Wow, wish I had joined this forum before I started the job. The fuel pump issue appears to be a common problem in the proteges. Was there ever a recall? I am thinking there should have been. I picked up my 2002 Mazda Protege5 about a month ago for booting back and forth to work (just under a hundred kms round trip). Got it for $2400 fully certified and e-tested with 209,000 kms on it. Not two days after driving it, got that pungent odor of good old gasoline. Of course all of the garages are saying right off the bat, 'It will be a $700 job', without investigating. Then one fine gentleman advised me of the trap door under the back seat, and there it was, a leaky pump. Like the previous posts, I spotted very corroded machine screws. I could not find bolt extractors small enough and was not sure what route to take. But then on good old Kijiji, i found a shifter knob, antenna and complete gas tank for $40. At least I could experiment with the tank and pump housing. I used a drill bit, slightly smaller than the bolt head and drilled down till the head popped off (on all 8 bolts) removed the pump assembly and removed the rest of the bolt with miniature vice grips which worked great (a little trickier going through the trap door on the attched tank). Found some longer stainless steel bolts at Brafascos, which is a fastener supply store here in Canada, and used 4 small washers on each. Plastered them in anti-seize like someone else did on here for future work. Used two small flat heat screw drivers to remove the fuel lines. Used a thin film of insta-gasget on the rubber seal. And everything worked fine for a couple of weeks, but now, low and behold, the issue is back but am well prepared to replace with a much newer part.
Does anyone know exactly what leaks in the assembly?
Is it the same place each time?
Is aftermarket a better plan?
Will this cost me $300?
thanks
Rob