To VICS or not to VICS... 2003.5 with 162k (butterfly screw nightmare)

So I just bought a 2003.5 P5 and while researching a CEL due to VTCS solenoid, I stumbled across the VICS butterfly screw nightmare threads. (omg)

My car was built in April 2003, so it does fall into the VIN number for the 300C5-1 recall. I checked under the hood and there is no recall sticker. I also looked through all the service records and found nothing. The car is 100%, in really good shape and runs perfect, but now I'm paranoid about the VICS butterfly screws!

The questions I have are...

1. With 162k miles, would this been an issue by now? Didn't many of these catastrophic issues happen with 50k and 70k miles?

2. Without taking intake manifold off, it is possible to go into the intake with a endoscope/borescope through the throttle body, and visually inspect inside to see if any VICS screws or butterfly's have fallen off?

Mine started throwing the screws around the 160k mile mark. Did it 3 times before i figured what happened. I'd def look into fixing, especially if you take the RPMs over 4000.

You can call your local Mazda dealer with your VIN and they can verify if the work has been done,...

I'm almost positive that they will do the work for free if it hasn't been done.

(when I called my dealer, they told me ALL the work that had been done to my car at any Mazda dealer,... struts, calipers, exhaust, etc.)

I found this photo online, which clearly shows passages with intake split, so while the VICS chambers are sealed and not "directly" accessible via the throttle body with an endoscope, I still think I might be able to inspect them with a mirror attachment, by going thru the normal intake runners and looking downward...



If I'm successful, I will post a video from inside the intake.

I suggest you get Mazda to repair it or do it yourself.

Even if you inspect it, you won't be able to tell if the screws are coming loose.

It isn't that bad of a job and when I pulled my intake at 221000km, 3 screws were missing. When I went to buy the car, it sounded as if someone threw a quarter into the laundry machine and turned it on.

I was thinking of doing it myself (was auto tech for many years), but I was also considering having the dealer do it for me, since it falls under the recall. The problem is, if you read the recall procedure, they will only perform a compression test, slap a sticker under the hood, and send you on your way without fixing anything if the engine runs fine. The logic behind the endoscope is, if I can scope it and verify a screw or butterfly is missing, I can record that on video and show it to them, then they will have to perform the recall repair. It will be tricky getting a scope in there, but I do think its possible, and will find out on Friday when the scope arrives.

I just talked to Mazda dealer, they said that recall (3005C) is closed and they no longer honor it.

EDIT...

He checked further and said that recall was performed on my VIN # at 24k miles on Jan 23, 2006 at dealer #23794.

There is no recall sticker under the hood, so IF they did perform the recall, did they forget to put the sticker on? Did sticker fall off? Did they just re-torque screws and not use loctite and they are coming loose again? Did they replace the entire intake? Who knows?

I Googled dealer number and found Cory Fairbanks Mazda in Florida, 20 miles from Debary Florida, where CarFax says owner was at the time. I'll call them and maybe they still have records...

EDIT...

I talked to the dealer that performed the recall, they only show the recall was performed, they don't keep service records for more than 5 years, so there is no way to know what exactly was done. (re-torque or replacement)

Final thoughts... my concern is, when I looked at the recent service records from the previous owner and independent garage repairs, in early 2014 she came in for misfire on #4, they replaced plugs and blamed injector. Then again in early 2013 she came in for misfire on #4, they replaced plugs and blamed broken plug wire. If you read through the 247 archives, you will see that when those screws come loose, in most cases they went into #4 cylinder. My theory is, the VICS screws came loose in both these cases, bent spark plug ground causing misfire on #4 both times, and those neanderthal techs didn't know why, so they slapped some new plugs in, made up a story, and sent her on her way.

So I'm back to square one, and hopefully the scope will verify or eliminate my theory.

A sticker can always be taken off the car.

Miss-fires on these cars are relatively common for 2 main reasons: EGR and coils.

The reason VICS screws can cause a miss-fire is if the screw hit the plug electrode and bent it to the point of shorting it to the center electrode... Thats what happened to me with my VICS screws.

Mazda told me that my car was not under the recall, but pulling out my intake showed differently, as 3 screws were gone.

If you are paranoid, pull the intake and inspect them yourself, because Mazda is not going to do it. Even if you prove it to them, you might have a challenging time to get them to do it since they already repaired the issue (according to records)

I've been down the same road. I have pictures of the top of my pistons scored by the screws..

What was the VIN series #?

2003 Protege
March 3, 2003 to July 31, 2003
JM1BJ**** 3* 181114 to JM1BJ**** 3* 219674

But that doesn't mean a whole lot, because many 2002 P5's has the same problem.

I'll be doing my endoscope / borescope on Monday.

Update, I was able to go in with borescope this morning, unfortunately the intake was too difficult to navigate through. Its too bad the VICS flaps are not in an easier location, because the borescope would provide a good way to inspect them. I did inspect and take pictures of all 4 cylinders and the valves in cylinder #4, figured I might as well while I had everything hooked up. Photos are here... http://www.pbase.com/btd/protege5

Final thoughts... I've decided I'm not going to take intake off, I'm just going to drive it and not worry about it. I have much bigger things going on in my life currently and I can't be bothered. I verified the recall was indeed performed on this car and that is good enough for me. Maybe in the next few months I will drop the front exhaust and see if there are any brass screws in the cat. Until then, have faith, drive, and enjoy!