Recent content by jeff1954

I recently completed my third timing belt replacement job, my first on my 2002 Protege5. I started in mid-November, at 117,898 miles, and completed on February 5th. I also drive a 1991 Nissan 300ZX, so there was no time pressure. Lotsa honey-do's, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and...

I just replaced mine. Started in November, finished on February 5th (also drive a 1991 Nissan 300ZX, my mission spare). My P5 had 117,898. The original belt could have easily gone 10 ~ 20k miles longer. All the teeth were still intact, no broken or frayed threads, even the white part number...

Clean your inspection mirror & grab your flashlight. Inspect the rubber air intake tube that clamps to your MAF and feeds air to the throttle valve, paying particular attention to the flexible, accordion-like section in the middle. Look for cracks in the rubber. If there are any, it will cause...

Make sure you have a good seal on the radiator cap. If it's the original, replace it. That little rubber seal inside the cap is very critical to proper cooling system operation. I'd be surprised if the dealership re-used your original on the new radiator, but then again ? ? I once had a...

Any Mazda P5 owners have a problem with the front end strongly pulling to the right, all the time ? I've been through 4 complete alignments since I bought my P5 in July of '05 and it's never been cured. The car only has 70k mileage. It's not as bad with a full gas tank or some weight in the left...