What have you done to your P5 today?

If you intend on going back out there, but don't think you'll upgrade any suspension bits before then, try setting your tire pressure as follows (if you're on stockers + stock tire size)

Rear: 28
Front: 26

That should help with the understeer a bit. I run those pressures on the stockers with decent improvement in grip.
 
If you intend on going back out there, but don't think you'll upgrade any suspension bits before then, try setting your tire pressure as follows (if you're on stockers + stock tire size)

Rear: 28
Front: 26

That should help with the understeer a bit. I run those pressures on the stockers with decent improvement in grip.

Last time I was on that road my pressures were near that point, but it gripped way better today after putting it at 32psi all around
 
On the LX....

307k miles
Oil change 5w40
New front motor mount
new right rear brake light bulb

oil consumption was 3 qts over 4500 miles since the last oil change

Just keeping it alive as long as I can.
 
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whelp, I'm jumping in with both feet. Timing belt is damaged, so I'm going to try to replace it. I think the tensioner died and broke the timing cover, which took out the belts on the way home yesterday. I pulled the valve cover and it's definitely time. (Unintended)

Water Pump, engine mounts as well
 
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Does anyone her have experience with AWR Motor Mounts that they'd care to share?
 
Does anyone her have experience with AWR Motor Mounts that they'd care to share?

I have the AWR passenger/trans mounts with a Hydra front mount.
What did you wanna know?

I run 70 durometer (softest ones), a bit more cabin vibration/chasing down some rattles but entirely worth it for how wholesome the car feels now.
More torque and just feels like a much more solid car as a whole.
Especially when coupled with a mp3 ECU.
Vibrations settle a bit too after a few weeks or so.
I didn't do the rear yet bc I know it's such a pain to get to.

Wish I did them sooner, if you're worried about the vibrations (actually not as bad as it seemed while researching it online before install), you can always do the AWR inserts.
 
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I had the hardest duro front AWR mount, with passenger side inserts, and tranny mount, but not the rear mount. I started with the front mount only, a freebee from Tony at AWR when I visited him years ago. Vibes were not bad, but noticeable. Then, I added the passenger side inserts. Just a bit more vibes but still not bad at all. But when I added the tranny mount, it vibrated a lot more than I expected. Annoying to some, not so much to others. I ended up selling it to a friend.
Now I changed out the front mount bushings to, whatever the softest duro AWR has, (not sure) and the left the passenger side inserts in place. The car doesn't vibrate much more than stock but is noticeable. My buddy Ebad's (RIP) MSP was super uncomfortable as he had all four AWR mounts in the hardest duro. Couldnt keep change in the ashtray because it would vibrate so much haha! So I found just the front mount and side inserts were all I needed. Easy install too.

Driving impressions: Car does handle better since the engine isnt moving back and forth when accelerating/decelerating, which throws off the balance more than you think. No more wheel hop at all. Less squat under hard acceleration. Puts the power down to the ground much better since the engine isnt jumping around as much. Thats why grffn, myself and others feel more torque and just a more solid felling overall. Definitely recommend the front mount and side inserts.
 
in my p5 i currently have a solid trans mount (how it came) and windo weld filled front and passenger side mount. rear is stock. feels pretty good and solid. the windo weld mount doesn't transfer a ton of vibrations into the cabin. my msp though has all four 70 duro solids. it isn't terrible on short trips but it's starting to get to me. going to swap out the rear mount for a filled mount and see how that helps the interior vibrations.
 
Does anyone her have experience with AWR Motor Mounts that they'd care to share?

I've got the trans and PMM inserts, and front and rear mounts, and the NVH isn't the greatest (if you're concerned about that) but they've really cut down on the wheel hop. There's still "jerk" in the powertrain at speed if I let the car coast then stab the throttle. The rear mount, regardless to what mount you have, will be a bit of a pain to get to. Lots of extensions/ universal joints to access from above.

https://imgur.com/2XdWAYC

I took apart the door lock switch on my P5 as the key would not lock, only unlock, and only if I twisted the switch hard. Turns out the bent copper ring loses some of its spring over the years and no longer makes contact where it should. I added some petroleum jelly in there (under the assumption/hope it's pretty much the same as dielectric grease) and then checked continuity across the contacts. Found that lock completes the circuit where unlock shows 1000 ohms of resistance. I thought that was strange and took the switch further apart (you don't need to do this to fix the switch) and found the SMD resistor. Of course I took it off and had to resolder it back on once I realised the error of my ways.

Long story short, bend the spring a little bit more, add some dielectric grease onto the copper strips, and your door lock switch should work good as new. To get the tumbler out of the car, there is a spring clip that holds it into the door handle on the sides. Pull those out of the grooves they sit in and you should be able to push the tumbler into the door and it will slide out. OR just remove the white assembly from the car and sort it out from there.
 
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My alarm has been going off randomly and I have no idea why? Just randomly goes off and when I unlock the car, the alarm beeps 4 times. Thats a door sensor that was triggered, according to the Mazda manual. And its happening more and more often- any ideas?
 
Rotated my tires the other day and I see no signs at all of irregular tire wear. Surprising. (peep)
Thats with -2.0* camber front and about -4* in the back. No cupping, camber wear...nothing! Been driving it like this for almost 2 years. Toe is zero.
 
I have the AWR passenger/trans mounts with a Hydra front mount.

Driving impressions: Car does handle better since the engine isnt moving back and forth when accelerating/decelerating, which throws off the balance more than you think. No more wheel hop at all. Less squat under hard acceleration. Puts the power down to the ground much better since the engine isnt jumping around as much. Thats why grffn, myself and others feel more torque and just a more solid felling overall. Definitely recommend the front mount and side inserts.

my msp though has all four 70 duro solids. it isn't terrible on short trips but it's starting to get to me. going to swap out the rear mount for a filled mount and see how that helps the interior vibrations.

I've got the trans and PMM inserts, and front and rear mounts, and the NVH isn't the greatest (if you're concerned about that) but they've really cut down on the wheel hop.

During my timing belt investigation, I noticed the Passenger mount is torn. I checked the others (not the rear) and the Front mount looks damaged, but the trans mount looks good. Tony had the 70 durometer solid mounts on sale, so I bought the kit. I've talked to my buddy in a Mazda3 with a solid (70 durometer) passenger mount and he said "it rattled my fillings out". I took the plunge against his recommendation and I just wanted to get some other opinions to help me feel better about my purchase. Thanks for all of your feedback, I'll add mine after I get the parts to put my P5 back on the road.
 
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Threw in an AGM battery since autocrossing with the old lead acid battery lead to the paint on my strut tower not having such a good time. DIY bracket to stop the front/back play, as well as side to side. The stock tie-down keeps the battery from tipping as the DIY bracket doesn't have the strength to prevent bending. I could triangulate the bracket, but I'll probably leave things as-is for this season and reassess when I've got time/motivation.
 
Ive got a rr racing front insert. Its stiff like 88 or 95 duro. And awr side inserts prob like 70 duro. In an automatic i felt almost nothing at idle or with ac on. Then i put the rr insert in the rear mount. I thought the radio was going to rattle out! Way too much nvh for me. I took it out and installed a replacement rear mount dea i think. It had sagged so much in 6 months it was resting on the bottom of the mount causing some vibes. So i bought some liquid urethane 60a and filled another new mount. With that installed i will say there are noticeable vibes at idle. With ac on its less noticable. An empty monster can will rattle in cup holder. 1/3 full or more doesnt rattle. This is in an automatic. Manual will have less vibes ive been told.
 
During my timing belt investigation, I noticed the Passenger mount is torn. I checked the others (not the rear) and the Front mount looks damaged, but the trans mount looks good. Tony had the 70 durometer solid mounts on sale, so I bought the kit. I've talked to my buddy in a Mazda3 with a solid (70 durometer) passenger mount and he said "it rattled my fillings out". I took the plunge against his recommendation and I just wanted to get some other opinions to help me feel better about my purchase. Thanks for all of your feedback, I'll add mine after I get the parts to put my P5 back on the road.

When you install it and first turn the car on, you're gonna be like holy crap what did I do lol. but it settles quite a bit after a couple weeks or so. but those two weeks it'll be rattling and you'll have rattles in different places (and it'll also reveal rattles you didn't know were there so it's a good time to fix those :D). After that, you'll only really notice it if you're sitting in your car with the AC on.
Front is super easy, you can do it without jacking it up or anything.
passenger/trans, i would jack up the engine just a little bit (i used a block of wood ontop my jack and used the oil pan).
 
Got bored so I painted my shift knob. Not everyone's style but I kinda like it. I need a real camera haha.

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Front brakes are still stuck though. No one seems to know why its stuck either. Not dragging, but the caliper will not rotate off of the rotor when trying to change the pads. I've always done my own brakes and never seen this happen before. (shrug)
 
My alarm has been going off randomly and I have no idea why? Just randomly goes off and when I unlock the car, the alarm beeps 4 times. That*s a door sensor that was triggered, according to the Mazda manual. And it*s happening more and more often- any ideas?

Most likely the driver's door since that's the most used, but check all 4 doors to be sure.

Open the door, one at a time and locate the pin switch. Will look like a little black rubber plunger. Watch the door ajar light on the dash. Press it in and the light on the dash should turn off. While it's pressed in, wiggle the switch around and see if the door ajar light in the dash flickers. If so, then replace that pin switch. They're cheap.

You could also try just closing all 4 doors with the windows open so you have something to grab onto, and arm the alarm. pull in/out on the doors without opening them. The alarm should not go off. if it does, that's the bad door pin switch.
 
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Got bored so I painted my shift knob. Not everyone's style but I kinda like it. I need a real camera haha.

Chromacoat%20Blue2_.png




Front brakes are still stuck though. No one seems to know why its stuck either. Not dragging, but the caliper will not rotate off of the rotor when trying to change the pads. I've always done my own brakes and never seen this happen before. (shrug)

ohhhh HI! hahahaha randomly got on here today! Hope you are doing good bro, Nice to see you still have the protege5
 
... Front brakes are still stuck though. No one seems to know why its stuck either. Not dragging, but the caliper will not rotate off of the rotor when trying to change the pads....

The pads don't make contact to the entire rotor surface and you get a "ridge" on the outer edge that the pads catch on.

You need to pry something between the rotor and pad to force the the brake piston in a bit to get more clearance.

 
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