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Comments
before that sometimes it would take more than
one attempt to start the car. It had also
stalled a few times at lights, when I started
out on 1st from neutral. I had thought that this
was because I was applying gas very lightly.
Yesterday, the car was at home, and wouldn't
start at all. (It would crank, but wouldn't
start). I tried thrice, gave up. I tried again
after a few hours and this time, it started
at the second attempt. I'm going to take it
to the dealer, but has anyone any clue about
what might be going on? Any hints appreciated.
Meade
In response to your questions:
1. I have been driving sticks for 10 years now. Of course, I'm trying to be gentle with the ES, so I don't accelerate hard etc. when moving from standstill. But what I find is that after it stalls, it takes more than one attempt to start it.
2. I turn the key until the engine starts. For normal starts, it's not long. But on the occassions I had described, the car would simply not start.
I don't if you read it, but there was a review on
a 99 ES in which the reviewer said that his sample car came with a similar defect. He suspected a problem with the fuel injection.
Anyway, my ES is with the dealer. Problem is, these guys often dismiss the complaint if they can't reproduce it. My car doesn't have starting problem all the time, but only on occassions. But the unpredictability is worrisome, since it can happen anywhere, anytime!
Regards,
Bala
find any problem, started fine each time
they tried. So, back to square 1, waiting
for the next incident.
Anyway, I was driving a corolla for the
last few days while the ES was in the shop.
It's such a relief to get the ES back.
Sorry to say,
Corolla was really lousy (at least the
one I was driving, < 10k miles on it.
So, while the protege seems not to
be entirely trouble-free, the feeling
when it's running is great.
Just recently I have experienced a "bucking" with the engine. I'll be driving along at around 40 mph and the car bucks. The car seems to hesitate and then surge forward. Reminds me of the cars in the old cartoons. I know I need a new air filter and am taking it in this week for service.
Anyone else have this problem?
deposits?
My 1997 Protege(auto) has some knock noise when
I push the gas pedal. I usually use 87 gas,
yesterday I filled it with some 89 gas and the
noise dispeared. Post #8 from kmh3 said high
octane will cause excessive carbon deposit
buildup, so Iwill not use 89 gas anymore.
Any advice is appreciated.
Local mechanic said there was a bad fuel injector. He replaced it ($400), but he told me the engine was still running 'rough' and the entire computer might be 'bad' and go go to dealer. The next morning, the light was back on (I'm trying to get my money back). Car only has 24,000 miles on it! I have an appt. with dealer. What should I expect from the dealer? My 3-year warranty expired in April of 2000.
Most 'check engine' problems are emissions related, and a lot emissions problems are covered beyond the factory warranty. Yet another reason to go to a dealer; make sure you ask if any necessary repair is covered under a federal emissions warranty.
I had posted about a problem with FM
reception in my 2000 ES. I have now
identified a specific issue. There is
noise in my FM channels (more noise
in weaker channels) when the engine
is running. The noise is like a sputter
and its frequency increases with engine
RPM. If I shut the engine off, the noise
goes away. Is there any remedy for this?
Should I ask to replace the radio? The
car has 2700 miles.
Hope this helps!
And now, the fuel economy is declining significantly. I was averaging ~28-29 mpg until recently, with a mix of highway and city driving. Had a trip recently, all highway and 50 mph back roads, and got 30 mpg. The most recent fill-up averaged _22_ mpg, and some other ones recently have been a little low, too. Should I chalk the 22 up to bad gas, or is there something else that needs to be checked?
Wah! I _love_ my car but I am really wondering if I should keep it. The lemon law is too strict for me to use it, so I'd really take a hit financially if I gave the car up.
Help! Please!
Regards,
Bryan
This topic has been discussed in here before. I have a 00 ES 5-speed with 3,700 miles. I get a small clunk noise sometimes on the 1/2, and less frequently the 2/3 shift. It only occurs after the vehicle is coming off the expressway, and is hot. It is too faint to be heard with the windows open in traffic. The dealer said it was normal. I drove another ES on their lot with 7,500 miles. It did the same thing. Sometimes although we love our ZOOMING we forget that the drivelines in our Mazda's are great , but not as refined as say, a Honda 5-speed.
Obviously if the dealer replaced your differential you may have had something different entirely. I am curious however. Did you really have to push for the repair? Did the dealer seem familiar with the issue? Was the differential on back order?
I get 29-30 mpg consistently in 70% city, 30% highway driving, and have not had a single concern other that the occasional clunk.
Regards,
Mark.
Regards,
Mark.
I know that ES's have a "clunk" when shifting, but this is a more extreme sound. The "clunk" is two distinct noises, one in front on the driver side, followed shortly by another in back on the passenger side. It's definitely more noticeable in 1/2 and 2/3 shifts [though that may be due to more ambient noise at higher speeds].
When I needed to have the differential replaced, it was on back order and took about 2 weeks to come in. As I said, the problem went away for about 1 week after the differential was replaced. Would the CV joint be a possible source of the clunking problem? I have found that it helps to have an idea of what the problem is when speaking to the dealer, especially since I am female and can be treated like I know _nothing_ about cars
My SO and I are probably going to drop off the car on Monday for the dealer to look at.
Also, any suggestions as to what might be causing the fuel economy problem? I got about 24 mpg on my last tank, with about 50/50 highway/city driving. That's better than 22, but not the 28-29 I was getting when the car was new.
Either way, let us know what happens.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
In post #8, kmh3 explained what may cause rough idle when the engine is under load. I have a 97 Protege LX (Auto, 51K mi.)and it has been idling rough when in D and stopped for a while now. The shaking & rattling would go away if I put the car in P or N, so I procrastinated in getting it looked at. In early summer, I started using the AC, and the compressor started making the car do the same, even in N.
I took the car in to a reputable mechanic, and was told that the engine computer was not storing any fault codes. Their suggestion (given that I had changed the plugs & air filter @ 30K mi.)was to clean the fuel inj. sys. I told them to go ahead & the car seemed to run a bit better, but the rattling soon started again.
As the weather cooled & went back to leaving it in N when stopped & revving the engine to about 1K RPM when the AC was absolutely necessary.
I recently took it in to the dealer to get safety inspected, and was told that plugs were "rounded" and that the engine specs. needed to be re-set. Since the work was only $60, I told them to go ahead & the car behave better for a couple of miles.
Frustrated, I took a look at the air filter at home, and found a bunch of bird seed & seed husks in the filter housing. The filter itself was crammed with husks, sucked up by airflow I am sure. Eureka! I told myself. I cleaned out the filter, vacuumed out the housing and drove around the block, only to found out that it is still idling rough in D or R while stopped.
I am going to take it back to the dealer this week, but I am completely baffled as to why I am still having the problem. If anyone has some sound advice as to what to expect from the dealer or what else to check on the car myself, I would be most grateful.
Thanks in advance.
mhernand
Does anyone ever experience the same situation before? My Pro is 4 spd, 1.8L engine.
I have been fastidious about preventive maintnence, although I haven't changed the spark plugs yet. (I'm not sure what they do, but I planned to get an oil change and change my spark plugs this weekend), After driving home from work and pulling into the supermarket, my car was running fine. I pulled out of the parking lot and got on the highway, the car refused to go over 45. As I pulled off at the next exit, the car refused to go above 20. I switched to second gear, the car picked up a little, but still struggled.
I pulled over, wondering if something was stuck in the wheels (I had an air filter system fall out while driving on the Verranzano bridge in a rental). Tires not flat, nothing trapped, no warning lights are on. The last oil change I got, I paid extra for them to top all the fluids so that should be fine.
I got back into the car, no change. Pulled into my apartment complex, waited 10 minutes and restarted the car to check the transmission fluid. The car started to sputter really bad, as I changed gears it was struggling. I'm not an expert in cars, but it sounds like the transmission.
Last year, after about two weeks of driving the car, it was burping when it idled. I figured I got some bad gas, and started purchasing only Exxon gas. I then switched to Sunoco, which is near my apartment. The car runs better on Exxon.
The last several times I gassed up, I filled the tank with Exxon. This morning, since I was on E I filled the tank with Sunoco.
What do you think could be the problem?
I appreciate your advice, I live alone in a state 115 miles away from family, and I don't have any friends in this state. So, I feel really vulnerable, and don't want to be taken advantage of.
Thanks
Tanya
The Protege's engine is designed with the plugs way down inside the valve cover. Where you see the wires going into the cover, they actually keep going down about another four inches until they contact the plugs. Moisture and other contaminants can get down in there and cause one or more wires to arc through their rubber insultation to the metal tunnel they're in, resulting in a dead cylinder. This happened to me with my '92 at about 36,000 miles, after I didn't replace my plug wires as recommended in my maintenance schedule at 30,000 miles. I too thought horrible thoughts as I sputtered along and barely made it to my dealership. When I got there, my service manager put on a new set of wires on the spot -- took about five minutes and cost all of $40 -- and the problem disappeared!
Hopefully this is your problem. Sounds like it is, since you've done everything but replace those plugs and wires! (Hey, if it ain't, it sounds like you're still under warranty anyway!)
Good luck!
Meade
Meade
I have a new '00 and I don't get that high speed whining in my own car, but I have experienced it in my father's '99 LX(ES).
IMHO, I think it sounds like a high-speed wind vibration. Think of blowing across a blade of grass pinched between your thumbs, that whining.
The only culprit I can think of, is the slats (3 of them) in the main opening of the air-dam/bumper. On my dad's car, I thought it might also be the exposed wiring for the fog lights.
Suggestion, check to make sure that anything with a lot of air rushing past it is securely bolted or held down. Maybe the bumper is a bit loose?
As for the transmission clunking, sure, but only if you never rev it past 3000rpm. What are you people thinking? The powerband starts at 3,800!!! The only time my engine spends below 3000rpm is in the first second and a half of first gear.
Happy little revver. Zoom zoom zooM!
Dave
'00 LX(CDN) 1.8 5spd
5K KM's, and loving every one of them
I like the car, but I've also noticed that the hub caps have brittle clip-things and don't hold on too well after they have been removed/replaced several times. My data: I traveled to Cleveland recently for business. Of the 4 proteges I saw (early 90's models), all of them were missing a hub cap and one was missing two. So is mine.
thanks bruce
They ran their computer and found out that I had burnt a hole (don't know how) through my 'coil pack' (I think it is the equivalent to the distributor cap). Hopefully this is useful info.