Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-75, 76-90, 91-105, 106-117
I heard that it was a common problem with the p/dlocks on the Protege (s), many had it fixed under warranty.
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.
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.
If that's the case with your P5, I suggest replacing the plugs back to oem NGK's. Mazda's are VERY picky when it comes to spark plugs, a little mis-gap on the plugs (especially on Bosch's) can cause a whole lotta misfire and in return, will cause a whole lot more of premature stalling. The oem NGK plugs are pre-gapped and ready to go. Oh, and never add any of those engine (fuel) or tramsmission additives, you're just asking for doomsday.
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.
I posted a few pages back about my 99 Protege LX 1.6 auto 130,000mi. Been riding with 'check engine' light for about 2 years (because I was sick of dealing with the thing and wasn't prepared to spend 700+ to get front & back O2 sensors & plugs/wires replaced.) But- then I lost OD (overdrive). I have to ride around in 3rd gear everywhere. So I finally bought 2 O2 sensors, new plugs, wires, ignition coil & boot ($350) and replaced myself. (I'm using 2 universal O2 sensors in both positions $66 bucks). Mechanics said all this should 'cure' the tranny prob. as the shifting was electronically controlled, and computer uses to data from sensors, etc to make decisions on shifting. Well- it cured the sputtering, the dash lights, etc, but still no OD. Man this is frustrating. So now I'm going to try cleaning possible clogged ports in intake manifold. After that, I'm done - to the shop it goes.
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.
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.
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.
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 $200/each). Anyone have a suggestion where I can find cheaper ones? Besides those two problems it's a decient car.
When I bought the Mazda Protege 1997 LX with 91000 miles on it I thought it was a good deal for 2300 dollars. When I first bought it the catalytic converter code (P0420) was on and it hadn't passed inspection yet in Austin, TX and there was a slight clanging noise from the pulley/bearings on the air compressor. It took me a week to find a cheap enough place to have the catalytic converter changed, the first price I had heard was around 600 dollars,I found a place that did for 342 all included. I had that changed and it passed inspection. A few days later the same code came on, then a week later it turned off. About 3 days later the same check engine light code turned back on and it's been on until now which is 2 months later. I had the air compressor changed which cost 363 including labor. On my trip to Southern Mexico my shocks/struts in the back lost their oil. I took it to a place and had the back shocks/struts replaced, but now there's noise coming from the back while driving on bad roads I'm wondering if the mounts should have been changed too. I had the front struts and mounts changed, but there's clunking noise
from the front when going slowly on bad roads and bumps. Someone told me it was the stabilizer bars in the front, but 2 other people told they were fine and another mechanic told me the back struts and suspension should be fine too. also the struts were 59$ each one, which is quite a lot compared to 15$ each for a mazda truck or any other pick up truck and many domestic U.S. cars. I had one of the bearings changed on the back right wheel because 2 mechanics/ppl told me it was making noise. Then I wasn't sure if I needed to have that changed because it still made noise so I took it
to another mechanic and he told me it was back tires that were uneven and causing it to make the humming sound a high speeds and the other noise at lower speeds. Now the front wheel tire got a little swollen on a part of it and is uneven so I'm guessing it's time to change the tires and get it aligned again.Don't know yet if this car will be worth it in the end. I did put 5000 miles on it in 2 and 1/2 months in Mexico and Texas, Mexico has some extremely bad roads. Also the mechanic who changed the Catalytic Converter put it really low to the ground so every time I got over a tope (bump) it scrapes againt the tope. But at least with the new shocks it is a bit higher now and it doesn't always scrape anymore. Also the idle speed sometimes is a bit low it goes under 400 rpm when at a stop light, but it seems to regulate it by itself and correct itself after one or 2 seconds, but it still idles at 500 or 400 rpm.I'm getting a haynes repair manual and hoping to be able to do some repairs myself if needed. Other little minor things happened like 2 flats on the same tire and little air valve broke on another tire. I changed the air intake hose which was totally busted and messily put together with duct tape. The good thing about it that I get good mileage all the way from 32-42 a gallon and the air conditioning works good and it has no engine problems. I got the tinted windows done in Mexico for 35$.
Hi, I also have a 1999 Mazda Protege LX 1.6L 5 speed manual. I took it to school with me and found the code po171 as mnay of you did. The O2 sensors were just repleced, but the code is still sayin that could be my problem. I cleaned my MAF sensor (mass air flow) and it helped a bit. It is still extremely boggy when accelerating and even when on the floor the rpms like to sit still. I purchase a cold air intake for performance and maybe it will help with any intake leaks on the stock rubber intake. Many of you were saying you may need to clean the EGR valve or Intake manifold, have you found that this helps or? Please, any advice would help. Thanks!
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?
I also own a 1996 Mazda Protege 1.6l with 178,000km and the dreaded engine light just came on. From the posts listed earlier this seems like a common problem. Not sure how much money I want to spend on this car. Thanks for the earlier suggestions on what to check.
I've been driving a protege 99 for two years... no major problems so far, but the check engine ligth on all the time due to EGR and running lean errors.. I'll replace the EGR to see if it helps, no way it'll pass the inspection with this light on in NY.