Another Protege5 thread

[LankyKiwi]

Donor car is definitely the way to go even for the teeny little things elsewhere on the car

Be careful of the slippery slope though, I pulled my engine out to tidy it up and it was just under a year before it was running again

 

[jadycr]

Thats true, i think i’m going to replace the seal and get a feel for how removing the trans before i do anything big like a swap, especially so i’m not in a rush to swap it because i would definitely forget something. and i don’t want to be in a rush to buy a donor car. for now i think i’m gonna pull the trans, and paint it to match the valve cover, maybe do engine mounts while i’m at it and other maintenance while i’m in there but after a lot of thinking it’s not something i want to rush and my main problem is an oil leak not the type of transmission i have. i think i have a good plan for it, it’s just not what my car needs right now.
also that’s money spent for something other than a turbo.

 

[jadycr]

one fancy update, my and my buddy fixed a leak or two in my headliner and while it was out we put the roof rack rails back in, they’re definitely better looking in my opinion, and we put some new fabric on it, i wanted some soft suede, and the diamonds are a different style than the other interior bits, but it came out damn good, i’ll be painting the sun visors and handles today to finish the job.

 

[Blue Pro5]

Damn that looks nice, well done with the headliner.

 

[LankyKiwi]

Daaaaaang that looks good!
How did you attach the fabric, spray glue?

 

[jadycr]

Daaaaaang that looks good!
How did you attach the fabric, spray glue?

yeah just that 3m headliner stuff

need some help.
pulled transmission this weekend and replaced the rear main seal. replaced motor mounts and changed oil too. everything looked perfect as it was reinstalling and it went well. triple checked everything. i got the car driving today and discovered that it’s still leaking as bad if not worse than before. while i’m sure it’s the rear main i would like for someone to tell me that i left a bolt loose and i don’t have to take the transmission out again. it was fun and my friends and i had a nice weekend doing it but damn i am sore and not looking forward to it. is there anything i could be missing? everything was perfect going in and it wasn’t a thought in my mind that it wouldn’t work. its also now leaking from the ”front“ of the block near where the motor mount by the radiator is. any advice is appreciated

 

[jadycr]

does anyone have or know where i can find a relatively simple diagram of the mbsp and how and where it seals? it’s starting to look like that’s where it’s coming from. it’s starting to (appear) to leak from an area outside of the where transaxle/engine meet and i think it might be the mbsp. i’ll attach an image of the front of the engine, you can see the bellhousing that i painted purple and it’s coming from the seam on the engine on what looks like both sides. id love some help on this, i would hate to pull the trans again just for it to continue leaking

 

[jadycr]

back at it

 

[GTXT23]

Interesting , never owned a Protege' - the exhaust manifold is on the front side -- with the threes it went to the back -Nice work --bet it runs great !

 

[jadycr]

thanks! it should be when i’m done fixing this leak. i wonder why its flipped, id think it would’ve been cheaper to have a shorter exhaust pipe that runs closer to the rear

 

[GTXT23]

thanks! it should be when i’m done fixing this leak. i wonder why its flipped, id think it would’ve been cheaper to have a shorter exhaust pipe that runs closer to the rear

Yeah , Mazda obviously agreed- all Maz now have rear exh mani's - ( on inline 4)
but Ive seen many japanese inline 4s that had it in front ...accord etc - great reliable cars. ~ and to this day I cant find a mechanic or engineer that can give me the answer- Ive had to replace many valve cover seals from the heat rise from rear exh mani on my 3s - but it would seem cooling would be better if its in front ?
Keep up the great work -
im sure it will pay off !

 

[jadycr]

Yeah , Mazda obviously agreed- all Maz now have rear exh mani's - ( on inline 4)
but Ive seen many japanese inline 4s that had it in front ...accord etc - great reliable cars. ~ and to this day I cant find a mechanic or engineer that can give me the answer- Ive had to replace many valve cover seals from the heat rise from rear exh mani on my 3s - but it would seem cooling would be better if its in front ?
Keep up the great work -
im sure it will pay off !

thanks, its paying off! car stopped leaking (for the most part, still a slight leak but nothing worth pulling the transmission again) and is running and driving great, but maybe the heat is the reason, it would be kept lots cooler in the front and they could’ve switched it around to keep the intake manifold cooler for the later cars?

 

[jadycr]

does anyone know anything about the difference in the sport shift vs the base auto? instead of putting a manual in here it could just be easier and probably more practical to just swap the shifter into here, i’ve heard the transmissions are the same and it’s just shifter/cluster/ecu and dash harness, and if that’s all there is to it, i might go try to start finding some parts for it. and about cluster swaps, is there any way to retain the mileage on the swap or is it even necessary for the sport shift?

 

[jadycr]

well well well, i just bought a turbo. after talking to a couple transmission shops and lentech (who doesn’t make any parts anymore) i’ve had some good info on how to do this right. the smart way to do this would be to pop a manual in which is easier said than done, but after pulling my transmission twice, i have some hope that i could pull it off. i have a couple questions: i’ve read that the stock automatic ecu can handle 4psi of boost, i’ve only heard one person say this, but the author of the thread seems to know what he’s talking about. from the transmission shops i’ve talked to, the auto would only be smart to keep at or under 4psi. the transmission is rated for 270 ft/lbs of torque after the torque converter doubles it. this means that 135 ft/lbs of torque is the most that the transmission is rated for and that’s what the fsde makes with no boost. if anyone has any proof that the ecu can handle 4psi please let me know. and do i need an intercooler if i’m only using that much boost? is there any risk to just going for it? is there any transmission upgrades i can do to make sure it’s going to survive even the smallest of boost? aftermarket transmission cooler? for tuning should i use a fmu and o2 clamp? what about emissions testing with the precat removed, i can do spark plug non foulers but would it pass a visual inspection? and should i look into final drive gears? my auto shop teacher told me to sell the turbo and buy a lower ratio final drive but that sounds like less gain for more work. the turbo is going in this car even if it does next to nothing, and if my transmission blows then i’ll do a manual swap. this threads been pretty dead but id like some help deciding what to do here, i did a lot of research and thinking before i bought it and now that i have i’m hearing that i’m going to be going into a much bigger project than i signed up for. ive sifted through so much info and there’s just nothing that gives me a solid answer. if it comes down to manual swapping then i’ll go to the junkyard and start getting my kit together. the turbo isn’t going to go on for a while, so i have time to prepare my car for it.

 

[LankyKiwi]

What's your end goal for the car and for going turbo?

Do you want to go fast/make power?, do you want the challenge of doing something different? do you want street cred for the sweet sweet turbo noises?

IMO that's the main question, and that'll drive decisions on just about everything on a big project like this. Having a goal in mind helps with motivation when getting through the boring stuff too.

A boosted auto is breaking new ground (Or, it hasn't been done for a loooong time) so there's going to be lots of questions that'll only be answered by building the thing and seeing what breaks. Who knows the gearbox might be OK with your particular driving style, something else might be the weak link, or it might be a bulletproof combination that works really well That's part of the fun and the challenge

4psi isn't going to do much apart from make noise, a teeny tiny intercooler would be enough (look at the small factory intercooler on the mazdaspeed cars running 6psi) if you even bother with one at all. An extra trans cooler probably isn't a bad idea. Emissions stuff will depend on your state/ local rules. I don't think there's any aftermarket parts for the auto box at all, even manual parts are hard to find.

Hopefully that's not too much of a downer. New and different projects are always interesting to see and a mildly built auto pro5 would be a sweet cruiser I reckon

 

[jadycr]

i honestly just want a little more power from my car, and those turbo sounds! i’m thinking if the transmission goes, then i’ll put a manual into it. hopefully it won’t come to that but if anything i’m glad the transmission is the weak link instead of the engine. the turbo is scheduled to be delivered today and then i’m going to mock up some piping and oil lines this week. i’m hoping the ecu can handle 4psi but if it can’t then i’ll just stick the waste gate open and figure out how to get more fuel past the ecu. i drive my car hard and it sees 6k rpm almost every drive. i’m worried about the gearbox but maybe it’ll hold.

 

[LankyKiwi]

i honestly just want a little more power from my car, and those turbo sounds! i’m thinking if the transmission goes, then i’ll put a manual into it. hopefully it won’t come to that but if anything i’m glad the transmission is the weak link instead of the engine. the turbo is scheduled to be delivered today and then i’m going to mock up some piping and oil lines this week. i’m hoping the ecu can handle 4psi but if it can’t then i’ll just stick the waste gate open and figure out how to get more fuel past the ecu. i drive my car hard and it sees 6k rpm almost every drive. i’m worried about the gearbox but maybe it’ll hold.

Good solid goals! It'll be a fun cruiser, though you are probably best to start collecting manual bits asap

I'd definitely look at some fuel management for the long term. From memory the factory tune gets incredibly lean at high RPM (Or rich, cant remember exactly, it definitely swings from one extreme to the other)

 

[jadycr]

yeah! money isn’t permitting much of anything right now so itll be a momth or two of the turbo sitting on my desk before it gets out to use, and a manual swap is definitely on my to do list but it’s nothing i’m looking forward to.

i talked to bazooka joe a few months ago and he said he ran a begi fmu and an o2 clamp and it worked damn good for his auto. i’m thinking i’ll do something similar.

 

[jadycr]

thinking about removing the throttle body coolant line and using it for the turbo. i live in salt lake city, is it too cold here for me to risk taking the coolant lines off? i imagine the turbo would heat the air above freezing anyways. and i have the silicon coolant t, is that the return? what coolant lines will i need to run?

 

[jadycr]

i’m going to get a new oil pan and weld a fitting into my old one soon, is there any reason i should look for a mazda speed mbsp? those two bolts in the bell housing are telling me i shouldn’t..