2003 MP5 - Need Help w/ Random Problems

SEANTAYLORBRO

Member
:
2003 Mazda Protege5
Hey everyone,
I'm new here, but not new to the P5. I've had it for a little over 2 years now and just recently came across a couple of problems. Hopefully someone can help out with one or all of these lol

1. When turning my steering wheel at idle there is a noticeable clicking/groaning sound. I know for sure it's not the Power Steering. It's definitely coming from the steering/suspension. My assumption is the tie rods and/or sway bar links. (not the under-the-car sway bars)

2. I recently changed my Valve Cover Gasket and painted my Valve Cover the same yellow as the car (thank you color-match spray paint). During that process, I snapped a Valve Cover BOLT in the bottom right-hand corner. I've looked all over the place online but can't find the size of that bolt (admittedly too lazy to actually measure it myself). Anyone know of the size? If I'm replacing one, I'd like to replace ALL of them.

3. My air intake hose and box is covered in duct-tape because of how flimsy it is. Cold Air Intakes are stupidly expensive, so has anyone built their own in the P5 before? I'm a decent welder, but I've never built an Air Intake from scratch before.

4. Last but DEFINITELY not least. This freakin' car either burns or leaks oil like a mofo. It seems every 200-500 miles I'm over 2 quarts low. (low enough to flash the "oil" light while cornering) I just switched to full-synthetic. Is this a common problem with these cars or is there a sneaky leak somewhere? I've cleaned the engine bay to help spot an oil leak but there isn't one that I can see. Any ideas?

Thanks for any and all help!
 
Valve Cover Bolts are 10 mm.

As for the cold air intake I believe your diameter for the tube has to be 3.5 inches. You should also plan to add a hole for the air temp sensor and breather hose, if you decide to fabricate you own CAI.

I actually have a spare intake hose if you are interested.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Well I would say check your lower control arm bushings for the groan. But if you make a custom cai I would be interested in seeing the build! Last the oil, well it's possible that it's some kind of burn but I'd just suggest you try some 10w30
 
If you're leaking that much oil you need to get under the car and find that leak. That's a lot of oil!

If you're BURNING that much oil... Time to either rebuild your engine or buy another car. I can't imagine your compression is great if the rings are letting that much oil by.


I would address the oil issue first. If you're really burning that much oil then there's no point in trying to fix the other items.
 
... This freakin' car either burns or leaks oil like a mofo. It seems every 200-500 miles I'm over 2 quarts low. (low enough to flash the "oil" light while cornering) I just switched to full-synthetic. Is this a common problem with these cars or is there a sneaky leak somewhere?

Yes,... It's a very common problem with our engine.
The oil rings seize up and starts to burn like crazy.
The compression always seems to be fine though.

You've probably got this going on.

Screenshot_2016-06-11-00-32-40_zpsaoywbsuj.png


You should switch back to regular dino oil and use 10W30. Synthetic oil burns off faster and is too expensive to burn off at that rate.

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...=1#post5504992
 
Last edited:
+1 on switching to a heavier non-synthetic oil. You can get an ebay intake if you want one for cheap, I think they are about $50. The best bet will be to get a good stock airbox and a new stock style inlet hose. With the scoop setup intact the car will make more power and more safely run the engine than with any aftermarket intake.
 
I had a little bit of oil loss, maybe 1qt per 5k miles. I started using 3 quarts of 10w-30 and filling the .7 up with Lucas oil additive. No more burning & my oil looks great for 5k miles.
 
I had oil consumption recently, about two quarts per 5000 miles. I pulled the PCV valve and cleaned it, and I haven't noticed nearly as much oil loss lately.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
+1 on switching to a heavier non-synthetic oil. You can get an ebay intake if you want one for cheap, I think they are about $50. The best bet will be to get a good stock airbox and a new stock style inlet hose. With the scoop setup intact the car will make more power and more safely run the engine than with any aftermarket intake.
The only problem you run into with intakes from eBay is where it hooks to the throttle body they hit the brake master cylinder
 
Back