Is my MSP turning into a POS??

[BradC]

Hey guys, I have a handful of problems with my baby this week and I want some reassurance that this isn't going to turn into a constant thing. Over the past week I have had the following develop.

1) Warped Front Rotors (@ only 11k miles)
2) Cracked Windshield (stress crack on driver's side)
3) Missing bolt on exhaust manifold heat shield (where the fuck did it go???)
4) Malfunctioning alarm (whenever you use the key fob all the lights stay
lit until you turn the car on and off)

Granted the rotors are warped from hard driving, but the car only has 11k miles on it. You would think the rotors on a "speed oriented" model would hold up to a little punishment better.

Anyways, the whole point of my owning this car was to have a good time and get some mods on her. With all of these little things popping up and the Mazda service horror stories I hear, I am gettting a little nervous about putting parts on it. Anyone have any similar experience, maybe a round of problems then all good from there? What can I do about these things if Mazda gives me any hard times??
Thanks,
Brad

[jersey_emt]

Those are all very common problems. Nearly everybody has experienced them.

[yashooa]

Those are all very common problems. Nearly everybody has experienced them. I haven't :)
I have had the windshield crack but it was due to a rock, my brakes are in perfect shape, no alarm problems, no missing bolts, etc.
The exhaust did break and the pipe they replaced it with looks a little bigger than the original. I have seen a couple of other forum members exhaust break as well.
I just have had 2 sets of bushings and the exhaust.
That's it...@ 42,000 miles.

[freekwonder]

18,000 miles on mine. the only warranty work i have had

1. 2 sets of bushings
2. Rear skirt falling off
3. Radio not working

as far as the "stress" cracks on the windshield. I dont believe its a stress crack. the MP3 chassis/suspension is just as stiff and i never cracked my wind shield (except for the rock hitting it) i daily drive my car and have not wrapped the rotors. I think every model of protege has that missing bolt thing. Its sort like the hole missing sock in the dryer mystery

[noclue119]

1) Warped Front Rotors (@ only 11k miles)
2) Cracked Windshield (stress crack on driver's side)
3) Missing bolt on exhaust manifold heat shield (where the fuck did it go???)
4) Malfunctioning alarm (whenever you use the key fob all the lights stay
lit until you turn the car on and off)

1. yep got them replaced...
2. Not yet
3. Yep - reinstalled
4. Nope

nothing u can do about it... its common problems

[mspchick03]

I am having the same problem with my alarm not working right. Are just supposed to take it to the mazda dealer. My rotors are rusting too and I have the famous "clunk" But all in all I LOVE MY MSP!!

[mazdaowner123]

Weird, I had a bolt missing on my exhaust mani heatshield as well. I told em about it and they put a new one on.

~brian

[jred321]

i've had 2), and some bushings replaced (i need to get the front crunching fix still though). that's about it. my windshield though, i'm not sure if it was a stress crack, but it came from nowhere. my car was parked one night, no crack. went to drive it the next day, crack. i don't park near a road or anything that would cause it, no impact mark, starting at the edge. if it's not a stress crack i don't know what it is

[sickspeed94]

my rotors feel like shite and i'm at 8000 miles, they do that low pitched warped rotor shake even under light braking, i love my MSP more than anything but the fit and finish is just poor, i guess that's what we get for buying a vehicle the forst year it comes out, too bad they didn't continue to make the speeds because they could really improve on the whole concept and have a kick ass car, just up the boost from the factory maybe 2.5 lbs and fix all the dam quirks that it had, and they'd be outselling a lot of manufacturers

[jred321]

my car sat for a few months, i came back and now my rotors feel warped but it's just stuff on there causing grooves in it. i should fix it...

[NoVaMSP]

the question should be "did my msp start a peice of shit?" j/k .....i think.
even with all those annoying things alarm, radio,rotors,bushings etc.. its mostly petty & still a nice ride for 20k .

[SuperSpud]

dude, I have a missing bolt on my heat shield too... how the piss did that happen?

[1sty]

18,000 miles on mine. the only warranty work i have had

1. 2 sets of bushings
2. Rear skirt falling off
3. Radio not working

as far as the "stress" cracks on the windshield. I dont believe its a stress crack. the MP3 chassis/suspension is just as stiff and i never cracked my wind shield (except for the rock hitting it) i daily drive my car and have not wrapped the rotors. I think every model of protege has that missing bolt thing. Its sort like the hole missing sock in the dryer mysteryMy MP3 had a cracked windhield within the 1st month I had it. It was replaced under warrenty and never had a problem again.

All in all I'd say, although problems suck on a new car, those are minor. The windshile dshould eb fixed for free and will likely be fine from then on out.

The rotor is your own fault, get better ones (thumb)

The alarm is warrentiable too, so just get it swapped or better yet, rip the useless thing out and get a nice 2 way unit.

A missing heat shield bolt at worst is a rattle, just replace it but use some lock tite and you'll be fine.

[protegeV]

Ive seen two MSP owners and a P5 owner lose that heatshield bolt...its wierd(screwy)

[JDM Sam]

What can I do about these things if Mazda gives me any hard times??
Thanks,
BradOk, class today's lesson

A. Buy a new car
B. Get a lawyer
C. Take the hit yourself
D. Do nothing
E. None of the above
F. All of the above

(cheers)

Welcome to the world of the MSP.

[MPChi]

Those sounded like little issues that had nothing to do with the car turning into a POS. But if you have a broken tranny, your clutch burnt, or your engine failed....then its a different matter.

[Orangespeed_03]

I also had a bolt missing from my heat shield, mazda replaced it during a routine oil change. My rear bushings were replaced 5 or 6 times last year before the proper ones came in. Experiencing problems now with oil leaking down my turbo housing and sludge in my coolant reservior, going to see mazda tomorrow. Other than that the car has treated me good and I love driving it.

[UFO70]

That's weird, I've also had a bolt missing from the heat shield. (eek2)

[JMS'sMSP]

I have the far left bolt missing from my heatshield too...

I have also had a coolant leak (bad radiator hose connection )
Alarm going off randomly the dealer said they found a loose wire but my TT has been acting up. So today I soldered in the wires and it still beeps and flashes "off" at me when I pull on it or hit it (not hard) so I am thinking that the alarm was going off when the TT would fall from the Velcro strap I had holding it up.

[mspchick03]

I went to the mazda dealership (not the one I purchased my speed at, one that is closer to my home) Cuz i am having the problems with my alarm keeping the parking and taillights on after being armed with the transmitter. I also told them about the clunking when i reverse out of my garage. This is what the dumbasses told me: that the clunk is because i have 18s and it is rubbing. NO WAY, it has stock suspension!! what do 18s have to do with that? I dont know. And the alarm is off because of my aftermarket cd changer and a wire is making the ground act strange. How does this happen when the cd changer is plugged right into the back of the cd player? Has anyone heard of this? (probably not, because its bullshit) then they tell me that it is mazdaspeeds problem and to take it to them. All after waiting over an hour and not doing shit about it.





Hey guys, I have a handful of problems with my baby this week and I want some reassurance that this isn't going to turn into a constant thing. Over the past week I have had the following develop.

1) Warped Front Rotors (@ only 11k miles)
2) Cracked Windshield (stress crack on driver's side)
3) Missing bolt on exhaust manifold heat shield (where the fuck did it go???)
4) Malfunctioning alarm (whenever you use the key fob all the lights stay
lit until you turn the car on and off)

Granted the rotors are warped from hard driving, but the car only has 11k miles on it. You would think the rotors on a "speed oriented" model would hold up to a little punishment better.

Anyways, the whole point of my owning this car was to have a good time and get some mods on her. With all of these little things popping up and the Mazda service horror stories I hear, I am gettting a little nervous about putting parts on it. Anyone have any similar experience, maybe a round of problems then all good from there? What can I do about these things if Mazda gives me any hard times??
Thanks,
Brad

[JDM Sam]

go to another dealer. mazda trained a bunch of incompetent ninnies that dont know squat about aftermarket mods and expected them to be able to diagnose that shit. they need to contract these cars out to performance shops that know what the fuck they are doing.

[jred321]

not to be a dick or anything, but i would suggest going in with a guy, you'll get a better response from the service department.

as for your problems, they're all fairly common and they should know how to fix them. the clunk has a tsb (the number is on here somewhere) so they really have no choice. many other people have had problems with their alarms doing the same thing too. i'd suggest digging on here for a few threads with these problems, print them out and bring them in. mazda also issued a release to all of their dealerships that says that they must honor warranty work on all mazdaspeed cars regardless of whether they are a mazdaspeed dealer or not. i know that's on here too somewhere. hopefully this helps, all the answers are on this site somewhere :) if you still need help, i've got about 8 hours tomorrow from 730-4 (30 mins for lunch) that i can search and try to find some stuff for you, but i'm not doing it tonight, i'm not getting paid right now

[jred321]

all problems: http://www.msprotege.com/vbb230/showthread.php?t=50549
http://www.msprotege.com/vbb230/showthread.php?t=43443&highlight=alarm+problems
clunk: Issue: The "Clunk".
<HR>What: If you've ever heard a rattling or loud banging noise in the trunk area when you go over a bump or crack, you have the "clunk".

Why: Mazda used an alternate setup for the suspension and did sort of a 'cheap' alternate, making the suspension system incomplete. The root problem is a combination of a few things, however, it is somewhat repairable.

How To Fix: If you car has the "clunk", you will want to go to your dealer and get the newest rear suspension bushings on your car. There are several 'improved' bushings that Mazda has made, however, all have eventually failed. The newest bushing has been out since early October and while it did show promise, several members have reported that they, too, have failed. Seems that they did last a bit longer, however. Most D-series lasted a few days before the clunk returned while the E-series seems to last a few weeks and/or months. If you go in to have your bushings replaced, the part number for those newest bushings ends in "156E". Do not let the dealer give you the "156D" series as, again, the D will fail very quickly.

Mazda has released an official Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) for the clunk so if you dealer gives you a hard time, it'll be a bit easier to show them what's wrong. The TSB text is included below.

UPDATE: Keep in mind that the Mazda bushings replacement is just more of a temporary "band-aid" than it is a fix. We do, however, have a great member on board who goes by Micahspeed who has spent a great amount of time developing a better fix. More information about this fix may be found here (http://207.44.244.58/vbb225/showthread.php?s=&threadid=34549), here (http://207.44.244.58/vbb225/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37780), and here (http://www.mazdamp3.com/vbb225/showthread.php?s=&postid=518391#post518391). Keep in mind that this is not an official fix and Micahspeed is not related to Mazda in any way, shape, or form.

TSB:
Code:


CLUNK/KNOCK FROM REAR SUSPENSION OVER BUMPS Applicable Models Model Starting S/N Ending S/N 2001 PROTEGE 00000000 ZZZZZZZZ 2002 PROTEGE 00000000 ZZZZZZZZ 2003 PROTEGE 00000000 ZZZZZZZZSymptoms and ConditionsA clunk/knock can be heard from the rear suspension from MP3 and MAZDASPEEDvehicles when driving over uneven road surfaces such as speed bumps.Repair ProcedureInspect rear sway bar bushings, if excessive clearance is found replace bushing with improved part. Part Information: Improved bushing - BN7H-28-156D (MP3 N MAZDASPEED ONLY)Important Note: Lube bushings prior to assembly with a silicone paste to prevent premature wear and/or squeaks.Copyright © Mazda North American Operations</PRE>
threads: http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39459&highlight=clunk+tsb+number
http://msprotege.com/vbb230/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38170&highlight=clunk+tsb
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14133&highlight=clunk+tsb+number
make sure they replace it with an "E" series bushing, meaning the part number should end in 156E.
also if you still have your stock wheels just go back with those on so they can't blame it on the wheel

alarm: "Issue: Alarm Keeps Parking Lights On When Activated.

<HR>What: When you set the alarm with the remote, the parking lights & tail lights stay on. Can and will cause the battery to die if you don't notice or get it fixed.

Why: The alarm control module is defective

How To Fix: Return to dealer and have it replaced under warranty. Be prepared to wait a long time, however, as these parts were/are on national backorder. Until then, you just have to lock the doors inside & not use the alarm. There is a way to remove the alarm completely, however, this is a public forum and it would be stupid to tell people how. Consult your local audio professionals if you choose to remove the alarm until the new unit gets in.

TSB/M-Tip: Not available."
<!-- / message -->
threads: http://www.msprotege.com/vbb230/showthread.php?t=71212&highlight=alarm+problems
http://www.msprotege.com/vbb230/showthread.php?t=54453&highlight=alarm+problems
http://www.msprotege.com/vbb230/showthread.php?t=36566&highlight=alarm+problems
http://www.msprotege.com/vbb230/showthread.php?t=31668&highlight=alarm+problems

[mspchick03]

Thanks for your help jred 321 and JDM SAM. Oh and I didnt take that comment the wrong way, i will probably take a guy with me. It's sad when you know more about your vehicle than the guys who work for mazda (chair)