alchemistdragon
Member
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- 2003 Mazda Protege5
I bought a 5 speed P5 just over a year ago with less than 100,000 miles. I have been wanting one since they came out. A month after I had it I changed the oil and starting doing basic tune up stuff to it (liquid fix?). A few days after the oil change it started to shutter badly. I replaced the plugs, coils, and wires. A week later I started to notice a massive amount of oil consumption. It would smoke badly on start up, so I naturally assumed the valve stem seals were bad. This past year I spent the money on the head work, timing belt, etc and I replaced the POS radiator (I work at an auto parts company fyi). After getting the head work done the mechanic said it should stop smoking. A few days later it was smoking all over again. So now I know the piston rings are shot. Is it cheaper/smarter in the long run to rebuild the engine or do a swap (take into account that I eventually plan on building my P5). I also noticed that the fuse/relay box under the hood at been shorted before as well as the driver side headlight wiring was fried when i bought the car, assuming because of an aftermarket car alarm from the previous owner. The car still runs great but I use a lot of oil. I am just looking for ideas or suggestions as to how to proceed from with here my P5. I definitely want to keep it.