matalexander
Member
- :
- 2003 Mazda Protege5
Hey everyone, I'm brand new to the forum and about to start to dive into the Protege5 so I figued I'd join the community and start to really learn these cars. So a little about myself and how I ended up here.
I'm a pretty big BMW guy and I'd say that's where homebase is for me in the automotive world. However, I'm still a college student and my last BMW kind of had it's way with me and I needed a little of a financial break. In my search for something under $3k and not a Civic or an Accord but still fun and stickshift, I found the Protege! I bought it on a complete whim. My Dad and I were getting ready to look at about 3 Accords Saturday and on the same morning I decide to give CL a check to see if anything I couldn't think of popped up and sure enough it was this. I did a 15 mins google search and everything said it was good. We test drove it and by 1pm I had it in my driveway.
That was back in July. From the second I pulled out of the dealer lot for a test drive I said "Oh yes this is the one". The steering was sharp and on point, the engine had a nice throaty grumble to it, the shifter bushings were good and tight, and generally felt like a nice tight build. I've used to carry my entire apartment, engines, 50" TV's, wheels and tires, tables, every tool I own at once, the works. It's fantastic, really.
So I picked up an old crashed BMW and was gonna put an E36 M3 engine into an E30 since the Mazda was such a well behaved car. Well, that's where it all went south. I should first explain, the week I took the car home we discovered it was burning oil and bad. On a cold start after sitting 5 or more hours big clouds of blue would be left. If you floored it as well. All other times you couldn't see anything. Ok, back to BMW story, so I ended having to abandon that project and just sell everything from the crashed car. The Mazda got very jealous. A simple brake and rotor job turned into a fairly expensive brake, rotor AND caliper job. The shocks are dead, rear sway bar links dead, just yesterday that starter started grinding and is on its way out. I did the valve seals this past Sunday only to find out they didn't do much meaning it's most likely the piston rings, the cv axles are clicking too now.
So, clearly she needs work. So this is where I need you guys. Talk to me and tell me how goes it. I'm sure many of you had dealt with these issues or similar, any tips?
So everything I have pretty much sorted in my mind, I'm thinking KYB shocks or Koni, Racing beat springs, new front and rear sway bar from somewhere (recommendations?), new cv axles, and I'd like to upgrade the pads and tires as well later on. Most likely hawk pads and hankook direzza's for autox/track use.
BUT BEFORE ANY OF THAT
I need to fix this oil burning issue. For the last couple months or so I've actually run it at half capacity on oil since it burns less that way and it's been doing good. But I can't go on this way. So can anyone talk to me about rebuilds? Are they worth it? How easy are they? I've gone as far as getting below the valve cover for the valve seals and I mean, it wasn't terribly difficult, much easier than my german favorites. So anyone gone as far as the pistons? What else is worth fixing/upgrading while in there? Where best to buy parts? What initially caused the rings to go bad? I read once that the rings were essentially just too small for the cylinder/piston. I believe even toyota and a few other companies do this, "low tension rings", good for mpgs.
Option #2 has been to do an engine swap. Cause that's just motor in and motor out er..uh...motor out and motor in. Any best place to get an engine? Special things to look for? Also, what about just doing an FS-DET swap. I know the motors are identical and I would need the MSP ecu to complete it. I feel like it would be better to do this. More power and I mean these things are tortuously slow so I think the added 50hp would be worth it. Plus turbo noises. I know that the motors are identical so what can I do to make the fs-det more reliable while it's out of the car. I know mazda may have built it this way but I drive the fs-de everyday and there is no way in hell this thing can naturally handle boost well. They're not the strongest motors at all.
Also, one extra question. I have "dust" that keeps appearing in my car and comes out of the seat everytime I sit. I recently just did a quick skim on another thread here and saw a guy ripped out his entire interior to do a mold cleaning...IS THIS WHAT I HAVE DRIVING AND BREATHING IN EVERY GOD DAMN DAY?! IS THIS NORMAL?! Good lord. If this car is a death trap I may just sell it instead of fixing a damn thing. I also read there may be mold inside my AC? (shocked)
Alright enough with the words, here is the car and some pics i've got of her over my ownership thus far. And Oh! It's a 2003, with 188k miles as of today! Looking forward to get to know you guys (hi)
I'm a pretty big BMW guy and I'd say that's where homebase is for me in the automotive world. However, I'm still a college student and my last BMW kind of had it's way with me and I needed a little of a financial break. In my search for something under $3k and not a Civic or an Accord but still fun and stickshift, I found the Protege! I bought it on a complete whim. My Dad and I were getting ready to look at about 3 Accords Saturday and on the same morning I decide to give CL a check to see if anything I couldn't think of popped up and sure enough it was this. I did a 15 mins google search and everything said it was good. We test drove it and by 1pm I had it in my driveway.
That was back in July. From the second I pulled out of the dealer lot for a test drive I said "Oh yes this is the one". The steering was sharp and on point, the engine had a nice throaty grumble to it, the shifter bushings were good and tight, and generally felt like a nice tight build. I've used to carry my entire apartment, engines, 50" TV's, wheels and tires, tables, every tool I own at once, the works. It's fantastic, really.
So I picked up an old crashed BMW and was gonna put an E36 M3 engine into an E30 since the Mazda was such a well behaved car. Well, that's where it all went south. I should first explain, the week I took the car home we discovered it was burning oil and bad. On a cold start after sitting 5 or more hours big clouds of blue would be left. If you floored it as well. All other times you couldn't see anything. Ok, back to BMW story, so I ended having to abandon that project and just sell everything from the crashed car. The Mazda got very jealous. A simple brake and rotor job turned into a fairly expensive brake, rotor AND caliper job. The shocks are dead, rear sway bar links dead, just yesterday that starter started grinding and is on its way out. I did the valve seals this past Sunday only to find out they didn't do much meaning it's most likely the piston rings, the cv axles are clicking too now.
So, clearly she needs work. So this is where I need you guys. Talk to me and tell me how goes it. I'm sure many of you had dealt with these issues or similar, any tips?
So everything I have pretty much sorted in my mind, I'm thinking KYB shocks or Koni, Racing beat springs, new front and rear sway bar from somewhere (recommendations?), new cv axles, and I'd like to upgrade the pads and tires as well later on. Most likely hawk pads and hankook direzza's for autox/track use.
BUT BEFORE ANY OF THAT
I need to fix this oil burning issue. For the last couple months or so I've actually run it at half capacity on oil since it burns less that way and it's been doing good. But I can't go on this way. So can anyone talk to me about rebuilds? Are they worth it? How easy are they? I've gone as far as getting below the valve cover for the valve seals and I mean, it wasn't terribly difficult, much easier than my german favorites. So anyone gone as far as the pistons? What else is worth fixing/upgrading while in there? Where best to buy parts? What initially caused the rings to go bad? I read once that the rings were essentially just too small for the cylinder/piston. I believe even toyota and a few other companies do this, "low tension rings", good for mpgs.
Option #2 has been to do an engine swap. Cause that's just motor in and motor out er..uh...motor out and motor in. Any best place to get an engine? Special things to look for? Also, what about just doing an FS-DET swap. I know the motors are identical and I would need the MSP ecu to complete it. I feel like it would be better to do this. More power and I mean these things are tortuously slow so I think the added 50hp would be worth it. Plus turbo noises. I know that the motors are identical so what can I do to make the fs-det more reliable while it's out of the car. I know mazda may have built it this way but I drive the fs-de everyday and there is no way in hell this thing can naturally handle boost well. They're not the strongest motors at all.
Also, one extra question. I have "dust" that keeps appearing in my car and comes out of the seat everytime I sit. I recently just did a quick skim on another thread here and saw a guy ripped out his entire interior to do a mold cleaning...IS THIS WHAT I HAVE DRIVING AND BREATHING IN EVERY GOD DAMN DAY?! IS THIS NORMAL?! Good lord. If this car is a death trap I may just sell it instead of fixing a damn thing. I also read there may be mold inside my AC? (shocked)
Alright enough with the words, here is the car and some pics i've got of her over my ownership thus far. And Oh! It's a 2003, with 188k miles as of today! Looking forward to get to know you guys (hi)
