Mazda Protege Owner Photos

[Sleezer1533]

 

[boostedprotege]

what happened sleez??

 

[Sleezer1533]

So it started sat. Removed the IM, TB and EGR to clean the EGR and replace all the gakets in order to fix my vac leak. Did the trick, went for a drive and she died and I had to get towed home ($75). Spend the next three days trying to figure out why the car would crank but not start (no power to fuel pump or injectors and temp guage reading Hot). Hardwired the pump to make sure it was working, had a new pump relay sent to me but nothing...

So today when I got home from work, checked the O2 sensors for a short ... nothing. Pulled the IM (basically reversing the work I did sat.) then put everything back in checking absolutely everything as I went. Got it all back together, put the key in and nothing.
But then! A breakthrough...in the fuse box in the drivers foot well the 10A fuse labeled "ENGINE" was blown. Replaced it with the one next to it (which prolly wasnt the best idea because the tranny doesnt shift and I think it started to overheat a little) but the car started and I got to Advance auto not too far away. Grabbed a box of 25 10A fuses and put one in in the parking lot. Car was back to its old self minus a CEL

But then it gets bad ... about 1/4 mile past the place I got towed from last time the car dies again. So I said, no worries Ill just replace the fuse, put it in and it blew instantly, five more fuses went this way... so I had to call for a tow

$65 dollars and 2 hours later my car is back in the parking lot at my appt.

Any ideas?

 

[Sleezer1533]

Well Im leaning away form that sort of stuff and more toward a bad ground/short. Just need the wiring diagram to that fuse and I can start searching

 

[Wagonbacker9]

ah okay. if i had to guess dude the short originated from that one engine fuse that broke lol.

Thats not a guess... its a guarantee, thats pretty much the whole purpose of the fuse. To blow and protect the wiring when theres a short.

 

[Sleezer1533]

Unfortunately is as vauge as "engine" ... Thats like plugging in a scanner to check a CEL and having it say "somethings wrong"

 

[Wagonbacker9]

Unfortunately is as vauge as "engine" ... Thats like plugging in a scanner to check a CEL and having it say "somethings wrong"

well, not really. Its a power feed to something related to the engine. There aren't THAT many things on the engine that consume electricity without their own sources. Basically... the ECU, the ignition, and the sensors. And a wiring diagram should be able to narrow that down significantly, because a good portion of that will be fused or relayed and thus be isolated from your issue circuit.

 

[Wagonbacker9]

wow if that happened to me i would just give up and swap the whole fuse box with a scrapped one lol

and that probably wouldn't fix it. You'd have to swap the whole harness with it... and even then, your chances would be pretty good for creating a new problem. Unfortionately this is one of those things that if you're out of warranty... you gotta take head-on.

 

[Sleezer1533]

No warantee for me, bought her outright used from a non-mazda dealer

 

[Wagonbacker9]

dang, its like a ticking time bomb. thanks for the heads up dude.

not really... in all likelyhood (I'm sorry sleezer) if he hadn't ripped everything apart, there would have been no issue.

 

[Joost27]

Photos of the Slotege from this weekend's trip to Lake George:

 

[Arnhem]

I just see you have 4-lug instead of 5-lug.
Damn, makes me wanna swap in a KL even more.

Do you have reinforced springs for the trunk by the way? Since you have a spoiler, not sure if it was stock on your car?

 

[Joost27]

Yes I do have the upgraded springs from a protege that came with the same spoiler. And as far as 4-lug the hub spline count and size is the same as the 2.0l 5-lug cars so you can use the 2.0l axles for the swap.

 

[Beans112]

Hey guys, I'm new to these forums and just got my first protege about 2 weeks ago. It's an 02 LX with 96k miles, payed $3,200 for it which i thought was a fair deal. lol but I do plan on putting some money into it here in the near future. I really want to change the wheels to some 16's or 17's and would love to add the msp/mp3/p5 bumper and side skirts.

 

[civickilla03]

niiiiice WELCOME man, and check around some of the picture threads, there are plenty proteges to influence your decision on 16's or 17's!

 

[h_chang]

Hey guys, I'm new to these forums and just got my first protege about 2 weeks ago. It's an 02 LX with 96k miles, payed $3,200 for it which i thought was a fair deal. lol but I do plan on putting some money into it here in the near future. I really want to change the wheels to some 16's or 17's and would love to add the msp/mp3/p5 bumper and side skirts.

Here's some inspiration or an idea of what your Protege might look like with 17''

I vote for 17's cause they make the car look more low.

 

[Beans112]

damn dude those look great. lol just gotta find the perfect ones for my car.

 

[Scorch03]

I vote 16s because more tire is better

 

[hchang]

^ Yes there will be more tire on 16s but unless you're tracking it I don't think it'll make that much of a difference.

Moar pics of my car

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[boostedprotege]

yeah it will more rubber=more cushion.. i run 215/35/18 and its horrible especially lowered and with a stiffer stance.. no bueno i'm actually lookin for some 16s