Hi , im new and have questiosn

[popwar]

i dont have my MSP YET , but have a few questions . i currently have a 2000 eclipse gt manual with 123k miles . i found a 2003 mazdaspeed protege on craigslist and was going to trade . he said just needs a strut bushing and sumtn about the turbo chip rev limiter it stops when up near 7k rpms which i dont think im gonna be going up that high anyways . mazda told him they are the only ones that can get the chip thing done or w/e fixed . still runs and drives amazing as he mentioned though . the thing is it has high miles at 164k . usually when i see ppl post their mps , its around 100k and half of them have thrown rod bearings , blown motor , etc . either way the MSP is worth more than my car so just getting some advice . thanks , heres a link to the ad on craigslist http://lexington.craigslist.org/cto/2642527077.html

 

[Ricktalife]

The "chip" he must be referring to is the ECU reflash that was and possibly still is available at the dealership. It had nothing to do with the rev limiter and all it really did was advance the timing a bit to help solve the hesitation that is famous with the MSP. From what I have heard, it was a big fail. If you are buying this as a daily driver, I would be cautious. Protege's can easily hit 200k on the original motor if they are properly taken care of, but you can't really tell when it hasn't been checked over by a mechanic first. I would ask him to let a mechanic look at it and verify the issue as well as look for any additional ones. A simple compression test could tell you how the motor is holding up. The turbo is likely on its last leg.

 

[popwar]

its not the original turbo , its a bigger one . hes friends with his guy at the dealership he got it from and has taken it there for maitenance . car isnt stock , has some aftermarket parts on it . he says its original miles tho . i'll prob just try to sell it and get something else . im not buying the car , its basically free because of trade

 

[destineal]

Might just be me, but upgraded turbo means he probably was driving the car hard. Definitely look into a compression test done. Probaby has rust issues and a leaky trunk

 

[Ricktalife]

Ahh okay. Well I would ask what all has been done to the car. I'm curious what size turbo he put on, assuming the motor isn't built and is still in one piece. If you have another car that you can drive everyday then I would just tear the motor out and build it, not only for performance but safety as well.