had waited, I would have had a super tough time deciding between the 3 Sport Hatch and the 6 Hatch (which will only come with the Sport Package - so we may as well call it a Sport Hatch as well!)

moparbad · October 2003

I answered my own question. The Potenza has terrible, terrible reviews for wet or snow traction. Not too many choices to replace them either. No wonder I almost Zoom, Zoom, Zoomed into a curb.

dinu01 · October 2003

Buy winter tires or other all-season tires. I damamged a rim, cracked a hubcap and threw my allignemnt off when I slip into a curn with them on snow. I woulod spin the tires in wet with the Potenzas too - this from a 2.0L AT Protege.

I now have Yoko Avid Touring - MUCH better.

Dinu

Mazda Protegé

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