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- 2003.5 Mazdaspeed Protege, 1989 MX6, 1990 MX6
Hi all,
Two days ago a bought a very nice MSP 2003.5. It's silver, and it only has 133k miles on it. It is 100% stock. The guy I bought it from said he was the second owner, and only owned it for a year. He bought it frrom the original owner a year ago, and he had the carfax to back that up. It felt great on the test drive. It has a CEL on, that I haven't had time to read yet. The previous owner claims it only comes on after filling up with ethanol gas instead of non-ethanol. The car drives beautifully, and I'm in my second day of work commute of 120 Miles a day round-trip. If I had to guess, the CEL is probably an O2 sensor or EGR; or else something emissions related. This is the newest vehicle I've ever owned (I highly dislike anything newer than say, 2007) and I know these OBDII vehicles have a code for just about everything.
I should also mention this is the first turbo vehicle I've ever owned, so I do expect it to be a learning experience.
I did a bit of research before buying it but all in all it was an impulse buy. I absolutely love the car, and regardless I plan on keeping it. It will be my daily driver, I don't plan on doing any heavy mods to it or making any type of big power. The largest mod I can see doing to it is an FMIC, and ECU. I have far too many other projects I can do that with.
Since I bought it I've done a bit more extensive research. I've learned that the LSD most likely will break. This is the biggest thing I'm worried about. Given the MSP's unpopularity, there isn't a plethora of info on it, not even a simple FAQ like there is for 1st gen probes and MX6s. I assume I should replace the LSD with a better one sooner than later. But I've got no idea on what to get or where to get it.
The second thing that concerns me, I read that it runs ridiculously rich. I don't like what I'm hearing about that given my driving style and how much I do actually drive. I already have to replace the plugs in my MX6 every 4-6 months. If the car is running rich I'll probably have to do it every 1 or 2 months with my commute. I've read about aftermarket ECUs or a piggyback (being honest I have no idea what a piggyback is). Again I'm not looking for power, just reliability. In the long I'd like the car to run like Mazda built it the correct way. I'm not quite sure what that entitles just yet.
The last thing that concerns me is the noise of the suspension. Drive-ability, the thing feels great. I drive a mountain pass for my commute to work (4th of July pass in Idaho) and this thing corners better than my old Z32.
BUT it sounds like I'm driving my 88 alltrac camry with blown struts and broken axles. My research leads that this is normal and common. Not the biggest issue ever but I'd definitely like it to not sound like a squeaky bucket as I'm driving down the road lol. I can't find too much info on how to fix this. A couple older threads referencing some new bushings but no links to what they actually are called or where to get them.
I have no idea what the previous owners ran for oil, but I'll probably get 10w30 synthetic royal purple to be safe.
The OE sparkplugs are NGK platinum, I see people recommend that we use copper instead. So I'll probably end up doing that on my next paycheck since I've got no idea when the last time it was done being I've only owned it 48 hours.
All in all, I know I am going to love this car. I love the way it drives. I like the way it looks, I like that it isn't a stationwagon like the MS3 is. And I like that it's probably the only one I'll see in a given year. I'm not one to drive what everyone else does. Its sort rare which is a lot of why I'm intrigued by it. The only other car that I would be happier to have is an ST185 alltrac/GTfour celica which are arguably just as quirky if not more, than these are.
I apologize for rambling on so much. But if you did take the time to read, I definitely appreciate any knowledge you fellow MSP owners have to offer me.
Two days ago a bought a very nice MSP 2003.5. It's silver, and it only has 133k miles on it. It is 100% stock. The guy I bought it from said he was the second owner, and only owned it for a year. He bought it frrom the original owner a year ago, and he had the carfax to back that up. It felt great on the test drive. It has a CEL on, that I haven't had time to read yet. The previous owner claims it only comes on after filling up with ethanol gas instead of non-ethanol. The car drives beautifully, and I'm in my second day of work commute of 120 Miles a day round-trip. If I had to guess, the CEL is probably an O2 sensor or EGR; or else something emissions related. This is the newest vehicle I've ever owned (I highly dislike anything newer than say, 2007) and I know these OBDII vehicles have a code for just about everything.
I should also mention this is the first turbo vehicle I've ever owned, so I do expect it to be a learning experience.
I did a bit of research before buying it but all in all it was an impulse buy. I absolutely love the car, and regardless I plan on keeping it. It will be my daily driver, I don't plan on doing any heavy mods to it or making any type of big power. The largest mod I can see doing to it is an FMIC, and ECU. I have far too many other projects I can do that with.
Since I bought it I've done a bit more extensive research. I've learned that the LSD most likely will break. This is the biggest thing I'm worried about. Given the MSP's unpopularity, there isn't a plethora of info on it, not even a simple FAQ like there is for 1st gen probes and MX6s. I assume I should replace the LSD with a better one sooner than later. But I've got no idea on what to get or where to get it.
The second thing that concerns me, I read that it runs ridiculously rich. I don't like what I'm hearing about that given my driving style and how much I do actually drive. I already have to replace the plugs in my MX6 every 4-6 months. If the car is running rich I'll probably have to do it every 1 or 2 months with my commute. I've read about aftermarket ECUs or a piggyback (being honest I have no idea what a piggyback is). Again I'm not looking for power, just reliability. In the long I'd like the car to run like Mazda built it the correct way. I'm not quite sure what that entitles just yet.
The last thing that concerns me is the noise of the suspension. Drive-ability, the thing feels great. I drive a mountain pass for my commute to work (4th of July pass in Idaho) and this thing corners better than my old Z32.
BUT it sounds like I'm driving my 88 alltrac camry with blown struts and broken axles. My research leads that this is normal and common. Not the biggest issue ever but I'd definitely like it to not sound like a squeaky bucket as I'm driving down the road lol. I can't find too much info on how to fix this. A couple older threads referencing some new bushings but no links to what they actually are called or where to get them.
I have no idea what the previous owners ran for oil, but I'll probably get 10w30 synthetic royal purple to be safe.
The OE sparkplugs are NGK platinum, I see people recommend that we use copper instead. So I'll probably end up doing that on my next paycheck since I've got no idea when the last time it was done being I've only owned it 48 hours.
All in all, I know I am going to love this car. I love the way it drives. I like the way it looks, I like that it isn't a stationwagon like the MS3 is. And I like that it's probably the only one I'll see in a given year. I'm not one to drive what everyone else does. Its sort rare which is a lot of why I'm intrigued by it. The only other car that I would be happier to have is an ST185 alltrac/GTfour celica which are arguably just as quirky if not more, than these are.
I apologize for rambling on so much. But if you did take the time to read, I definitely appreciate any knowledge you fellow MSP owners have to offer me.