I own a 1996 Mazda Protégé with 128,000 miles. I had it in for a check of a sewing machine sound. The mechanic tested it and found, among things, a "lean running condition". What does that mean?
View 4 Replies it was over 100 degrees today in Lawrence, Kansas and on the way home from work, the air conditioner stopped making cool air. Hot air now comes out. This is a different problem that the poster before me seems to have. Mazda Protégé, 1996, 128,000 plus miles on it.
A reconditioned one was installed in 2006, compressor replaced in July, 2012.
1996 Mazda Protege air conditioner died today in the lovely 2nd week of Kansas heat wave of over 100 degrees each day. Was replaced in 2006.
What should be the approximate cost of the parts and labor to replace? Is it normal to have died after 8 years? It was a reconditioned one.
Car has 125,000 miles. Not sure if the brake fluid has ever been flushed, despite brake jobs in the past 5 years. I do not have the manual so not sure if it even addresses frequency of flushing the brake lines. None of the invoices mention it. Last checkup in Aprl recommends flushing brakes.
Lots of posts on Cartalk about flushing in general, but not anything for my Mazda 1996 Protege.
1996 Mazda Protege has 125,000 miles. Checkup this spring noted that the engine oil sensor was leaking, but did not note if a problem. I check the oil monthly with no problems with the oil going down. Many posts about engine oil pressure fixes, but none about leaking issues. What happens if I ignore the problem?
View 5 Replies1996 Mazda Protégé, 130,000 miles, squeaky sound coming from under the hood. Happens any time, whether I am moving or not. Should I be worried? Been going on for about 2 months.
View 4 Replies128,000 + miles... The lower climate control is physically hard to move like something is blocking it. However, the intensity control moves just fine. Both do their job of controlling the temperature/intensity, etc. Why might the lower control be hard to move? Can I fix it myself?
View 3 RepliesI have a 96 Mazda Protege DX. 1.5L engine, now with 161,000 miles. 5 speed manual transmission. I had it for 7 years. Originally bought it for $1900 with 121,000 miles.
This has been a problem for about 5 years. When I am at a red light or idling and I step on the brake, my idle gets rough and my engine feels like it is about to turn off. The idle does not bounce up and down. It just goes down to 400-500rpm from the normal 800-950rpm range.
Again, this only happens when I step on the brake while the car is not moving. It does not seem to happen when I coast in neutral and hit the brake to slow down. I raised the idle a bit, but it still does it. I could not find any vacuum leak around the brake booster and I know the brake booster works because I pumped my brakes while the car was off, and when I turn the car on, the brakes soften up.
Also, my brakes feel weak. I usually hit the brakes nearly to the floor board to stop the car. New pads, rotors are good. Brake fluid is at right level. Mechanics say nothing is wrong with my brakes.
Secondly, my belts screech at every start up. Lasts anywhere from 3-20 seconds. This has been happening for the entire 7 years I have owned the car. Mechanics replaced the serpentine belts twice in that time. Replaced a pulley and A/C compressor. I tried using WD40 but it doesn't effect it. Mechanics tell me that the belt tension is correct and they do not know why it still screeches.
1996 Mazda Protégé, 128,821 miles, in town driving 5000 miles per year in recent years.
I hit the frame of my garage door about 6 months or more ago which partially pulled off the front bumper area and knocked the right turn signal lens and headlight out of whack. My handyman fixed it up, by using good quality baling wire so the turn signal and headlight etc worked.
Then, I did the same thing a couple of weeks ago. (I was trying to avoid hitting my bicycle which I had just had reconditioned for an ungodly amount of money) My handyman is unavailable to fix it again. I have gotten stopped once by the police for the malfunctioning turn signal so it was time to get it fixed.
Mechanic (same one as previous posts) said it will cost 1500 to replace the bumper area etc so the front turn signals will work. He absolutely insisted that the turn signal wires cannot be reconnected. He reattached the bumper area "temporarily". I am willing to pay to get the turn signals functioning but do I need to replace the whole bumper assembly unit?
Does this seem plausible?? I just want the turn signals to work. I do not care about how it looks. (I drove the car in the interim with a bright yellow bungie cord holding the unit together)
A few months ago I got a CEL, the problem was a lean condition on bank 2. Since then, that problem has happened again two or three times. Yesterday, I got the CEL again and now it's showing lean on both banks. When it was just the single side, I was thinking MAF, but now it's both I'm thinking possibly the fuel pump. The only other thing of note which may affect it is that I'm 90% sure the thermostat has been stuck open for the last couple of years, which presumably affects the map being used, it does throw an "implausible coolant temperature reading" fairly regularly in cold weather.
View 8 RepliesI have a 2002 prius with 130,000 miles on her, and so far so good except for a small problem for the last three months, I get an intermittent P0171 code. I know it means Lean Condition in Bank 1. However, I can run the car for weeks without it coming on. If I go full throttle getting onto the highway for example it may come on, but even then its not all the time. Not sure why only full throttle. But if I drive her gently, I will never see the CEL at all.
Fuel economy is around the usual for me at 46-49 mpg with average speeds of 75-85 mph. I don't think its vacuum related.
2006 f-150 with a 4.6L. Its got 175k on the clock and ran like a sewing machine despite little maintenance other than oil changes. Recently it started running like crap; no power and missing so he borrowed a scanner and it was giving multiple codes. Here's what we have done so far, not necessarily in this order :
1.Checked for vac leaks with carb cleaner (this can be tough as engine runs crappy and hard to detect minor changes in rpms while your under the hood) no leaks detected yet
2. Changed the plugs, all looked good except for one which was heavily fouled and the electrode ate away mostly, I wasnt there and he doesnt remember which one but have a suspicion, more on that in a min
3. Changed most of the COPs and checked them all with a spark tester, all are firing.
4.Cleaned the MAF sensor with MAF cleaner
5. Checked back pressure on the exhaust by removing an upstream o2 sensor and holding a plastic fitting hooked to a pressure gage long enough to get a reading, about 1 lb idling to maybe 2 max when engine is reved, gage is not the best and fluctuates a 1/2 lb or so. Exhaust does not smell of rotten eggs.
6. Changed the fuel filter, it was terrible
7. Ran a bottle of Seafoam in the tank
8. Took the throttle body and egr valve off and checked for carbon stoppage, the holes in the egr were not blocked
9. checked the PVC valve and line and both elbows
7. checked the injector connectors with a noid light for signal, they all flash, checked the injectors them selves with a multimeter set for ohms, all about from 13.5-14.5. This should mean they arent fried but could they still be stopped up? They all sound like they are pumping when you listen with a mechanics stethoscope
9. Changed all 4 o2 sensors as this had never been done anyway
10. Compression check on cylinders, all within 10% of each other at about 180 lbs. When we pulled the plugs they all looked good except for # 7 which was heavily fouled ( I suspect the same on the original plugs) and again with a bad electrode, the part coming out of the porcelin. Intrestingly, this was an autolite plug, the rest were motorcraft, I hoped this was somehow just a bad plug but no change with a new MC plug
11. Changed the injector on #7
The scanner reads lean condition on banks 1 and 2 and random misfires on #4 and # 7 still. Per a troubleshooting tip online, we sprayed some carb cleaner in a small vac line coming off the manifold to induce a rich condition and the scanner showed the o2 sensors go to .900 which is what they are supposed to do per the guide. This means they are functioning correctly and a bonafide lean condition exists. I am leaning towards a vacuum leak around the plastic manifold under the aluminum one, maybe the gaskets but would like to rule out the egr valve, could it be the culprit?
I have even considered the possibility that the PCM is bad, though not likely. I have read to detect a vac leak you can hook the scanner up and spray the carb cleaner around on the manifold and lines with the scanner hooked up watching the scanner PID for the o2 sensors and when they detect the cleaner, they will hit that .800-1.0 meaning the engine sucked the cleaner in and you have found your leak. The exhaust smells rich. If it is a vac leak, you would think it should be a massive leak and not hard to detect, as crappy as the truck runs. I have searched the forums for days and exhausted about all I know to do.
Most important note: early on I suspected low fuel pressure as a possibility; with no schrader valve on the fuel rail and no easy spot to T into the system, we were scratching our heads how were gonna measure psi but the scanner reads absolute fuel rail pressure, gives about 40-43 psi. I hope the scanner is telling us what we need to know there, would prefer a mechanical gauge on the rail!
My 2000 ranger with the 3.0 is only getting around 10 or 11 mpg. It's got a check engine light on but the scanner just says lean condition. The truck also has a rough idle. I've replaced the fuel pressure regulator and fuel filter.
View 14 RepliesBrought home tonight a 2001 Ford Escape 3.0L 24 Valve V6. Bought it from a mechanic who's customer didn't want to put any more money into it. Has 185000 miles on it and it throwing the P0303 & P0171 codes. Cylinder 3 miss and Lean condition bank1.
Mechanic thinks it is a valve seat in the cylinder head next to the fire wall. Before I start replacing the cylinder heads with new remanufactured heads I plan on doing a compression test and leak down test.?
Have 2002 mazda protege 5 . During acceleration at 3000 rpm the engine hesitates. Computer said o2 sensor, replaced it but that wasn't it. Drilled out both catalytic, that wasn't it. Found hole in mass air flow tube, figured that is it. I haven't replaced that yet, however I used gorilla tape thinking it would be a temporary fix but that didn't work. I know I need to replace that tube, but think that it may now be a fuel pump issue??
View 5 RepliesI have a 1999 Mazda Protege. As of last summer it started giving me problems with not wanting to start after I had driven it around town for a little while. (IE: to the grocery store, to the bank and then to my sister's house. It wouldn't give me the same problem if I just went to the grocery store and back home. It would start up fine and I'd be on my way. Only when I went somewhere and shut it off then repeated that a couple more times.) I took it to a mechanic who wholeheartedly believed it was the coil packs not allowing my car to function properly.
So we replaced those and everything seemed on the up and up. (Keep in mind that this was towards the end of summer and the temperature was dropping.) The car was perfect all throughout the fall and winter, but now that the temperature outside is starting to rise again it's beginning to do the same thing it did last summer. I don't want to take it to another mechanic that's going to have me dish out an extravagant amount of money again only for the problem to persist.
2000 Mazda Protege ES 1.8L
What's a good way to find whats the cause of all the rattling and knocking in the front end of my car when going over uneven terrain? It seems that noise appears only if one of the wheels is lifted up a little bit. I am attaching a picture describing the "motion" here:
Steering wheel doesn't shake when driving at high speeds and is fairly stiff, but it does pull to the right a bit, maybe because I didn't perform a front end alignment (I know this is not good) after I had most of the stuff in the suspension of the replaced; all 4 struts + boots + mounting blocks, ball joints, control arms...
Now the only part, I didn't replace was the sway bar link on the passenger side and it's being knocking for 3 years. The one on the driver side was replaced at the time the struts were replaced but I didn't have enough money to pay for the other one.
Another mechanic told me when I was quoting that sway bar links aren't really necessary as a safety feature, and a google search showed me that there are people that just take the sway bar off the car, so I left it there and just tried to live with the noise. now I am noticing the driver side is knocking as well, and I am wondering if it has to do with because I didn't replace the one in the passenger side?
I just want to rule out the possibility of another component being the cause of the noise because I am prioritizing safety over ride comfort in my attempts to save some money.
I read here that some tire noise can be caused by bad belts. How do you know if the tire belt is bad? My tires get loud between 20 and 40 mph. Mechanic says the tires are OK but to replace them to get rid of the noise.
View 7 RepliesBasically, my car (2002 Mazda Protege) has been acting like my brakes are engaged. Not all the time, though - The first time I get out and drive it, it drives smooth as silk like always. But then after I put it in park and then get back in and head out (I'm a delivery driver, so this is constant), sometimes it feels like the brakes are constantly being pressed. No, the emergency brake is not on. Most of the time it's almost not even noticeable so, like an idiot, I put it off for the past week. But today, it was very, very, very bad. I was having to press the gas to the floor to get up to speed, and then it was constantly trying to slow down. My brakes were definitely getting burned up while it was doing this, but luckily it stopped.
It may be unrelated - I know I have an oil leak, but today I saw a very unusual spot where something leaked out in my driveway. I checked my oil, and it was where I expected it to be, but this was a relatively large stain which would be very unlike my current leak.
Started my car yesterday and as I was accelerating, it made a very loud noise. It sounds like normal engine acceleration noise, only ten times louder. It was present whenever I accelerated, but not when I was coasting or idling, and not when the car was in neutral. (It's a stick shift.) During acceleration, there was a little hesitation and a little jerkiness, but not horrible. The problem came on suddenly - no problems with the car before yesterday.
View 4 RepliesMy Mazda 1996 Protege appears to have no alternator, but there is something called a generator. Are they the same thing?
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