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Ramirezp5

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2003 Mazda Protege5
I bought my first P5 on Wednesday and want to know any tips or advice for it. It's a 2003 with 180 thousand miles
 
VTCS, leave the VICS alone..........check timing belt, plugs, coils, egr, motor mounts
 
VICS = butterflies that route intake air a longer/shorter route thru intake manifold to maintain torque. They open up and change route at 5k rpm. The recall is because the screws holding them on come loose and the screws go into the motor. Not a good thing. Unless turbo these are necessary. VTCS = emissions thing that only does anything during cold starts for very short time. These are where head meets intake manifold. These are not on recall. They can be removed for improved flow. People usually port/polish IM a bit when removing these.
 
Oh crap! thanks i12drivemyMP5. My P5 has been parked for a few years and I'm in the middle of getting back in shape. I had no clue about this. It only has about 85k miles, but should I be worried about doing it immediately?
 
Well, hard to say. First, a Mazda dealer should be able to tell you if the recall has been performed. I would check that first. There have been some folks that their VIN wasn't included in the recall that have still had this issue so even if dealership says not in VIN range, I'd still be wary of it. Not much warning unless you notice the engine sounding extra clattery. You'll know if a screw falls off because it'll sound like a machine gun until it passes thru cylinder and ends up on the screen of the first cat. It can ruin cyl wall and break or smash spark plug electrode. Car will run weird if those butterflies fall off. They can't go far tho. You might even get misfire code if that happens and is your first indication that this has indeed happened. There are other things that'll cause misfire codes like coils or wires but those won't mess up a plug. I would still check it out for piece of mind. I did VTCS removal, P&P IM & red loctited those VICS screws all at same time.
 
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