Bunch of Problems

[Maroon]

Hello,

I am new to these forums. I just bought a Protege 5, and it turns out the thing is a total POS. The owner lied about all of the problems it has, and now I have to deal with it. The car has been in an accident, needed new timing belt, gas gauge broken, etc. So maybe you guys can help me out. Sorry if some of these questions have been asked. I searched the forums but could not find answers, and I wasn't able to download the service manual.

So here are some questions:

1. When I remove the oil fill cap on the valve cover, I can here a "blowing sound", and I can feel air blowing out of the hole. My first thought is that it is blow by. But perhaps it isn't? Do your engines do this? When you remove the oil fill cap can you feel air blowing out of the hole?

2. I am guessing that the jackass I bought the car from disabled the check engine light. It does not illuminate when the key is in the "on" position. What is the easiest way to access the light bulb so that I can replace it. Again, I can't download the service manual to find this out.

3. The gas gauge is incorrect. Does anyone have any experience with this? I have seen on some cars where it is not the float that is the problem, it's some other random piece of electrical crap that needs to be replaced. Is this the case with this car?

4. The top end seems to get noisier when the car warms up. It is not super loud, but noticeable when you are under the hood. Is this typical?

5. I just replaced the timing belt, tensioner, tensioner spring, idler, and water pump, but there seems to be a slight "whirring" sound coming from the timing system. I don't know if it was there before the replacement because the belt was loose and knocking. It is not loud, but it is noticeable if you are under the hood. Has anyone heard this sound before.

Thanks for any help, and thanks for the good writeups on timing belt replacement. It really helped me out!

 

[Maroon]

Well I took the gauge cluster out and the CEL bulb was burnt out. So I replaced it, and now it's on. Great. Just another problem.

 

[MazdaSpeeder]

That blowing sound is normal...don't stress about it. You could replace the PCV (go for the one from the Supercharged Millenia). They're cheap from rockauto. The valvetrain on the FDSE is just NOISY. If it's clicking and tapping from the top end, you're fine. Knocking from the bottom end...you're screwed. I wouldn't worry too much about that either. The Service Manual is very helpful...you should be able to get it from http://www.floptical.net/mazda/. Not sure about the gas gauge...never done that one before. Good luck!

 

[Maroon]

Thanks for the response. After doing a little more research and comparing to other vehicles, I realized that the blowing out of the valve cover is typical. I was just surprised that it was that strong. I thought for sure it was blow by.

I checked the compression today. I got varying results, and from reading on this forum, it sounds like others have had strange results as well. The last method I tried was to take out all of the other spark plugs and hold the throttle open while measuring. I got about 205 psi on all cylinders. This seems high. If I don't remove the other spark plugs I get about 175 psi. Seems odd to me. Any thoughts on this?

 

[flash75]

You should get more compression if all plugs are removed. Leaving the other plugs in would lower cranking speed
and reduce compression. You are reading higher compression than the shop manual indicates for standard compression.
They say 171 psi for the FS engine.

Clifton

 

[P-Funk!]

More importantly - they don't differ from one to another by more than 20lbs. Your compression is good.

Get the CEL codes or just disconnect the battery and reset youself and see if they come back...

Pull the back seats and the cover to access the top of the fuel tank. Inspect the wires and connectors first. A corroded ground would cause a bad level signal.

The slight whiring maybe just the plastic timing cover touching the crank or belt (if so - this will solve itself quickly - by grinding away the touching parts. No worries, eh? Mine stopped shortly after i did it and has been fine for 105K miles since )