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Mazda Protege Basic Maintenance Questions
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Thanx.
Tonight, on the interstate, my 1.5L '95 Protege (manual tranny) started sqwealing REALLY bad in 2nd and 3rd gears. I thought I changed my oil a couple of months ago, but I might have just drained the gear oil pan and added a lot more oil to my crankcase!
Under my car, there are 2 (as it looks) bolt that could drain fluid. One is pointing straight down and is about 15/16" in size. The other is more to the passenger side, and is on the back of a black pan pointing toward the back of the car.
I drained the first one, and now I'm thinking that was the gear oil and I've been riding around without and lube in the gear box for a couple of months!! The past couple of days, my shifter has been sticking really bad, then tonight, under my car sounded like a wild turkey was stuck in my engine!
I know I need about 3 quarts of 75w-90 gear oil (and prolly some Lucas Transmission Fix to try and repair a little!) and a tube to put it in...
So am I right about having pulled the wrong plug? PLEASE HELP SOON! I really need my car back on the road!
Thanks for your time!
-Jon :lemon: <- my car
D'oh!
Uh, the cap, dudes?
My dad drives a 1997 Buick Riviera (poor, old man). He took it in for an oil change a few months ago at his Buick dealership. The whole way home he noticed a burning smell, and thought they'd just dripped some oil on his intake manifold. But the more he drove, the more he also noticed what looked like a convex dent in the middle of his hood.
He got home and opened the hood to find oil all over everything and his filler cap sitting on top of the valve cover, nearly crushed between the valve cover and the hood where the dealership had left it after changing his oil.
His dealership wound up paying more than $1,000 for a body shop to repair the hood and repaint the car.
Synthetic comes outta that too?
I switched to synthetic oil at about 40,000 miles in my former car, a 2000 Protege ES. I was at Merchant's getting my oil changed one afternoon about a year ago, and I was watching the guys through the little window in the customer waiting area. Near the end of the procedure, I watched as a guy walked up to my open hood and gently placed five one-quart containers of Mobil One on my valve cover. I then watched him walk away and grab this big hose that was hanging from the ceiling. He then came back to my hood with the hose, inserted it in my oil filler opening, and squeezed a trigger.
Curious, I walked up to the guy at the front desk and said, "I did pay for a full-synthetic oil change, right?" Oh yes, he assured me. "Well," I continued,"if you're not supposed to mix dino oil with synthetic oil in your engine, should you be shooting both kinds of oil through the same hose out there in your shop?"
He looked at me like I was stupid and said, "We don't use the hose for synthetic. We use Mobil One in bottles." I gestured toward the window and he got all wide-eyed. He ran out there and I watched as he confronted the mechanic, who then turned around, noticed the full bottles of Mobil One, and smacked himself on the head and rolled his eyes.
The front desk guy came back to me. "Mr. Daffron, it's going to be a few more minutes while we drain the regular oil out of your engine, get a new filter and put synthetic in it like we should have. And this oil change will be on us."
"Hon-what?"
Okay, this one's my favorite, and it goes all the way back 18 years to late 1987. I had just bought my first brand-new vehicle, a 1988 Hyundai Excel GL 5-door hatchback. (Whoa DUDE!) :shades:
Well, I wanted to make a little bit of a "statement" with my econobox, so after owning the car a few weeks, I drove it to a local, reputable (so I was told) tire and wheel store and ordered up a set of American Racing Stingray wheels for it, along with some nice, wide-profile tires. (Honestly, they didn't look half bad.)
The guy behind the desk had never seen a Hyundai in his shop before. (They had only come out a year earlier). I looked through his catalog and picked out my wheels, and he said to give him a minute while he ordered them. He picked up the phone. Part of his conversation went, "yeah, they're for a 1988 Hy- Hon - Hy-on-dai. Yep, hy-on-dai. I dunno how to pronounce it either."
Well, the wheels came in a few days later and they installed them and my new tires, and I was off. A day or two later I took the car on the highway for the first time since getting the new wheels, and when I reached about 60 mph, my steering wheel shook violently. I took the car back and they checked all the balancing, alignment, etc. Still vibrating like crazy on the highway. They took it back again, checked a few more things, and told me to come back in three days since they needed to order two new tires -- they suspected two of my new tires might have been slightly out-of-round.
I came back three days later and had the two new tires installed. Out I went. Still vibrated! In I came. "Must be somethin' wrong with one of the wheels," the guy said. So he ordered me a whole set of four new wheels.
I came back a week later. They installed all new wheels. The vibration was still there! So bad that it had started making the dashboard rattle when it happened! I drove it back to the shop and the guy had a guest. Seems the rep from American Racing had stopped by on his monthly visit to his outlets. The shop guy introduced me to him and explained my exasperating problem to him. The rep was standing beside my car at this point and asked what kind of car it was. The shop guy and I answered in unison, although I said "Hun-day" and the shop guy said "Hon-day."
The American Racing rep got a little pale looking and walked inside the shop office and got on the phone. He walked back outside about two minutes later.
"Mr. Daffron, I apologize for all you've been through over the past few weeks. Turns out the Hyundai Excel is so new, American Racing doesn't make wheels for it yet."
"Then what do I have on my car?!" I asked, kinda pointedly.
"Honda wheels. Civic, to be exact. The bolt pattern is close enough so they still fit your studs, but not close enough to be a match at rotating properly."
There's a sunny side to this story too. They took the wheels off, reinstalled my Hyundai's OEM steel wheels and wheel covers, refunded the entire price of the new wheels and tires, BUT let me keep the new tires for my trouble.
And I've never been back to Hanover Tire again!
Meade
All things considered, Meade, the sunny side of your story is that your alive to tell it.
p.s. is Hanover still in business?
So, in short, I and my car are not dead (yet)!!
Thanks again!
-Jon
I drive approximately 120 miles per workday, commuting between York and Baltimore. I am curious about using Slick 50 products to better maintain my 2002 Protege. Has anyone used these products before, and what has been your experience with them? Would you recommend products that were better for engine, fuel injector maintenance and optimization?
Thanks greatly,
Erin
I am an avid Mazda owner and have owned them since the early 90's. I have owned a 1991 Mazda 626 DX, a 1992 Mazda Protege DX, a 1993 Mazda Protege LX and I still own a 1996 Mazda 626 ES with 169K miles. This car still drives like a new car and is so smooth riding. I have had to put about $3,000 into the car over the last 2 years and the car is still going strong. Since the 626 burns premium unleaded fuel I thought it would a good idea to acquire the Protege to cut down my fuel consumption and cost.
I am totally sold on Mazda's. They are excellent cars and I highly recommend them.
Skip
Which model of Dunlops? How's the suspension? Ever try a wheel alignment?
Meade
That's interesting. I don't think I ever "heard" that before. I would have thought that as they wear the rough spots would get worn down so the tires would get smoother and flatter and hence quieter.
Agreed! I have just had these installed on my P5 and they are a dream. See the Mazda Protoge5 forum for more information.
I had about 30,000 miles on my set when I traded my Protege, and they had plenty of tread left. My wife's P5 has about 15,000 miles on hers, and they too are wearing nicely. Nice choice.
And yes (to the other guy), tires get louder as they wear. Think about it -- less tread to absorb road noise. Go to any discussion at Tirerack and you'll see people talking about tires being "quiet at first" but getting louder as they age.
Meade
Switch to synthetic oil if your car sees temperature extremes or you like to rev the engine high for prolonged periods (or if you're picky, like me, heh...seriously, the engine seems to start much more easily when temps are below freezing). I haven't done so, but others have switched to synthetic transmission fluid with positive results.
Thanks for your reply. Did you install a set of BFG Traction T/A 205/50/16/V on your 2000 Protege ES? If you install a larger size tire will it create any problems? I have heard if you install larger tires that possibly your check engine light will go on since it senses there is a change. Did you experience any problem going to a larger tire? I currently have Dunlop 195/50/16 tires on car.
Thanks, Skip
Here's a great little tool to use to see what the difference will be when changing tire sizes slightly:
http://www.paspeedo.com/calculator.htm
Meade
anyways, my dunlops are toast (195/50/16), and i need new rubber...AUTO, u mention that u purchased BFG Traction T/As. how r they in the snow? i'm just looking for a good "all season" (= western canada snow, ice, rain, dry, etc) tire that is cost efficient (ie. "el-cheapo")....anybody else have any suggestions?
How many miles/km did they last?
BFG Traction T/As. how r they in the snow? i'm just looking for a good "all season" (= western canada snow, ice, rain, dry, etc) tire that is ... "el-cheapo"
Installed the BFG Traction 205/50/16 T/A a couple of weeks ago and thank god there's been no white stuff here yet (although I hear that parts out West did get a sprinkle). Any day now (but likely by mid-December) I'll get to test them in the snow. That being said, I'm not driving the entire winter on all seasons ... especially in Canada. I've got an excellent set of BFG Winter Slaloms for those 4 months of winter sports:
* the ice-slide-to the-stop-sign marathon,
* the blinded-by-a-freak-snowstorm test,
* the white-knuckle-avoidance-of-jerks-dashing-to-their-graves-on-unplowed-streets challenge. :surprise:
p.s. BFGs are popular which means you can shop several outlets for the best price and you can also replace them easily in case of accidents.
Ditto on the BFG Traction T/As. My wife's set has close to 20K miles on 'em and they're really good tires at a really reasonable price. I'd be looking at them for my next set if they'd make 'em in a size that'll fit my 3!
So how's everything?
Meade
MEADE! long time no chat buddy...i've been searching for your group on yahoo with no luck...guess this is THE BEST place to meet up anyways!! u guys have a M3 now? when did that happen??? did u trade in one of the pros??
How's life?
Still have my 2000 Pro...~48,700 miles (sorry, don't know what that it is in Loonies. ).
Hope you're doing well!
--Dale
Actually, 67K km (~42K miles) is more than decent for these tires; many of us didn't get half that out of ours.
BFGs ... not too sure about their winter performance...i don't have the $$ to have 2 sets of tires...*double sigh* and of course, it snowed today...
The Traction T/As are beefy (especially in the 205/50/16 configuration), quiet, grippy and in rainy conditions they don't hydroplane. So, in their first year they may not be bad for the snow. Later, if they start handling poorly in the winter, fork over the dollars for winter tires next year. If you handled several winters in your Dunlops, you should be able to best Frosty with the BFGs.
My 205/50/16 Traction T/As cost $131 each (before tax) at Canadian Tire; this included wheel installation but not balancing ($8) or alignment. My BFG Winter Slaloms cost $700 for the tires and rims (including tax) at an independent tire shop.
On-topic: Well, at least one of you owns a Protege. :shades:
On-topic: my wife has exceeded 45000 mi on her original Dunlops (well, her P5). But we're scoping out the aftermarket tires (Traction T/A and Kumho Ecsta)....the tires look like they could handle one more winter. This time, I will make sure she replaces her tires BEFORE the rubber crumbles (like they did on her 7yr-old Dunlop D60A2s on her '91 Saturn).
Goodness, she's getting her money's worth out of her tires. Did you hear that some manufacturers are recommending that tires be labelled dangerous if they go beyond a certain period (I think it was 5 years) because of the degradation of the compounds?
Meade
Even if my tires still have plenty of tread left, I tend to replace them every 5 years, just like the car battery.
Since most people don't keep their cars over 10 years replacing your battery and tires at the 5 year interval makes a lot of sense. Why wait until you get into trouble? My battery is still kicking after 3.5 years so I'm hoping to get it through another two Canadian winters; wish me luck!
Michelin Pilot Exalto 2 (PE2)
Also, I am still having problems w/ my car picking up and going. Sometimes its like it used to be when I step on the gas I get a quick acceleration but more often, when I need /want to speed up, she won't go and I am pressing the gas petal to the floor. I had so far, fuel injectors flushed, replaced spark plugs, and my service advisor said that everything seems right. Is it just because my car is about 5 yrs now and this is to be expected? Thanks in advance!!
Regarding the lack of acceleration / pick up you're sensing, you may want to consider a motor vac service to clean the throttle body. Basically the technician cleans the carbon that has accumulated in the throttle body; this carbon buildup can lead to parts gets sticky and preventing the right air fuel mixture being used in the engine. Have you noticed any drop in fuel economy? That's another symptom of the carbon buildup over time. The service is not expensive.
Anyway, onto your question:
By 2003 Mazdaspeed 5, I assume you mean the Mazdaspeed Protege. Also, which Mazda6 does he want? There are 3 body styles, and there's the Mazdaspeed6, which is based on the sedan 6. All 3 body styles of the 6 are larger than the Protege. However, in terms of internal cabin space, I think the 6 hatch is smaller than the Protege, especially if you equip it with a moonroof.
The Protege has a better reliability record than the 6, in general. I don't have information on the Mazdaspeed Protege specifically. The 6 use new engine designs. Except for the Mazdaspeed versions, they all recommend regular fuel. Fuel economy of the Mazdaspeed Protege is about equivalent to the 2.3L engine in the 6i sedan and hatch. The 6cyl engine option for the 6 will get less mpg, but doesn't require premium like the Mazdaspeed Pro.
Personally, I think the Mazdaspeed Pro handles better (this is up to your tastes) and has more direct feedback (I feel the 6 are all too heavy for real "tossability"). On the flip side, there is a bit of turbo lag, which the non-turbo versions of the 6 don't have, and the 6 are better as long-distance cruisers.