2003 Protege5 problems

20ES

Member
Hey guys, I'm new here to the forum and I have done some searching on some issues I have been having with my car... I was able to find some answers but they weren't exactly what I needed for what I am experiencing. The first thing is oil...my protege5 is burning, but it's not consistent amounts and the oil is basically black after about 4000kms. Since I have owned the car I did oil changes every 5000km with conventional 5w-30 until recently when I was recommended to switch to 10w-30 due to it burning. What can I possibly due to reduce the burning or make it even go away if possible. The second problem I am having is my parking brake. The brake it's self is very flimsy and loose. I notice that on a slant if I dont pull it all the way up to the last notch the car will slowly roll. I have tried adjusting the cable with a 10mm socket where the screw is near the handle but it holds for a bit and then loosens up after a couple days. The car currently has 196,000km.
 
My guess on the engine oil burning is valve stem seals, it's pretty common. The rear brakes... let's see. Are the pads/rotors worn out? Rear calipers seized?
 
Thanks for the advice. With regards to the rear brakes I have not checked if the pads or rotors are worn out or if the calipers are seized. When I got the car I had to replace the whole rear brake system as it was leaking brake fluid everywhere and that's what was recommended to me... The pads and rotors shouldn't be worn out in theory as it's only been 36.000km since I had the repair done...
 
Wait, all of the rear was replaced? Calipers, rotors, and pads? That's about 22000 miles. Those parts shouldn't be worn out. Maybe just an adjustment issue with the calipers.
 
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Wait, all of the rear was replaced? Calipers, rotors, and pads? That's about 22000 miles. Those parts shouldn't be worn out. Maybe just an adjustment issue with the calipers.

Yes as far as I know everything was done then, I'm a student and back when it was done my dad was looking after everything but now he's not around anymore so I'm slowly learning everything about car parts and what not. All the help is greatly appreciated.
 
I don't have experience with the adjustments on the rear calipers so hopefully someone who does know will chime in.
 
there is an adjustment screw in the rear caliper. adjust that screw. look in the repair manual for more detail

for the oil burning: have you replace the PCV valve ? have you had a compression test?
 
I would check your E-brake cable it could be fraid. Check your E-break cable to see if its fraid 9 out of 10 times the cables get fraid and there only holding on to a couple of cables instead of like 2 dozen cables. Yah know what i mean(mj)
 
I would check your E-brake cable it could be fraid. Check your E-break cable to see if its fraid 9 out of 10 times the cables get fraid and there only holding on to a couple of cables instead of like 2 dozen cables. Yah know what i mean(mj)

whats fraid?
 
I believe he means frayed,... my brake cables didn't look scared at all when I checked them.
 
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1. 22,000 miles is more life expectancy than cheap dura last pads which were probly used. I used them for awhile but got tired of fade and dusting issues. I changed them every 15k miles but I have alot of fun on back roads and mountains

2. If your oil is black after that short of time its due to poor maintnence. Change the oil and add half a bottle of sea foam to oil drive 50 miles and change it, drive 200 miles and change it again and you should be good.

3. How much oil do you burn? A quart every 1,000-1,500 miles is pretty normal sadly. I go through a quart every 600 or so miles

4. You can not see the cable as it should be covered by rubber. More than likely its worn pads. But if its only good for a few days before it loosens up the cable is probably frayed or stretched. There are 2 pieces there replace them both. From what I can tell its going to be a pain in the ass. If you wait a few months for weather to warm up ill let you know
 
1. 22,000 miles is more life expectancy than cheap dura last pads which were probly used. I used them for awhile but got tired of fade and dusting issues. I changed them every 15k miles but I have alot of fun on back roads and mountains

2. If your oil is black after that short of time its due to poor maintnence. Change the oil and add half a bottle of sea foam to oil drive 50 miles and change it, drive 200 miles and change it again and you should be good.

3. How much oil do you burn? A quart every 1,000-1,500 miles is pretty normal sadly. I go through a quart every 600 or so miles

4. You can not see the cable as it should be covered by rubber. More than likely its worn pads. But if its only good for a few days before it loosens up the cable is probably frayed or stretched. There are 2 pieces there replace them both. From what I can tell its going to be a pain in the ass. If you wait a few months for weather to warm up ill let you know

It could be possible that they are worn, so I will check that out, as for the handbrake I will adjust it again and see how long it holds. If you say that 1000-1500 miles is normal then i'm just not used to that, I didn't think that was normal... Last time I checked my dipstick read 3/4 of oil and this was after approx 1000km (625miles) of driving

Cheers
 
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Ya protgs suck when it comes to burning oil, my civic with bad piston rings burned less oil than my protege
 
I've got 130,000 miles on mine and never add or even notice the dip stick reading change between my oil changes every 3100 miles (5000 km),... may be I'm just lucky.
 
Be careful! By only tightening that cable adjustment - you may over-tighten and drag one of the rear brakes! :O

You really need to jack/jack stand (so you can spin the wheels) and properly adjust both calipers and then do the cable last.
 
I had a tracker with the same symptoms as your brake cable. It was my clutch though (cable clutch),... it felt spongy so I just kept tightening it up wondering why it kept getting loose. Finally, it broke and the clutch pedal stayed on the floor. I found out that it was frayed at the pedal where the lug attaches to it. I think that would be the most common place for it to start fraying on any cable and the good news is that you can see where the lug joins the wire on both ends of the cables so you can check them.

(although the ones at the front are under the heat shield and all my weld nuts broke so I had to cut slots in the shield with my rotary tool to pull the shield out from under the bolt heads,... the bolts had some slack in them and gave me just enough room to slide the shield out from under the bolt head,.. I even re-installed it, I wrapped some wire under the bolt head to stop any rattling.)

Definitely check for brake drag when you adjust the brakes,... if the lever is spongy, it may still have a lot of tension on the cable even when it's released.
 
For now I have re-adjusted the cable by tightning the 10mm nut and for the last few days it seems to have been holding the same, I have been pulling it the same amount I usually do at home and the car didn't start rolling or anything. Regardless, I am changing to summer tires soon ( Live in Canada...) and when I do I will definitely have a look to check the brakes and make sure everything is okay.

Cheers
 
At least lift up each rear corner with you supplied jack and make sure they're not dragging. I tightened mine up too much once and got out of my car after a drive and smelt something burning,... I thought,.. I know that smell, what is it? My right rear brake was hot as hell, I'm lucky I didn't warp my rotors. Reaching in and checking for excessive heat after a drive might work ok,... a lot easier to do.
 
At least lift up each rear corner with you supplied jack and make sure they're not dragging. I tightened mine up too much once and got out of my car after a drive and smelt something burning,... I thought,.. I know that smell, what is it? My right rear brake was hot as hell, I'm lucky I didn't warp my rotors. Reaching in and checking for excessive heat after a drive might work ok,... a lot easier to do.

Okay I can do that but my only problem is that I'm still really new to all this and I'm not 100% sure what I should check for (Sorry if this sounds stupid...) I presume that I would just be looking if the pad is touching the rotor right? I was originally going to take a look with someone who knows better then me...
 
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