2003 intake shutter valve emission recall 3005C

[c4racer]

Has anybody made a successful claim against this TSB recently?

http://www.protegefaq.net/tsb/

It was dated December 2005. Of course I never got the notice and am the original owner and have lived in the same address since buying this car.

I have a Protege5 mfg on 8-03 which is 3 days outside the range of this recall.

Recently I swapped the motor for a 40K mile Japanese take-out due to a headgasket failure on the original 120K mile motor.

Ran fine when i first installed it, then after 50 miles picked up a miss at idle. I traced that miss to a hammered shut spark plug in Cylinder #4 (furthest on drivers side). From some searching I have seen others with the same issue and the two I have read about so far both saw this happen on Cylinder #4. Which seems like too much of a coincidence. From what I read the screws from this shutter valve can fall down into the piston chamber and then contact the spark plug. I can only imagine what other damage having a little screw ratting around in the combustion chamber could cause.

So when they do this recall - do they make sure they retrieve the screw that fell out too?

Could anything else be causing this issue? I don't want to pay the dealer to tear the motor down just to do troubleshooting because that would get expensive. But if I can get them to enact this recall seems that would be a good place to start on my issue and may prove to be the cause.

Any other experiences out there?

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Lots......search on recall or VICS. They replace the whole intake or head/block if it "screwed" up the motor.

 

[jdmdikk]

u can call the dealer and give them your vin and they will tell u if there was a recall on your car.they will replace the parts 4 free..i am having idle issues with my p5 and it had the recall performed like 4 yrs ago.i wonder if its my dam shutter valve

 

[Stickman]

As to your question on finding screw & internal damage:
Part failed about 3 yrs ago. I only drove it about 1 mile before having it towed in, so less probable internal damage.
Dealer mech didn't find missing screw; said it possibly blew past exhaust valve.
He also said that soft metal brass screw would probably cause minimal if any damage as compared to hardened piston, valve, etc., although could mess up a spark plug. Didn't know enough at the time to question further.
Luckily, 80K miles later, no noticable issues.
Hope they honor recall, good luck.
S

 

[c4racer]

As to your question on finding screw & internal damage:
Part failed about 3 yrs ago. I only drove it about 1 mile before having it towed in, so less probable internal damage.
Dealer mech didn't find missing screw; said it possibly blew past exhaust valve.
He also said that soft metal brass screw would probably cause minimal if any damage as compared to hardened piston, valve, etc., although could mess up a spark plug. Didn't know enough at the time to question further.
Luckily, 80K miles later, no noticable issues.
Hope they honor recall, good luck.
S

Thanks. I will check with the dealer to see if they will do the recall. According to the build date and the notice the car is 3 days out of date, but that might be close enough. I am going to go down there in person to talk to them as I think that would be more effective than over the phone.

I did some fishing today and did not find the screw. I used a magnet and a high powered shop vac funneled down to a tube that fit inside the spark plug hole. I cranked the motor and repeated this 3 times and got nothing. So seems to me there is a good chance the screw has flown the coupe into the exhaust. I plan to replace the plug since it is also fouled from running almost closed and drive the car around to see if this happens again. But I guess if the dealer will do the recall I would bring it straight to them and get that done first. If not I guess I am going to need to pull the intake and secure those screws with loctite.

 

[c4racer]

so it turns out that I used the wrong plugs.... Awhile back I got the wrong plugs from the auto parts store but never ended up returning them. so the pack was sitting on my parts shelf in the garage. When I went to install the plugs I ended up grabbing the wrong set and somehow didn't notice the PN - I have changed them enough times now to know it by memory.

Sure enough - I measured and the plugs I installed were just over .25" longer. Also probably a colder plug since it is the one for the Mazdaspeed turbo motor. Oops. So I replaced all 4 and it runs just fine now. I guess it wasn't that loose screw issue after-all, but mechanic error on my part. I will still follow up with the dealer to see if they will do the recall, but it is less of a concern now since there is no reason to believe the screws are coming off the butterflies inside the manifold.

I drove it to work and all seems fine. The idle is not as smooth as I think it could be, but it is hard to remember just what it was like since I have not driven the car much. Could be pretty normal for this engine. I do have new coils on order so maybe that will clean things up a bit. I also may swap out the O2 sensor just for good measure, although it smogged very clean even with the wrong plugs so that may not make any difference.

(silly)

 

[sube]

so it turns out that I used the wrong plugs.... Awhile back I got the wrong plugs from the auto parts store but never ended up returning them. so the pack was sitting on my parts shelf in the garage. When I went to install the plugs I ended up grabbing the wrong set and somehow didn't notice the PN - I have changed them enough times now to know it by memory.

Sure enough - I measured and the plugs I installed were just over .25" longer. Also probably a colder plug since it is the one for the Mazdaspeed turbo motor. Oops. So I replaced all 4 and it runs just fine now. I guess it wasn't that loose screw issue after-all, but mechanic error on my part. I will still follow up with the dealer to see if they will do the recall, but it is less of a concern now since there is no reason to believe the screws are coming off the butterflies inside the manifold.

I drove it to work and all seems fine. The idle is not as smooth as I think it could be, but it is hard to remember just what it was like since I have not driven the car much. Could be pretty normal for this engine. I do have new coils on order so maybe that will clean things up a bit. I also may swap out the O2 sensor just for good measure, although it smogged very clean even with the wrong plugs so that may not make any difference.

(silly)

It all may be a moot point anyway since you don't have the origional motor in the car, instead you have installes a used motor.

Pat.

 

[c4racer]

It all may be a moot point anyway since you don't have the origional motor in the car, instead you have installes a used motor.

Pat.

The intake and all external components were swapped from the original motor. Only the longblock was changed. Since the issue is related to the manifold itself, it would still be 100% applicable in my case.

 

[jdiscep]

More on Intake Manifold Shutter Valve recall 3005c

November 12, 2010

This "Intake Manifold Shutter Valve" recall problem is still out there. If you are the owner of a 2003 Mazda Protege and you VIN # is within range of the recall, I urge you to have your the Intake Manifold REPLACED, ASAP. Here is our experience with the 2003 Protege we bought in late July 2010.

Currently, I'm having a hell of a time trying to get Mazda to honor the recall. When my son first bought the car, he checked the internet for recalls on the car. Finding out that there were open recalls, he scheduled an appointment to have the car serviced at the local Mazda dealer, which is Turnersville Mazda in New Jersey.

Apparently, this dealership, or Mazda in general, do not understand the severity of this recall issue. What they do when they encounter a car within the VIN # range is to check the engine compression. If the compression numbers are found to be within the recommended range, they simply slap a recall sticker under the hood. Not knowing any better, my son was happy he had it looked into.

Last week ( 11/1/2010 ) my son who is away at school now, calls me and tells me he went to start the car and suddenly he's hearing a funny noise from the engine. He immediately shut the car off and called me about it. I told him not to start the car and I'd be around to check on it. NOt hearing this funny noise, I was thinking it was the timing belt since it has about 107K on it now. The car had about 105K on it when he bought itback in late July.

Anyway, when I got over there to check the car, immediately I knew something else was very wrong other than the timing belt and had the car towed to the performance shop a couple of blocks away from my son's school. Thank God for AAA. They looked into the problem and while investigating, they noticed the recall sticker under the hood. From there the performance shop called the local Mazda dealer near him and found out about the recall. From there, he did some research on the internet which led him to look in the area of the intake manifold where he found "play in the shaft" to the left of the intake. At that point he realizied what the problem was and recommended I take the car to a Mazda dealer. From there, I had the car towed to John Kennedy Mazda in Pottstown, Pa, not far from where my son goes to school. Again, Thank God for AAA.

I showed the Service Manager at Kennedy Mazda the "play in the shaft" to the left of the intake manifold and asked them to investigate the possiblity of the screws falling inside the intake and getting sucked into the engine.

They ended up using a borescope to look inside the cylinders where they found "squirrely marks on the # 1 and #3 cylinder walls. At this point the Service Manager agreed it was part of the recall and that they would replace the engine. But first he would have to get the approval oh his local Rep.

The next day I got a call from the Service Manager saying " Unfortunately, ..." they could not replace the engine since the Rep had decided that since the recall was completed back in August, at Turnersville Mazda, there is no problem.

Now I've got a useless car since the engine is ruined and I'm stuck talking to the Mazda Customer Assistance line ( 1 -800 - 222 - 5500 ) trying to get them to do the right thing, and honor the recall. Does anyone have any suggestions or experience with trying to get Mazda to back their product? I'm hoping this doesn't end up going to small claims court.

 

[tweety2300]

I would call another dealship 100 or so miles away with a different rep some mazda dealerships are dicks some work with you and do their jobs just gota get the right one and if not sue them to fix it and pay u for the hassel its mazda they gots money

 

[P-Funk!]

If all else fails...

Put new plugs in and fix the screws on the intake manifold. It may drive fine after that... (do not just 'write off the car')

Keep the reciept for the work and keep try ing to get Mazda to make it good.

I hope you prevail.

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

I would think there'd be a way to tell that the original intake is still on the car and that would prove that they just did compression test and slapped a sticker on it instead of replacing the intake like they should have to begin with. The dealership replaced my intake way back when but no sticker was ever put on it. If the receipt you have doesn't say intake replaced then it's on Mazda to complete the recall and replace motor at this point. Hope it works out for OP.

 

[aayers]

My uncle just bought an '03 Mazda Protege DS. One of the screws came loose and went into the engine so that it was crushed flat. It also made the engine blow up. There are now huge holes in the side of the engine and he had to buy a new one. What we're wondering is, has anyone taken off these screws and butterfly caps and not have the sensor go off? We're thinking either that or get a 626 intake manifold and swap that out with the Protege's intake manifold.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Just remove VTCS butterflies and use red loctite on the bigger VICS butterflies. The VICS are the ones the screws were falling out of. VTCS is just useless clutter and noise as well as flow restriction to a point. The 626 intake will cause loss of low end pwr on non turboed cars.

 

[jmills0811]

I'm curious if Mazda ended up honoring the recall. I'm going through the same problem right now. I have had my 03 Pro5 since 2004. I brought it into a dealership for "recall service" on March 5, 2005.

6 years later, my engine stalls, CEL light keeps coming on, no one can figure out what it going on with it. Finally take it to the Dealership and they find a screw in the combustion chamber. Clearly the recall work was not performed. I have a file open with Mazda, but haven't heard back. So far I've paid $600 for repairs, and the vehicle is at the Dealership again for CEL codes related to this issue.

I cannot afford to be without a vehicle and hope they will honor their recall, especially since one of their Dealers was deceitful and did not properly fix the issue.

November 12, 2010

This "Intake Manifold Shutter Valve" recall problem is still out there. If you are the owner of a 2003 Mazda Protege and you VIN # is within range of the recall, I urge you to have your the Intake Manifold REPLACED, ASAP. Here is our experience with the 2003 Protege we bought in late July 2010.

Currently, I'm having a hell of a time trying to get Mazda to honor the recall. When my son first bought the car, he checked the internet for recalls on the car. Finding out that there were open recalls, he scheduled an appointment to have the car serviced at the local Mazda dealer, which is Turnersville Mazda in New Jersey.

Apparently, this dealership, or Mazda in general, do not understand the severity of this recall issue. What they do when they encounter a car within the VIN # range is to check the engine compression. If the compression numbers are found to be within the recommended range, they simply slap a recall sticker under the hood. Not knowing any better, my son was happy he had it looked into.

Last week ( 11/1/2010 ) my son who is away at school now, calls me and tells me he went to start the car and suddenly he's hearing a funny noise from the engine. He immediately shut the car off and called me about it. I told him not to start the car and I'd be around to check on it. NOt hearing this funny noise, I was thinking it was the timing belt since it has about 107K on it now. The car had about 105K on it when he bought itback in late July.

Anyway, when I got over there to check the car, immediately I knew something else was very wrong other than the timing belt and had the car towed to the performance shop a couple of blocks away from my son's school. Thank God for AAA. They looked into the problem and while investigating, they noticed the recall sticker under the hood. From there the performance shop called the local Mazda dealer near him and found out about the recall. From there, he did some research on the internet which led him to look in the area of the intake manifold where he found "play in the shaft" to the left of the intake. At that point he realizied what the problem was and recommended I take the car to a Mazda dealer. From there, I had the car towed to John Kennedy Mazda in Pottstown, Pa, not far from where my son goes to school. Again, Thank God for AAA.

I showed the Service Manager at Kennedy Mazda the "play in the shaft" to the left of the intake manifold and asked them to investigate the possiblity of the screws falling inside the intake and getting sucked into the engine.

They ended up using a borescope to look inside the cylinders where they found "squirrely marks on the # 1 and #3 cylinder walls. At this point the Service Manager agreed it was part of the recall and that they would replace the engine. But first he would have to get the approval oh his local Rep.

The next day I got a call from the Service Manager saying " Unfortunately, ..." they could not replace the engine since the Rep had decided that since the recall was completed back in August, at Turnersville Mazda, there is no problem.

Now I've got a useless car since the engine is ruined and I'm stuck talking to the Mazda Customer Assistance line ( 1 -800 - 222 - 5500 ) trying to get them to do the right thing, and honor the recall. Does anyone have any suggestions or experience with trying to get Mazda to back their product? I'm hoping this doesn't end up going to small claims court.

 

[Kunjon22]

Are there any Class Action Lawsuits going on about this problem?

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Doubting it..........

 

[atarihero]

Interesting thread. This is the first I've heard of this. But I had very similar issues. I was hearing a rattle in the engine for a while, and the engine seemed to be losing compression when I accelerated.

First, they found a mashed screw in the engine. They removed it. Charged me a few hundred dollars to replace the spark plugs (which I had just replaced), and sent me on my way. I felt lucky that the engine was still running, and thought that maybe it was the fault of whomever changed the spark plugs the first time (a Pep boys dealership).

But this did not solve the acceleration problem. The check engine light kept going on and off, and the car started getting very jerky when I tried to accelerate. I brought the car back and it was a cracked / broken air intake valve.
Is this the same problem? How do I find this recall? I'm the only owner of this Mazda Protege 5, 2003... and it only has 80k miles on it, but it's starting to cost me a few hundred dollars a month, just to maintain it!

 

[atarihero]

Checking my VIN number... I did, indeed, fall into this recall. The damage has been done, and I spent some $600 - $800 dealing with this issue, and my engine likely has some damage as a result.... I wonder if there's anything I can do about it.

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Interesting thread. This is the first I've heard of this. But I had very similar issues. I was hearing a rattle in the engine for a while, and the engine seemed to be losing compression when I accelerated.

First, they found a mashed screw in the engine. They removed it. Charged me a few hundred dollars to replace the spark plugs (which I had just replaced), and sent me on my way. I felt lucky that the engine was still running, and thought that maybe it was the fault of whomever changed the spark plugs the first time (a Pep boys dealership).

But this did not solve the acceleration problem. The check engine light kept going on and off, and the car started getting very jerky when I tried to accelerate. I brought the car back and it was a cracked / broken air intake valve.
Is this the same problem? How do I find this recall? I'm the only owner of this Mazda Protege 5, 2003... and it only has 80k miles on it, but it's starting to cost me a few hundred dollars a month, just to maintain it!

The secondary thing sounds like rubber accordion cracked intake tubing between the filter box and throttle body. Not seeing how the IAC would get cracked.

Checking my VIN number... I did, indeed, fall into this recall. The damage has been done, and I spent some $600 - $800 dealing with this issue, and my engine likely has some damage as a result.... I wonder if there's anything I can do about it.

You might but expect you would have to do much pushing in some miraculous way to get anything done at this late date but they did replace some engines that this issue blew up. I would still go for it. Can't hurt to ask/demand in a non-violent manner and see where it gets you.