I'm sorry, I posted briefly about this in response to someone else's dealer problems. I just had to rant!!
So the cold engine rattle (the vibration/rough acceleration when you start the car cold) had started to really bother me. I get the TSB on the cold engine rattle (listed as "01-004/03 2001-2003 PROTEGE/PROTEGE5 - RATTLING NOISE AT 1000-3000 RPM COLD ENGINE") off the net and bring it in to schedule an appointment.
I LEAVE the TSB printout with the service mgr. and tell him to ORDER THE PART NOW so when I come in next week for my appointment I can pick the car up same day. He nods.
Week later, I drop my car off on the way to work. I come by at 4pm when the car is supposed to be ready. I ask the same service mgr if my car is ready. He says "I couldnt find the TSB that you talked about." So he had misplaced the TSB that I gave him, and couldnt find another. Luckily, I know that 99% of dealer mechs are idiots (There are some GREAT
ones on this board, though!) and so I brought another copy of the TSB. He blushes. He had already called the mechanic who was working on my car up, and the mechanic (one of the good ones) says "oh yeah, I found that TSB on my own this morning, I had to order a part, it should be in by next week."
Of course, I start fuming, and remind the service mgr that I brought in the TSB last week and told him to order the part. He told me he couldnt order the part without the car there...okay, he STARTED to tell me that, but I cut him off before I could finish, because he's an idiot. So I take their stapler, and staple the TSB to the work order, and write the part # that he needs to order ON the work order FOR HIM, and then watch him order it on the computer.
On the flip side, the engine rattle is gone. The idle is much smoother, and the car is more driveable when it it cold.
BTW, there has been a lot of speculation about the cause of the rattle. Here is Mazda's explanation:
So to sum up (and this has been posted piecemeal before all over the site):
The TSB is:
The TSB is available from:
http://web2.airmail.net/emann/protegefaq/tsb/
under "3rd generation"
Feel free to print this page and take it to your dealer. While you're there, have them sand, prime, and paint the exposed part of your rotors for free:
Sorry for the rant, I hope this helps. Feel free to PM me with any Q's
So the cold engine rattle (the vibration/rough acceleration when you start the car cold) had started to really bother me. I get the TSB on the cold engine rattle (listed as "01-004/03 2001-2003 PROTEGE/PROTEGE5 - RATTLING NOISE AT 1000-3000 RPM COLD ENGINE") off the net and bring it in to schedule an appointment.
I LEAVE the TSB printout with the service mgr. and tell him to ORDER THE PART NOW so when I come in next week for my appointment I can pick the car up same day. He nods.
Week later, I drop my car off on the way to work. I come by at 4pm when the car is supposed to be ready. I ask the same service mgr if my car is ready. He says "I couldnt find the TSB that you talked about." So he had misplaced the TSB that I gave him, and couldnt find another. Luckily, I know that 99% of dealer mechs are idiots (There are some GREAT
ones on this board, though!) and so I brought another copy of the TSB. He blushes. He had already called the mechanic who was working on my car up, and the mechanic (one of the good ones) says "oh yeah, I found that TSB on my own this morning, I had to order a part, it should be in by next week."Of course, I start fuming, and remind the service mgr that I brought in the TSB last week and told him to order the part. He told me he couldnt order the part without the car there...okay, he STARTED to tell me that, but I cut him off before I could finish, because he's an idiot. So I take their stapler, and staple the TSB to the work order, and write the part # that he needs to order ON the work order FOR HIM, and then watch him order it on the computer.
On the flip side, the engine rattle is gone. The idle is much smoother, and the car is more driveable when it it cold.
BTW, there has been a lot of speculation about the cause of the rattle. Here is Mazda's explanation:
As someone else suggested, the rattle is actually the valve rattling against a "screw" (the part that must be replaced in the TSB) because it is getting "bumped" by the swirl.
So to sum up (and this has been posted piecemeal before all over the site):
The TSB is:
The TSB is available from:
http://web2.airmail.net/emann/protegefaq/tsb/
under "3rd generation"
Feel free to print this page and take it to your dealer. While you're there, have them sand, prime, and paint the exposed part of your rotors for free:
Sorry for the rant, I hope this helps. Feel free to PM me with any Q's
Last edited:
