New to mazda with a protege5

As the title says I am new to the Mazda scene after purchasing a protege5 this week. I picked it up as a DD, but have been involved heavily with dsm's for the past 4 years or so. My current project is a 91 talon tsi awd (profile picture) which is going through the stage of fixing "little thing" but hopefully will be strip ready this spring. I am a DIY mechanic and have built my own engines, and have welded and painted my own cars. My decision came down to a 2002 accord or the protege for a DD but I really liked the protege more and wanted something different. Also I read reviews online and nobody had anything bad to say about the car so I thought it was worth a shot. Its a 2003, 148k, clean body no rust (except a little in the wheel wells which I plan on fixing) 5 speed. The engine bay is also clean and has had no issues with it, even on the 1.5 hour drive home with it. In the spring I plan on doing a full tune up including changing all belts pulleys and such. Only plans modding wise for the car will be a catback and CAI, and again in the spring probably going to lower it and put some nice rims on (currently have 18's sitting in my garage unsure if I was to use them or not). The one small problem I have with the car is my friend managed to break my driver seat belt by pushing the buckle in really hard and snapping a plastic piece that locks it in place, so I am wondering what other seatbelts have the same mechanism as ours so I can snag one from the junkyard,

i am in college but a DIYer as well i cannot afford mods (other than DIY audio upgrades) but only thing i dont like about this car is the power, its engine is slow but the 5 speed makes the 130hp feel like more as it has excellent gear ratios and she handles excellent even at 11 years old and at 156k miles. just put new tires, belts, struts, brakes and clutch on it( the struts and clutch were oe and lasted almost 150,000miles) all with in the last 10-17,000 miles, not all at once as i cannot afford all that at once, i did this as i want this car to last as a daily driver for at least another year reliably then being a back up and or daily driver for at least a few more years. mazda made this car very well.

wish i could fit it with a mazda speed turbo but no time and no money means not until i graduate and get a better paying job in the IT field i am trying to get into. but i want something with more potential after i graduate. its been a very reliable car my dad owned it before me and when he wanted to trade it in for a new mazda 6 i propositioned him for us to trade in my gas guzzler suv and let me take the p5 so we did we have had it since 05 with very few issues and nothing major.

check the ignition coils(as they tend to be a weak spot) and change the timing belt and water pump for safe measure (as i am sure you knew as a DIY mechanic) i recommend ngk IX iridiums (part number 5464) for these if you wanna keep it for awhile noticed a slight bump up in fuel economy and seems just ever so slightly better on take off with em and iridiums last a lot longer than any other plugs (again i am sure you know as a DIYer) these cars are fun on twisty roads and can be thrown into corners very well, it can keep up with my friends focus st with 125 more hp on back roads that are twisty because it handles so well.

yes I realized this car has a very tight turn radius, especially after DD a 1g dsm for a few years, which are not known for handling at all. But they do lack in power. I am not to worried about it as I was just looking for a fuel efficient and reliable DD, I got two other cars that are my toys. But Yes a full timing belt replacement and water pump was included in my spring maintenance. Are these motors interference motors?

yes they are interference. keep an eye on those coils those are bout the only unreliable parts on these cars

kms1990 said:

yes they are interference. keep an eye on those coils those are bout the only unreliable parts on these cars

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Its non-interference

BoostedAWD said:

Are these motors interference motors?

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Here's a thread about interference,...

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...erence-Engine-Well-It-Could-BE-!!!&highlight=

pcb said:

Here's a thread about interference,...

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...erence-Engine-Well-It-Could-BE-!!!&highlight=

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were all confused about that subject, i say it cannot hurt anything to change the t belt so just do it

error on the side of safety and just assume it is.................

i12drivemyMP5 said:

error on the side of safety and just assume it is.................

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I agree,... that's what I did.

BUT, If I bought the car today I wouldn't do it. I was quoted $1600 for a T-belt and water pump job (I did it myself for about $400) but I could probably only get $2500 for the car whether the belt was done or not.

As far as safety goes ??? The car doesn't blow up or anything it just pretty much stalls (with a bang if there is interference) then you coast to a stop and get towed ,...

A lot of guys had their belt snap and just towed it home, replaced the belt and had it on the road the next day.

The chances of interference is still extremely rare,...

Pick your poison as they say,... just have a bit of a strategy in mind.

ok I was just wondering. On a 4g63 if you are off a tooth you are rebuilding a head, if your belt snaps while driving you may have to replace the motor lol. But I definitely plan on the belt change in the spring.

BTW if anyone breaks a seat belt the 626 have the same seat belt internals. Works great in my car.

pcb said:

I agree,... that's what I did.

BUT, If I bought the car today I wouldn't do it. I was quoted $1600 for a T-belt and water pump job (I did it myself for about $400) but I could probably only get $2500 for the car whether the belt was done or not.

As far as safety goes ??? The car doesn't blow up or anything it just pretty much stalls (with a bang if there is interference) then you coast to a stop and get towed ,...

A lot of guys had their belt snap and just towed it home, replaced the belt and had it on the road the next day.

The chances of interference is still extremely rare,...

Pick your poison as they say,... just have a bit of a strategy in mind.

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Oh, I meant error on side of safety meaning don't just run it until the belt breaks thinking nothing else will be damaged because there have been many times that other damage has occurred....regardless on non-int or interference designation. I wasn't implying the car will explode or flip over and be anything crazier than ruining the head/valves/etc and strand you although that can be dangerous depending on when/where it occurs.