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Thanks!
Meade
Are these the stock Dunlops (5000 M), Kenny? It sounds like you had them at the end of their lifespan; any tire at that point would probably not shine. Mine have been good but their lifespan has been short; likely not going to last beyond this summer and 30,000 miles. Considering Toyo Proxes TPT are warrantied for twice as long and cost slightly more, I'm considering switching.
What's wrong with the safety features, btw?
Meade
I had 24k Miles on my 03 Pro 5. Have a few questions..
1) Still on my OEM Tires.. One of my rear tires has blown up on the side wall.. so have to definitely change it.
2) However, i was also suggested that i change all my four tires.. as they are near DEAD with the tread life.
3) My Q is .. What is the typical life on the OE Tires(Dunlop SP 5000).
4) Did anyone had Dunlop SP901 -- How good are they when it comes to MIleage.?
Please advise..
Thanks!
Many people have reported that their Dunlop Sport 5000 M (195/50/16-V rated) seem to last about 20K to 30K. So I'd say, yours are due for a change.
The Dunlop SP901 looks sharp. It's called an ultra high performance summer tire; to me that sounds fast but not long term. Performance and longterm mileage do not go together always.Check Tire Rack or Tire Trends for more information.
BTW, if you're thinking of upsizing to 17 inch rims, now would be a good time to do it, but get out your chequebook!
Personally, I am looking at 205/50/16 in Toyo Proxes TPT or BF Goodrich Traction T/A. They are both V rated and are warrantied for 100K kilometres (60K miles) so I'm hoping to stretch out the life of the tires, get some more rubber on the road and not break the bank..
so, is it ok if i go for the 205/50/16 --- as mazda suggests 195/50/16..
I mean i dont want to jeopardize my warranty for suspension and brakes/alignment... if mazda denies service on that(First of all, is my understanding rigth?? that if i change the size of my tire something else is gonna effected???)
I haven't replaced mine yet, but I've been saving my pennies for the big day at the end of the summer.
I've owned a 1997 MPV 4wd Sport for over 5 years now and have been very happy with it...
NOT!!! happy with the local Dealer but very happy with the truck.
Had a sticking lifter from the day I bought it (still under warranty) Engine knocked when cold. Recently had to pay WAY to much!!! to have the lifter replaced.
SHOULD have been done under warranty.
I recently purchased a 2002 Protege5 with the sport package and I'm in love with this car!!!
It's fun to drive has not too bad gas mileage (compared to my MPV)
and goes like snot....
On the down side...
The stock tires are totally worn out at 50K, Suggestions for new tires?
The CD player skips badly and the dealer tells me this is normal,,,
See NOT!!! happy with dealer (Mainway Motors in Saskatoon)
Want to find three extra lugnuts? Put on wheel locks! :P
I use McGard (model M12x 1.5 24157) and now have spare lugnuts in case some get worn or lost. Pepboys and other suppliers should have them.
Is that 50K as in kilometres or miles? If kilometres, join the group; if miles, you're one of the leaders of the pack. Search this board under "tires" and you'll find lots of info; a few choices mentioned by others: BF Goodrich Traction TA, Dunlop FM901, Kumho Ecsta 711 or 712 or ASX, Toyo Proxes TPT or 4.
The CD player skips badly and the dealer tells me this is normal,,,
Does it skip on all discs or just some? If all, it's the player, if some a bit of disc cleaning may do the job.
But we might be looking at new tires this fall. Best not to try driving during winter with that little tread on them. We're not THAT cheap.
Probably looking at the BF Goodrich Traction T/A. She did say she wanted better fuel economy, which probably means a touring or passenger tire instead performance-oriented all-seasons, in which case I was considering Michelin Harmony tires, but that goes against the sporty nature of the P5.
I highly recommend against replacing the tires with lower-performance versions. We once put medium-perf tires on our '87 Acura Integra and the handling went from great to awful. I replaced them with hi-perfs within the week.
On my P5 I recently replaced the original SP5000s with Pirelli PZeros, in one size up (205/50 16). They're great tires, and the additional cushening of the larger size makes for quieter and smoother roadtrips. Also, for the first time I feel confident driving the P5 in the rain; no more hydroplaning over freeway puddles. The downside is more sideways motion at turn-in and through curves. Still lots of fun, but whereas I would never corner at a speed approaching the Dunlop's limits, I do get to the PZero's limits when playing hard. I think most people never push their P5 this fast through turns, though, so that may not be an issue. I noticed no difference in gas mileage.
Coming to my prob.. I was told by Mazda Service center that i have to replace my Rear Brake Pads when i took it for service week days back. I have 25000 Miles on it and they quoted me $290.
1) Is this a genuine problem, where rear brakes go first -- or is that part faulty.
2) Does it cost $290 for replacing rear brakes.. any other good places that i could get this done with out compromising warranty?
Thanks!
Er, duh, yes!!! Why are you taking it to the dealer for something like that anyway? Don't you know you'll get gouged? Any reputable tire store will do it for half that, and give you a lifetime warranty on the brakes. At least that's what I found with the front brakes on my Protege: New front pads and turned rotors at Meineke, plus a lifetime warranty, plus new shoes on the rear (hey, the '00 Protege has rear drums, sorry!), for the grand total of $130. Plus a lifetime warranty on all of it. I had it done at around 60K miles and everything was still working like OEM when I traded the car two weeks ago with 91K miles on it.
Keep your receipts in case your dealer ever tries to get you for not maintaining your car during a warranty issue. The dealer likes to see you get your routine maintenance at the dealership, but in most cases there's no requirement as long as you have records that the maintenance has been performed. For stuff like that I would never have the dealer do it unless there was a possibility it could be covered under warranty.
That said, my Mazda dealer just started giving you free tires for life with every new car, including my new Mazda3. And in that case, there is a requirement that I have all my routine maintenance done at the dealership. (But routine maintenance means normal service procedures, aka 30K and 60K services. Not new brakes.)
Meade
I went to a Mazda dealer after my automatic transmission started to shift erratically on March 25th. My warranty expired on February 28th, and the 3 years check that I did at a different dealer one month prior to that did not show anything wrong, although the transmission fluid was very very dark and they replaced it.
After going to that new dealer, I had to wait for a week to have them run a bunch of tests and finally changing a temperature sensor. From what the dealer tells me, the wait was mostly because my car is Canadian and I am in the US, and also because my warranty had just expired so they needed to find out who would pay for what. In any case, changing the sensor did solve the erratic shifting, but the transmission started to have a delay while shifting (new problem). Run another battery of tests to end up, after two weeks, having to change the entire transmission. Luckily, Mazda agreed to pay for eveything. It took 5 days to get a new transmission, and another week to change it. This brings us to April 20th, when the dealer called me to tell me my car is working fine. I went to pick up my car on April 22nd. At noon, I get a phone call from the service guy: "Sir, I have some bad news. Your car is not shifting in 1st and 2nd gears"...
I have been without a car for 4 weeks, and I have to pay for a rental car in the meantime because the dealer won't give me one. Apparently the agreement is that they fix the car for nothing and I pay the rental. I am extremely pissed... :mad: :mad: :mad: In any case, I went to the dealer and calmly explained that I want them to pay for the rental for the rest of the time they will fix my car. The service guy seemed to feel bad and agreed to pay the rental. At the same time, he told me that in his opinion the new transmission is defective and should be replaced. However, since Mazda is footing the bill, they want him to run a series of new tests before agreeing to change the transmission again.
I have never had such a bad experience with any car in my life! Even my Suzuki Swift did not cause me that much troubles. now the first thing I want to do is to get the :lemon: fixed, sell it and buy a Toyota Matrix.
Good to hear!
The relay as I understand it is a small electronic part similar to a switch. Do you know why it malfunctioned: was it corroded or affected by condensation?
Was there any charge to you?
The Protege5 is built in Hiroshima not the US. If the parent company is Ford, would that make Mazda an American company? A Ford Focus would qualify better as an American car, I would think.
Did you put a CD with a label on it into your 6-CD changer? I did that with the single-CD player on my 2000 Protege (despite the fact that it says not to do it in the owner's manual) and it jammed, requring replacement.
Even if that isn't the case, I really think you're being a little nutty here. CD players are not known for being indestructible (and the one in your car wasn't made by Mazda, btw), and sunroof gaskets can leak. That's why your car has a warranty. I note you said your car is only two years old. Take it to the dealer and get it fixed.
And please tell us what real problems you've had that would cause someone to respect your use of the :lemon: icon.
Meade
Meade
A moonroof is a hole in the car. On the top. Add water and gravity, and a leak seems inevitable. If it was dealer installed or stock, they should fix it under warranty.
Be careful before you buy any car with "Toy" in the brand name.
I could see this coming from left field: Be careful before you buy any car with an "az" in ... :P
p.s. I am a very happy P5 owner
Any help would be deeply appreciated seeing how 3 dealerships don't know what the problem is.
Or, instead, you could call around to the local independant shops that work on foreign cars -- one experienced with Mazdas if possible -- and ask over the phone if they have any idea what the problem might be. Your description is clear enough that a knowledgable mechanic should recognize the symptoms.
I had a similar problem with my '87 Honda Civic Si and my independant Honda mechanic identified the problem as some sort of idle valve. I don't remember the exact name of the part; this was eight years ago. But my mechanic recognized the problem right away. It cost something like $150 to repair, including parts and labor. Of course, there are far more mechanics who specialize in Hondas than Mazdas. Sigh.
Best of luck. Let us know how it turns out.
The advice of dwryter makes a lot of sense to me.
Did you call the dealers about this or actually bring the car in for them to look at the problem? Last night on Autoline (a great TV show in Canada hosted by Kirk Robinson) three owners of independent autoservice firms mentioned the problem of clients calling for quotes and diagnostics over the phone. They wondered were people fishing for the answer they wanted to hear irrespective of what the real problem was or were they hoping to get a job done for less money irrespective of the quality of the work? Their recommendation is find a garage that looks reputable to you, have the problem properly diagnosed, and if you need a second opinion go to an alternate garage. To hammer the point home, they mentioned several cases where people were actually paying much more than they had to for parts and labour that were unnecessary.
The idling problem you mention reminds me of a frequent item cited by Kirk. Additives in modern gasoline can eventually carbonize leaving a black gunk on the throttle body. This layer of carbon can affect efficiency by restricting air intake and undoing the proper gas-air mix that your engine needs. Symptoms: decreasing fuel economy (i.e. less mpg); erratic idle/acceleration patterns. Solution: have your garage check and clean if necessary the throttle body every couple of years.
Since your car is only two years old and has only 30,000 miles on it, this is a warranty-covered repair. Take it in and demand service!!!
It probably failed because of carbon deposit build-up in your throttle body and on the IAC Valve's little sensor that sits in the airstream going into your engine. This begs a question: What brand and octane of gas do you use? I'd ask more questions, like how often you replace your fuel and air filters, but at only 30,000 miles I don't suspect they'd be the culprit. Poor gas or using an improper octane rating could do it, though.
So could using a K&N Filter. (Uh-oh, don't tell all those K&N addicts out there!!!) Too much oil on the filter can cause oil to enter the throttle body and gum up a lot of stuff that was designed for nice, dry air -- not oily air. (A lot of Ford Mass Airflow Sensors have had their coils damaged by oil from K&N filters.)
Here's a link showing a typical IAC Valve problem:
http://www.misterfixit.com/idle.htm
Meade
I then took it to another Mazda dealership/service closer to my work. They told me that they forgot to set the base idle in the computer when the previous service shop reset the computer for the IAC. They told me that it was set and told me it was ready. I picked the car up after 6pm, meaning there was no one there but the lady with the keys. The car was still screwy.
I took it back and told them it wasn't fixed so they called up Mazda Tech line and they told them to disconnect the battery to reset the computer and all the codes. Once this was done the care drove fine for 2 weeks.
At the end of the second week the symptoms returned. I took it back to that same shop and they had no idea what to do so they just disconnected the battery again and told me to put the stock exhaust back on because the Tech line said it may be a backflow problem with my exhaust. I have a Greddy Evo 2 exhaust on there, which is free flowing, so i know that is not the problem. They gave me the car back and it drove fine for a couple days, only to have the same problems.
I also have an Injen cold air intake on the car, if the sensor on that is malfunctioning could that cause the problem. I am searching frantically for the problem. It seems as though no one knows how to fix the damn thing and of course the dealership/service dept always blame it on the aftermarket parts.
Thanks for the feedback, hopefully this extra info might spark some new ideas.
Seriously though, stop messing with intake and exhaust mods when you have no way of tuning the fuel injection properly. If you wanted a faster car you should have bought a faster car.
Moisture can affect electrical parts intermittently. When it first starts to act up, did you just wash the car, or was it raining, or was the humidity high?
My wife currently drives a 2002 Protege5 with 49,500 miles on it. She has had zero problems with the car.
So, I dunno ... but in general I like to believe that a car manufacturer knows the best way to put its car together, and adding so-called "performance enhancing" equipment usually just spells trouble down the road. Like iamz said, if you had wanted a faster car, you should've bought a faster car.
I say it this way: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Meade
this is even after it was at the shop and they changed the spark plugs and pcv as well. i know neither of these would affect the idle, but they couldn't figure it out AGAIN. they called the mazda tech line AGAIN, and they pretty much said that i had to put the factory intake back on before they would troubleshoot it further.
i did that and alas am having the same problem. stock parts, same problem.
another thing that has me is the mod parts were on the car for the duration i have had the car, minus a month or so. but it is now acting up? the mod parts are off and it is still screwy. now what?
Sounds like you may have to the shop-hop at this point, i.e. going from one shop to another trying to find a mechanic that understands the problem.
I echo Meade's earlier comments and wonder if I had a part installed that subsequently damaged the operation of the vehicle who or what should be responsible: the vehicle, the part, the installer or myself? A defective air filter over time can do a lot of damage; removing the air filter later and blaming the car seems not to make sense to me. I guess a kuruptboi gets a kuruptcar.
Analogy: Putting in a new heart won't clean up the clogged arteries around it -- but it's the first thing to do!
Meade