Changed both front low beams... in the dark... with big hands... in under 5 minutes. I don't know why you guys are taking the wheel off, coolant and washer reservoirs and all that... all this talk about how much of a pain they are had me scared. If you guys think this is a hard job, try changing all the stupid bulbs in a 2004-2006ish Mazda 6.
lowlevel's Proteg 5 Rescue
- Thread starter lowlevel
- Start date
Windsheild cracked by a rock on the highway.. just had it replaced in the parking lot at work for $245 and a McDonalds free coffee card... (lol)
The new glass seems better than the old one... not because it's not cracked, but because it has a darkened area at the top border where the old one didn't.
There was all kinds of broken glass and crap in there, so it's obvious the windshield had been replaced before.
The new glass seems better than the old one... not because it's not cracked, but because it has a darkened area at the top border where the old one didn't.
There was all kinds of broken glass and crap in there, so it's obvious the windshield had been replaced before.
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Spent some time under the car today... changed the oil... only had around 1.5 liters again, so she burned/leaked 2.5L over about 5000km. Threw some oil in the back for now, but planning to check the oil pressure sender and pcv for a start.. I suspect it's burning it though. Strangely enough, the dipstick always seems to read full. Removed a heat shield from that secondary cat. It was just resting on top and making a hell of a racket... pulled apart a pretty heavily corroded fog light... broke off both screws in it and had to drill and tap new ones as well as silicone the lens back on... (I love old cars.) tried to get the rear washer motor working, figuring it was corroded connectors, but they're good.. just no power getting there at all when the switch is activated.
Dipstick says full. I think the only reliable way to check the oil level is to drain it all out to measure it... which I don't feel like doing.
For now I'm just going to dump half a bottle in every other gas-up...
Yesterday was a brutal two and a half hour drive home through extreme traffic in the hot sun. When I get stuck in traffic my idle starts to creep up to around 2800rpm now... (previously, only to about 1200rpm)I used to be able to bring it back down by sticking my foot under the peddle and lifting it up but now, it's a struggle to get it even down to 1000rpm when it's acting up.
The problem completely goes away once I get home, I assume because some air is finally moving around in the engine bay alleviating whatever is going on there. I'm thinking the throttle body is sticking open for some reason .. going to try cleaning it, and while I'm at it make sure nothings binding, or that the air intake isn't leaking.
For now I'm just going to dump half a bottle in every other gas-up...
Yesterday was a brutal two and a half hour drive home through extreme traffic in the hot sun. When I get stuck in traffic my idle starts to creep up to around 2800rpm now... (previously, only to about 1200rpm)I used to be able to bring it back down by sticking my foot under the peddle and lifting it up but now, it's a struggle to get it even down to 1000rpm when it's acting up.
The problem completely goes away once I get home, I assume because some air is finally moving around in the engine bay alleviating whatever is going on there. I'm thinking the throttle body is sticking open for some reason .. going to try cleaning it, and while I'm at it make sure nothings binding, or that the air intake isn't leaking.
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Sorry for the late reply, I've been pretty busy lately... but yes.
Napa 260-1326.
I would just buy the control arms if I were to do this again...
The headlights are a pain to change!!! Idk how you got so lucky to get them done in 5 minutes......
That's really weird that your idle would go that high. Mine only goes up to about 2500 if it's a cold start in winter. And even then it goes down within a minute. Find out anything about that?
That's really weird that your idle would go that high. Mine only goes up to about 2500 if it's a cold start in winter. And even then it goes down within a minute. Find out anything about that?
"car is still pulling to the left a bit at high speed... "
Love your write up man! Glad im not the only one sinking money into these cars lol. My car exhibits a lot of the same noises/vibrations yours does. Mine also pulls to the left on the highway, which my automotive instructor told me is completely normal and caused by 'road crown' not the car's alignment. Ive done my alignment at school twice after getting new tires (Dunlop Direzza 102's) and it was completely in the green so i think the fact that the protege's steering rack is so touchy it makes the pull at high speeds seem a lot worse than it is. BTW those direzza's are great tires and cheap! (~$76 a piece USD on tirerack) they're summers but i live in St.Louis, MO and we get some pretty random weather across the board; ive seen almost every road condition in the course of just a couple weeks. In the snow they do great for being summer rubber, they communicate really well when their going to break loose.
Love your write up man! Glad im not the only one sinking money into these cars lol. My car exhibits a lot of the same noises/vibrations yours does. Mine also pulls to the left on the highway, which my automotive instructor told me is completely normal and caused by 'road crown' not the car's alignment. Ive done my alignment at school twice after getting new tires (Dunlop Direzza 102's) and it was completely in the green so i think the fact that the protege's steering rack is so touchy it makes the pull at high speeds seem a lot worse than it is. BTW those direzza's are great tires and cheap! (~$76 a piece USD on tirerack) they're summers but i live in St.Louis, MO and we get some pretty random weather across the board; ive seen almost every road condition in the course of just a couple weeks. In the snow they do great for being summer rubber, they communicate really well when their going to break loose.
Lol.. yeah, I really just liked the car and wanted to get some experience working on something so it was fun... sadly, I think it's over for this one... Thank you anyway though, figured someone would read it. My cars suspension doesn't vibrate or clunk anymore... I got all that out. I still get too much movement in the engine bay and excessive wheel hop if I push it hard. (shot motor mounts I think.) and the CarQuest Premium brake rotors didn't seem to last more than 20,000km .. they're starting to vibrate on hard braking. I'm chalking up the left pulling to road crowning and torque steer... wasn't doing it while cruising, just when accelerating.
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It's been a while since I've posted here... The car has been going pretty good for the past couple of months... other than part of the passenger door falling off... the part the holds in the plunger that turns off the dome light. :/ While the idle problems I was having in the fall are non-existent in the colder months... the engine is still eating 80% of it's oil between gas ups.
The other night as I was taking it out to pick up my swiss chalet. The exhaust fell apart and started dragging. I happened to be driving past a cop at the time and ended up getting pulled over due to the sparks shooting out the back... He let me go without a ticket thakfully, suggesting I take back roads... so I drove it to swiss chalet to get my food and then home to park it. I considered getting the exhaust fixed... but I dunno, maybe it's time to move on. I'm thinking I should cut my losses rather than fix it... so I've parked the car for now.
The other night as I was taking it out to pick up my swiss chalet. The exhaust fell apart and started dragging. I happened to be driving past a cop at the time and ended up getting pulled over due to the sparks shooting out the back... He let me go without a ticket thakfully, suggesting I take back roads... so I drove it to swiss chalet to get my food and then home to park it. I considered getting the exhaust fixed... but I dunno, maybe it's time to move on. I'm thinking I should cut my losses rather than fix it... so I've parked the car for now.
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I didn't really figure that one out fully... I think it was a combination of things... Initially, the idle was only slightly elevated. I found my gas pedal was kind of sticky, and I could lift it up myself by putting my foot under it and lifting up. This would return the idle from 1200rpm back down to the 900rpm range... I figured the return tension spring on the throttle body might be losing some of it's strength. As it got hotter and hotter outside during the warmer months... it got strange. I'de drive for about 20-30 minutes first... then it would start to act up/idle around 3000rpm while stuck in traffic... (making it kind of annoying/hard to drive...) Lifting the pedal myself at this time would usually bring it down to 1500rpm ... When I got out of traffic, and for the last 10-15 minutes of my drive, it would be fine again even though the outside temp hadn't changed. On the worst days, I couldn't get the idle under 2000rpm. Again this behavior really only happened during the warmer months, and everything seems to be perfectly fine in fall/winter months.
My mechanic friend thinks it was carbon deposits gumming up the throttle plate/holding it open.. which may be right. I didn't get around to cleaning it and didn't care once fall had arrived...
