P0171 & Intake Gasket (99 Protege 1.8L LX)

[muka3d]

Hey everyone, first I'd like to apologize if this has been asked/dealt with here before... I did use search, and couldn't find my exact problem. I'm new here.

About a week ago my check engine light lit up, on my '99 Protege LX with 1.8L engine (the car has 84,000km on it, about 52,200 miles; very low mileage). I plugged in an OBDII reader, it came up with P0171: System Too Lean. I did a bunch of research, and found that it could be a faulty MAF sensor, or even a vacuum leak downstream. In any case, I took it to the Mazda dealership to let them have a look at it and fix it.

The mechanic there did a diagnostic for an hour or so, then called me up and said that 2 intake manifold gaskets are leaking and both need replacement, so it's not able to keep a consistent vacuum (I did some research on this, and found a site that told me there's only one intake gasket assembly per car, for the 99 Proteges... The mechanic said 2, so I'm not sure what to believe). Now, I've been driving this car for over a week now with this problem, driving a distance of about 60 kilometers a day, and I haven't noticed any difference in performance, noise, smell, etc... It feels just like it always has. They're charging me $440 (parts + labor) for the repair.

Does this sound right, seem reasonable? Or am I getting screwed over here?

Thanks in advance guys/gals... Really appreciate it.

[KZL_99ES]

well it's like 30 buck for the gaskets, but for them to undo everything, put new gaskets in, then put everything back together again...

it's hard to say how long that would take, i'm guess for labor: 400, the gaskets, 40... i'd wait till more people answer. but i do think that 400 is high...

[SIBalla23]

There are 3 gaskets that get attached to the intake manifold. The gasket from head to manifold, the gasket that goes between the two halfs of the manifold and the gasket that goes between the manifold and throttle body. So there is no lying about the gaskets. You figure at 400 dollars labor thats around 90dollars an hour for about 4-5hours of work. So yes it seems jusified because they got to remove you intake plumbing, throttle body, and the manifold while possibly disconnecting fuel line when pulling manifold.

[80sGuy]

I had the P0171 CEL when my car was at 38K miles, Mazda replaced the MAF and that was it. Have it double checked at another dealer or shop.

[magnumP5]

Chances are it is a vacuum leak, though I've never known the intake manifold gaskets to just fail. Even so, the price you've been quoted, as mentioned above, is on par with parts costs and labor rates. If you think it's too high, buy the gaskets at www.onlinemazdaparts.com (http://www.onlinemazdaparts.com) and do all the work yourself.

For what it's worth, every time I've thrown the P0171 code (many times) it's always been the result of a vacuum leak, not the MAF.