Luken's Protege5!

Luken10

Member
Hey everyone, been on the forums for a while now doing heaps of research on these cars. I finally bit the bullet and bought one! My original plan was to have a bit more money to have a lower mileage car, but every car in my area was selling for tons over blue book. 146,000 miles on the odometer as of now and runs strong! Came with mazdaspeed protege suspension and exhaust, racing beat rear sway bar, short shifter, cold air intake and the MP3 ECU.

The car's exterior could be in better shape, the original owner bashed it into a guard rail so the front right fender will most likely need to be replaced. Also, to my surprise the car started pouring smoke out the exhaust after I started it up, looked blue, most likely valve seals from what I have been reading on here. The car was warm when I checked it out so I wasn't able to see a cold start up and the owner claims to of never seen it happen. Going to film it when I crank the car over tomorrow to see how it does.

Here are some pictures of the car. The first picture is after I put the roof rack on and fixed the passenger door's lock actuator. The next two are from the seller, I'll post up some more tomorrow so I can get some input on the damage and how I should go about it.

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<iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=5AA886B2BC80B78C&resid=5AA886B2BC80B78C%21233&authkey=ACJG1aDi0A3G-zw" width="320" height="240" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

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Overall I am just happy to finally have one! This is my first car purchase, and hopefully will perform well for me in the many miles to come. (2thumbs)
 
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Welcome to the club. I got mine recently, and despite issues with it I am happy that I have one. I hope that cold start issue isn't major.
 
Quite the gloomy day today, so I will grab the pictures tomorrow when there is some more sun out. I plan on cleaning out the interior today. It is overall in great shape for a 10 year old car, just need to get the grime out from the previous owner. Anyone ever use one of those rug doctor machines you can rent from the supermarket? I hear they have a handheld attachment, might give it a go on the carpets.

Also good news! Started the car up this morning and there was hardly any smoke at all. I'm still not happy that there is smoke, but less its better!
 
Get ready to drop like $200 in general maintenance in the next few months. I have been going over mine trying to find what it needs and so far I have overhauled my car for about $350 or so. Not including the new windscreen.
 
Blue smoke on cold start is valve seals. Won't hurt it, it just embarrassing. Mines been doing it for awhile now
 
All it takes is like 3 days and a wallet commitment. and that's if you aren't doing the head work other taking it off and installing it. shouldn't be too bad. just make sure you do it right with a good torque wrench and its easy, just take your time and follow the FSM and replace gaskets and bolts that torque to yeild. ASK US if you have a REAL doubt. We can usually steer you clear of easy or obvious mistakes quickly.

By wallet commitment I mean a fully checked, tested and rebuilt head for like $300 to $400 plus the new seals.
 
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Get ready to drop like $200 in general maintenance in the next few months. I have been going over mine trying to find what it needs and so far I have overhauled my car for about $350 or so. Not including the new windscreen.
I was definitely expecting to put some money on wear and tear items. My windshield had a crack in it, got it replaced for 150, thought that was extremely reasonable. Probably looking at motor mounts next, they aren't in the best shape. Those were the types of things I was planning on doing, not a valve seal job, oh well, live and learn!
Blue smoke on cold start is valve seals. Won't hurt it, it just embarrassing. Mines been doing it for awhile now
No doubt embarrassing. The first time it happened it almost looked like I had just used seafoam for the first few seconds. Today it was hardly noticeable. Hopefully it stays like that. I have read from you and other people that it doesn't hurt anything. Will it eventually end up progressing into something that is more urgent? And can I expect more oil to make it pass the seals over time?
All it takes is like 3 days and a wallet commitment. and that's if you aren't doing the head work other taking it off and installing it. shouldn't be too bad. just make sure you do it right with a good torque wrench and its easy, just take your time and follow the FSM and replace gaskets and bolts that torque to yeild. ASK US if you have a REAL doubt. We can usually steer you clear of easy or obvious mistakes quickly.

By wallet commitment I mean a fully checked, tested and rebuilt head for like $300 to $400 plus the new seals.

As much as I would like to tear into the motor, I am just not that experienced yet. I really need a garage that I can take things slow in and learn. As for now everything has to be done in the driveway or the street.
 
Mine has been doing it for a year and def gets worse over time. It's about to get a full rebuild. You may want to check the oil every time you get gas though
 
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