College Student First Car Build

what is your lowering combo? when I went with eibach and illumina I had to use some large fender washers on the top nut because the threads didnt go down far enough to keep tension on the spring. might be worth investigating. another thing to check is the upper ball on the rear endlink. make sure its not making contact with the inner wheel/frame area under compression.

It ended up being not enough tension on the spring. I have no clue how to fix it as, like 323 said, washers were added. Its a huge gap though
 
Clunking ended up being the rear spring(s) banging against the struts. Seems the springs are too short or the struts are too long. Since the washers were already added, I don't see what options I have besides making sure the springs are lined up and to slowly lower the car in stages.
2018 has been a crazy year for the car as "I only want a manual DD that will get me from point A to B" has turned into "ooohhhhh this is a mod I can do" and finding the money to do it lol I have a list of things I want to do with the car, but the timeline is non-existant. I've learned a lot working on this car, and hope to keep learning. Even made a few friends along the way. Here's the car as she sits, along with my first "look back pic" I've taken of the wagon. I love the Protege platform and how easy it is to work on. We'll see how the year goes, hopefully, after graduation I get a job making enough to finish the car and to start saving for my next one.
ALSO, my friend has kinda convinced me to get a set of MB Battles, however, idk how i feel about fitting a 8-9.5 inch wide wheel on the car lol Wouldnt mind it being a little stance car for a little while, but we'll see
*Maybe one day I'll be able to fix the paint issues*
PXhz662.jpg
 
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Well, coming on a year of ownership, and the car decided to break on me today. Was driving to school and noticed the car sounded different under boost when I was going to class, and then on my way back I went to turn into my neighborhood and the car stalled. Now it is idling anywhere between 50-3500 rpm up and down and running insanely rich. I believe I hear a vacuum leak, but I have no desire to check it, so it is about to go to 323's mechanic friend's shop.
 
https://pics.me.me/you-raggedy-b****-37664679.png
Ironically, this happened not even 24 hours after I was telling Syd how nice it was driving the 2019 Camry all last week and how it is weird driving a car that I don't have to worry about lol I think I hurt her feelings.

damn bro. i hope you get it fixed so you don't have to deal with the headache anymore!
You and I. I think its a nasty vacuum leak. Sounds like its coming from the intake manifold honestly

No one seems to suggest... that YELLOW MAZDA is screaming for some black racing stripes!!!!
Never thought of it tbh.... Honestly, I was gonna wrap it eventually but now you've intrigued me
 
So after finally finding my code reader, I have 4 codes, 3 of them being new.
P0103
P0171
P0102
P0421
Oil is still getting by the turbo seals, so I need to redo the lines and probably get the turbo rebuilt. For now, I'm gonna grab some MAF cleaner and try to clean up the MAF and something to clean up the plugs cause I put another O2 sensor in and that didn't solve the code except temporarily. Hopefully, it isn't the cats but we shall see. On the bright side, no need to take it to a shop so more money for me
 
P0421

... I put another O2 sensor in and that didn't solve the code except temporarily. Hopefully, it isn't the cats but we shall see...

You most likely have a burned out pre-cat.

There are four other codes covering the operation of the rear O2 sensor to make sure it's working.

You could just install one of these or buy a header as well (which I don't think you have) and do both at the same time.



PS. The main cat has no code for it.

You could run with no main cat at all and the ECU wouldn't know.
 
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You most likely have a burned out pre-cat.

There are four other codes covering the operation of the rear O2 sensor to make sure it's working.

You could just install one of these or buy a header as well (which I don't think you have) and do both at the same time.



PS. The main cat has no code for it.

You could run with no main cat at all and the ECU wouldn't know.

Which cat is which? I know I got rid or 1 when I turbo'd the car. Might have to buy that though
 
The pre-cat is the one you got rid of to turbo your car.

Everyone who puts on a header has to do the "anti-fouler" trick or you get the P0421 code.
You buy two anti-foulers, drill one out, screw them together then screw the downstream O2 into it.

Since then, they have come out with the "O2 sensor spacer" so it's all one piece and you just screw it in.

There is no place to put the pre-cat if you have a header.
 
Well, I pulled the MAF and cleaned it and finally got it back on the car. Didn't help my issue at all. Whenever I get a chance I'm gonna have to pull the spark plugs to inspect them and try to repair the crack on the manifold again (I don't know if it is all the way through the manifold or not and can't test it with the car not being able to idle). Might have to take pcb's recommendation and grab a defouler, but we shall see. If the first few items don't fix the issue, off to the mechanic's it goes.
 
have syd rev the car and see if you can feel air coming out of the manifold crack. or put some baby powder on it and see if it goes pooooooof on startup. use that gopro
 
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have syd rev the car and see if you can feel air coming out of the manifold crack. or put some baby powder on it and see if it goes pooooooof on startup. use that gopro

didnt think of any of this lol also didnt want to have to explain blipping the throttle just to keep it running to her lol. GoPro is still for sale btw (;
 
Well, the car is still sitting which is even more upsetting because we had a few warm days down here in VA Beach (warm enough I actually took the motorcycle out a few days) and I actually feel encouraged enough to work on cars again. Talking to 323 is hurting the wallet again, as I've been considering coils for the wagon and putting the lowering stuff on the sedan, as it needs struts anyway. So time to look at coilovers again and put the brake upgrade on hold again. Which I didn't want to do until I needed brakes anyway and the ones on the car have a lot of life left. School sucks so much of my time, I can't wait to be done in May finally. Hopefully I can get a good enough job I can finish the wagon and start searching for the next car. Fell in love with the SVT Lightnings again and I wanted to spend around $15k on a car, but the adult in me is saying I need to get a practical car. lol Late night thoughts
 
Well, the car is still sitting which is even more upsetting because we had a few warm days down here in VA Beach (warm enough I actually took the motorcycle out a few days) and I actually feel encouraged enough to work on cars again. Talking to 323 is hurting the wallet again, as I've been considering coils for the wagon and putting the lowering stuff on the sedan, as it needs struts anyway. So time to look at coilovers again and put the brake upgrade on hold again. Which I didn't want to do until I needed brakes anyway and the ones on the car have a lot of life left. School sucks so much of my time, I can't wait to be done in May finally. Hopefully I can get a good enough job I can finish the wagon and start searching for the next car. Fell in love with the SVT Lightnings again and I wanted to spend around $15k on a car, but the adult in me is saying I need to get a practical car. lol Late night thoughts

Don't worry, I'm with you there on school.. sucks the life out of me. But the P5 is a pretty practical car :)
Maybe get a new car after you graduate! When you have a good job and a nice place to live in. No monthly car payments is quite the luxury for us college students who haven't bought a new car yet haha.
Although I've been constantly thinking about buying an ND miata and going full retard with it... ahh adulting.

What coils are you looking at?
 
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Although I've been constantly thinking about buying an ND miata and going full retard with it... ahh adulting.

What coils are you looking at?

Honestly me too [emoji23] up here all the miatad are kinda riced out so not being affiliated with them is the only thing holding me back, that and the cost of repairs on the protege
 
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