1999 Mazda Protege DX from North America - Comments

I got out of my Protege about 2 years ago. I now drive a Mitsubishi Diamante, which is an awesome car. Anyhow, when I had the Protege the "check engine" light was on the whole time I owned it. No one could fix it, so I got frustrated and just left it alone.

Bearings went out.

It had a horrible smell that came out of the A/C vents when you reved it high.

The lock where you put your key in wore out.

Then I developed a tranny leak.

When the clutch went out I left it alone for about 10 months because I thought the tranny blew out. I was done with the car and did not have money for a new tranny.

Come to find out, the Clutch literally shreaded into a ball of metal hair, the mechanic said he never seen anything like that in his life.

About 2 months after I got it fixed I traded it for my Diamante.

The Protege was good on gas, and, well, that's about all it was good on.

HELP!! I have a 99 protege 1.6 liter 5 speed transmission and had it for about 2 years now my check engine light came on had the code pulled-bad O2 sensor-any how drove it like for about 6 months then it went out. Now it came on again different code running to lean or something. Cleared it new code popped up, manufacturer air fuel something. Well done a tune-up replaced the coil packs, new O2 sensor, and cleaned the throttle body out. heres the problem it hops, spits, sputters, bogs, and hesitates when accelerating and driving.

So anyone know what it could be?

Since you got a tune-up done, I assume you changed the spark plugs and the timing is set properly.

I could think of a couple of possibilities: one or more of the fuel-injectors isn't working right. Does it hesitate all the time, at idle too, or just accelerating?

Does the car stall? It could be the coolant sensor. Sometimes called the "master" sensor because the PCM uses the sensor's input along with the O2 sensor to control the fuel mixture, among other things.

And I thought my problems were isolated. Wow. After months of misery and spending thousands of dollars, I'm thinking about getting rid of my 99 Protege with just over 144000 miles. I know that's a lot, but it's all highway.

I've had all these same problems and more. The rubber gaskets on the rear passenger doors. The key not working on the driver side. At least five check engine lights which resulted in two O2 sensors. A new alternator and a new catalytic converter. New breaks. I could keep going.

Finally I'm looking at what I think is a bad shock- the metallic clanking in the front of the vehicle, only mine is only on rough roads.

I'm never buying a protege again. I just hope I can get rid of mine soon and without loosing too much money. Anyone interested? =D.

I recently purchased a used 99 protege SE 5 speed with just under 100,000 km on it. The other day I was driving on the highway and the check engine light came on. At this point the cars accelerator would only respond if it was to the floor, giving the engine full gas. Needless to say the ride became very jerky. It only did this for 2km than started running normally. The next day the car was running fine and the check engine light was off. Does anyone have any idea what would cause this?

I have a '91 Protege with 1.8 L engine & manual tranny. Don't know if this is related, but I have found that once in a while the connector to the mass air flow sensor gets oxidized or something and the car will barely run. After a few minutes of sputtering idle the problem will go away. If I pull the connector off & put it back on, the problem goes away immediately & stays gone for several months. It usually happens on the first cold damp day in the fall. I've cleaned the connector & sprayed it with ignition spray & checked the wiring harness-can never find a problem. The first time this happened I was stuck in a deserted parking lot. I just wiggled all the wires in desperation & the car started running normally. Then it took a bit of detective work to find out which connector was the troublemaker.

With all the complaints and issues on here, I feel bad writing that I have had my '99 protege DX since it had 6 miles on it. The only problem I've EVER had is the O2 sensor, which was a company recall and was fixed for free! I'm now over 102,000 miles and no check engine light has ever come on. Wish everyone else had the same wonderful experience I've had...

I hate to say this, but just wait...102,000 miles is nothing. I ran my protege to 138,000 miles without any issues. Now my check engine light is on and my car jerks like crazy when moving from a stopped position in first gear. I immediately shift to 2nd, it jerks a couple of times, but then it comes out of it as I gain speed.

Does anyone have any suggestions. Is this the clutch or a few high dollar sensors?

The O2 sensor errors/lean mixture error is caused by a bad Mass Airflow Sensor. It will cause the car to almost stall when you go into 1st gear. Also, sometimes you will press the accelerator to the floor and the engine won't rev. I ran it like this (ignoring the Check Engine Light) for over a year, but eventually it was becoming dangerous to pull out into an intersection.

If you look at the intake tube (just after the box with the air filter), you will see a sensor. Unplug that and see if you car runs differently (better while driving, worse while idling). If so then it is definitely the MAS (Mass Airflow Sensor). There is actually a recall on this part (at least, for the 2000 Protege). I took it to the Mazda dealer and they fixed it for free.

I'm sure glad I surfed the web enough to reach this site! My beloved "Marie", 1996 Mazda Protege LX has had 2 instances with the check engine light. The first said it was the Idle control, which I didn't fix until my car started jerking and stopping. It cost a grip I must say. Now, at 115,000 miles, I got a P04 trouble code saying there's a mis-fire in the 4th cylinder. Anybody have a clue how to fix this? I bought it used 5 years ago at 70k miles and haven't had any major problems. The check engine light came on recently about 3 weeks after a major tune up. Any advice is appreciated! I've spent almost $2000 in the past few months on brakes, sensors, tune-ups, I'm getting tired!

I have a 99 Mazda Protege LX automatic and my engine light came on. So I took it shop about three times and they cleared it, and told me the O2 sensor wasn't going as fast as the computer wants it to go.

It has done this several times since, and they keep saying the same thing, so I replaced one of the sensors and my light went off for a day! Now they said my other one burned out and they're almost $300 a piece. So he told me it's okay to drive with them the the way they are; just let them burn out! Is this true; can I do this or will I end up stranded?

I have a 2000 Protege. The check engine light came on around 25,000 to 27,000 miles. Since it was still under warranty I took it to the dealership at least twice. They never could find anything wrong with the car. I finally had the EGR valve ($300) replaced. The check engine light stayed off for 2 months. Sometimes when I am driving along at mid speed the car feels like it brakes all of a sudden. It is very very scary. Two days ago the car would not start. I got a jump the next morning and took the car to Advance Auto. They said the battery reads good. I replaced the original battery almost 3 years ago. Later that same day the car would not start again nor would it hold a charge. I had it towed. And tomorrow morning I'm taking it or should I say towing it to the mechanic's shop. Any ideas out there?? bhend114@aol.com.

Don't give up! About a year ago I bought a used '99 Protege, and the check engine light came on shortly after I purchased it. The car began hesitating, stalling and poorly accelerating. Based on computer codes I had both oxygen sensors and the Mass airflow sensor (MAS) replaced yet the problems reoccurred. But GOOD NEWS - about 4 months ago the problems were finally fixed by a Mazda dealer, who discovered the hose to the MAS was cracked, he also cleaned the carbon from the engine. Finally, the check engine light was reset and stayed out, and the car has been running great ever since!

I have a 2000 Protege LX automatic and (thank God) so far I have only one incident with the check engine light that came on at around 38,000 miles. It was the P0171 code and Mazda rectify and replaced an Air Flow Meter Sensor and the light stayed OFF ever since. I now have 110,000 miles and I just replaced a cracked Air Intake Hose and it also fixed the occasionally 'transmission jerking', kind of like it dropped to 1st gear like many of you had mentioned. Now the car runs much smoother and felt like its got more power.

My daughter's 1999 LX light was on when we purchased it. Had the dealership fix it before we picked it up. Haven't had any problems with it since. But, we do have a problem with the rear power door locks. When she locks/unlocks the doors only the front door locks operate. The rear doors make a clicking sound, but do not operate. Has anybody had this problem and if so, what is the fix?