24th Nov 2006, 11:59
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?
24th Nov 2006, 20:34
I heard that it was a common problem with the p/dlocks on the Protege (s), many had it fixed under warranty.
2nd Dec 2006, 06:04
My Mazda Protégé is constantly messing up. Either it’s the check engine light (Oxygen Sensor (s) burn out roughly every 6 months to a year), or my door locks breaking (now I can’t unlock either of the doors from outside). The hood also rattles when I am at red lights. (very embarrassing). I will never buy another Mazda. Some Mazdas may operate just fine I suppose... I wouldn’t know.
3rd Dec 2006, 15:00
Hi. Hopefully I am posting to the correct area here. My '02 P5 was delivered to me right off the boat in Sept '01. She's seen the same dealership mechanics and I've never had a problem until, just 5 weeks ago, I allowed a friend to change the spark plugs. He also thought he was helping by adding a fuel injector cleaner. I've moved and the dealership is miles and miles away and he does his own cars, yadda, yadda, yadda... Two days later, the car felt like it was going to stall, did some strange whispery things - really scary - and the check engine light came on. Took it to my boss's mechanic the next day (highly recommended) check engine light went out on the way there. They checked it out, cleared a message indicating misfire and sent me home. The light's come on three more times since then, same symptoms and then, within 48 hours, it goes out. Subsequent checks find nothing. Car runs almost fine except I feel a slight hesitation when asking for acceleration. Oh, and coincidentally, it has been wet each time it occurs. Any tips? I am going to make the trek to my old dealership in two weeks anyway. Thanks.
17th Dec 2006, 11:26
Remove the cluster, remove the Check Engine light, put it in the trash, now smile... Your nightmare will stop with that light...That's what I have done...hahaha.
4th Mar 2007, 10:56
We own a 99 protege with all the same problems that have been described. I found that the intake air hose (from the air filter box to the manifold) had a tear in it. As soon as I sealed it with duct tape (temporary) - then replaced the hose, all the other problems went away. It has been three months and 3000 miles now and no recurrence of the engine check light, hesitation, bucking etc.
17th Mar 2007, 15:51
I too own a 99 Protege and have many of the same problems. First, the mass air flow sensor which was replaced twice fortunately under warranty. Then the lower O2 sensor which is very exposed on the underside of the car quit. Then came the EGR problems which were corrected by the dealership once and now have reoccurred. One of the power door locks has stopped operating. The passenger power window cable guide (which is plastic) broke and I have the window propped closed with a piece of wood. Because North Carolina is also now using the OBD for inspection, I will probably be turning in the tags and parking it out back somewhere. It is hard to believe a car could be made this poorly and I will not own another Mazda.
4th Apr 2007, 21:46
Well, to add my $0.02 worth:
I have a 1999 Mazda Protege DX, 1.6L engine and 5-speed manual. I have owned this car since it was new on the lot, bought it with 12 miles on it. I currently have 158,000 miles on it and drive it daily.
To date, here is the complete list of unscheduled repairs or maintenance I've had to have performed on this car:
- none. zero. zilch. nada.
I have replaced the timing belt twice, both scheduled maintenance. I have replaced the front disk brake rotors once, at 100,000 miles. The rear brakes still have approx. 30% of their life time left intact, and are the originals.
The clutch, transmission, engine are all original with the car. I did replace the windshield when it suffered rock damage.
I've bought three sets of tires for it, counting my snow tires.
I replace the oil and filter every 10,000 miles (did it every 3,000 until the warranty expired).
My driving is a mix of freeway driving at 70-85 mph and around town short hops. I have consistently gotten 31-34 mpg from this car (summertime -- a bit lower in the winter), and have yet to burn even a half-quart of oil.
My previous Mazda (a 1987 626) ran well until 275,000 miles, also on the original engine. If you count my wife's 2006 Mazda 3, that's 450,000 miles on three Mazdas, with nothing more serious than a water pump replacement on the old 626.
I was actually looking for some info on tires for my car when I stumbled across this site, and was surprised to find the number of problems reported here. In my case, however, this car has been solid as a rock.
10th May 2007, 00:05
I bought a '95 protege from a friend of the family for $1500 with 150,000 miles on it. After fixing the timing belt it ran smooth until a belt broke randomly on the interstate. From that caused a radiator hose break, MAF sensor malfunction, and TPS malfunction. I got the hose and belt fixed, but have been kinda holding back on the other two b/c of the price of each sensor (about $200/each). Anyone have a suggestion where I can find cheaper ones? Besides those two problems it's a decient car.
10th Jun 2007, 19:48
Hi, I own a 1999 Mazda Protege LX and it runs absolutely great except for one problem. The check engine light keeps coming on and stays on. Should I ignore this or have it checked out?
23rd Nov 2006, 01:32
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.