2000 Mazda Protege ES from North America - Comments

I have a 2000 Protege with only 60,500 miles. I had a tune up early this year and I thought I heard some clicking sound in 1st gear as I accelerated. When I told the mechanics to check it during the tune up they heard nothing. In the last 2 weeks the clicking sound has gotten worse and can be heard loud and clear in the other gears. Took it to a mechanic and he said the transmission bearings need to be replaced and will cost me $1500. I loved my Mazda until this problem came up. Isn't it kinda early to have a major transmission problem at 60K?? My last car went well over 60K without any major transmission problems.

I have owned my 2000 LX since new, and have been through a few of those problems. Currently my check engine light is on, and I searched the internet for the code pulled and it said to replace the O2 sensors, which I did, but still the light is on. I have ~170K on it, no major problems, but I have been keeping up with it.

In regards to the person posted about a clunk over pot holes in slow speeds, replace your front sway bar links. Mine sounded like the suspension is falling apart, but everything was tight, and I finally found the source to be the sway bar links.

Regarding cutting off, when was the last time you replaced your spark plugs? mine did the same thing especially under hard acceleration, till I replaced my plugs with ordinary copper plugs, nothing fancy needed, all the platinum plugs don't work very well, atleast for my car.

I also had a rattle from the bottom of the engine, and I found that one of my exhaust down pipe to the back pipe flange broke and the spring was rattling and causing all the noise, I removed it and the noise was gone. It is not perfect but not as bad.

I have owned a 94 protege since new and loved that car till I got rear ended and it was totalled, and since it was a great car, I decided to buy this one, but I think I am done with mazda.

I hope this information can help someone out there.

Al.

I have 1999 mazda protege and I had the timing belt changed and when I went to picked the car up from the shop the car had no acceleration from the gas pedal. It still does not work and they are still trying to figure out what is wrong. Has any one experienced this problem.

I read someone saying about replacing the intake hose. That could be the solution to my problem with my car about jerking while moving slow from start. My intake hose is busted and I just taped it using duck tape. I surfed the net, but could not find a seller for air intake hose for 1997 Mazda Protege. Can someone help me please? Thanks.

I have a 2000 es protege with 120,000k 0n it and have had no major problems only a timing belt tension spring broke so I then replaced that and the belt, it was cracked really bad, but after 117k what did I expect? this car has been great on gas, as gas prices do not allow me to drive my truck everyday. This car I put 85 miles on a day and get 26mpg all day.. this car has been a gem and I would recommend this car to anyone looking for a small little car that has plenty of room even in the backseat for adults, as well as enough hp to get on the highway and handles like a go cart...ps, this car sucks in the snow though... only drawback.

To the 2000 Protege LX owner's comments dated Oct. 10th 07, your check engine light can be taken off at your dealer for free. Just ask them to check it by using their hand held computer sensor. They place it under your dash near the fuse box. It will tell you what is up.

My 2000 LX has it's light come on in warmer weather. The hand held says it is the catalytic converter. My light only comes on at about 28F or warmer. If I need a new one I will not go to the dealer as my 170,000 K's puts me over warranty and at a $1000 cost. I will try the local muffler shop for cheaper.

Thanks for the sway bar link tip as I have the same noises. To others regarding the hard shift linkage! It cannot I am told be lubed as in a Honda. My shifter sure is tight and hard to move especially going into first gear.

I own a 2000 Mazda Protege ES. It has 117000 miles on it. I bought this car from a girlfriends parents for 500 bucks, just because they wanted to get rid of it.

My check engine light is on now, and I had it checked and they said it was the catalytic converter. Is it expensive to fix this? I heard up to 500-1000 to get a new one.

Also, I have heard that if you shove something in the tail pipe through the converter, that it is an easy way to fix it. Does anyone have any suggestions about this? Thanks.

I own a 2002 Mazda Protege' ES. We bought it used in January of 2005. We have had nothing but problems with this car. The cylinder head had to be replaced at 70,000. Less than a year after that the engine had to be replaced because it was starving the top end. Now at 130,000 the transmission is slipping between 3 and 4th gear. The dealer says that the transmission needs replacing or a rebuild. He says a new transmission is going to cost me 4-5,000 dollars. I was wondering if tightening the bands on the transmission would help.

I bought a used 2000 Protege in 2004 and everything was great. Was, until one winter morning it starting revving up and down and my airbag and battery lights were on so I drove to the dealer where I bought my car. They had it for a week and then said my computer was gone but it was under a hidden Mazda warranty and was replaced. One year and on month to the day same thing happened but this time I had to pay for the labor and they couldn't tell me why the computer went, again.

Now 6 months later my battery light is on after not driving my car for 3 days and my neighborhood mechanic says it's not my alternator, probably my computer again. When will it end, that's 4 computers for the 4 years I had my car. I will never buy a Mazda again and I know they won't fix the underlying problem. No more warranted parts either, how convenient!

I own a 2000 Protege ES. I've had several of the problems that I've read on this site, and all I can say is for everyone out there is to make sure you clean your sensors first before spending all sorts of money. I used a product called "Seafoam". Its sold in all auto repair stores for about $7.00. This stuff works miracles. My car runs like a top now with 125,000 miles on it. My check engine light has been reset, and has not came on since (2000 miles later). It's well worth the 7 bucks. Have fun!