questions about my new mp3

jsradema

Member
i just bought a mp3 this week. it has 13,500 miles. still under factory warranty. it was making a noise on the passenger side rear when i go over a bump. it actually sounds like the spare is bouncing around but it is not. checked the exaust, it is fine. it sounded like the strut was bad. i took it in and they said they could not find anything wrong and they tightened the rear sway bar and the noise stopped. but, now 3 days later it has started back up again. what could this be? any comments would help. this is my first post.
 
its the infamous sway bar clunk, the original bushing for the sway bar were to big and don't fit right. there are new bushing number out which your dealership will fix under warranty. It fixed it on my car. so far it has worked on a few cars (stopped the clunk) and some other cars it hasnt worked on. the clunk came back. just talk to you service department. and welcome aboard.
 
thanks for your help. i will tell them to look at it when i take it in. the car was repoed from the previous owner and i think they took out the kenwood head unit and sub. should i try to buy the original mp3 player and sub from someone who is parting them out? or should i just get something else. how does the system sound? also i need a jack, tire iron and owners manual. the dealership told me the jack and tire iron are the same as the regular protege. i figured i could just check out a junk yard. the manual i could order. what do you think? thank again.
 
ya the jack and tire are the same for all proteges. Just make user it has 5 LUGS. all the 2000 (i think) and older are 4 lugged and the newer 1.6l are 4 lugs. as for the stereo its personal opinion, i love the headunit one of the best i have owned. but it goes for about $699 and there are probably some better ones out there now. as for the sub it depends on what you want, i think the sub is great if you just want a little depth added to your sound. If you want all out booming its not good. ask the guys in the car audio forum what they think about it. the manual is the same one for all the 2001 proteges your dealer can get it for you. good luck man.
 
There are places that you can get even the new radio from the Mazdaspeed for cheaper than $500. I can't remember the site though. It was posted on here a couple of months ago. Hmmmmm...Will try to find it.
 
thanks for all your help. this forum is a nice resource to have. one more question, is the antenna suppose to retract when you turn off the radio? would that be covered under the warrenty if there is a new head unit installed? could that have messed with the functioning of the antenna? thanks.

thats nice that i could get the original kenwood for $409. but i will check into it. does anyone have one they are trying to get rid of? i will check the "for sale" page.
 
jsradema said:
thanks for all your help. this forum is a nice resource to have. one more question, is the antenna suppose to retract when you turn off the radio? would that be covered under the warrenty if there is a new head unit installed? could that have messed with the functioning of the antenna? thanks.

thats nice that i could get the original kenwood for $409. but i will check into it. does anyone have one they are trying to get rid of? i will check the "for sale" page.

The antenna does not retract automatically. The headunit I linked to is the one out of the new Mazdaspeed Protege.
 
i am getting kinda concerned. did i get taken for a ride by buying this mp3. what is the deal with all of the problems people have been having? these cars are brand new. i bought this car because i thought that it was something i could have for a long time. did all of the aftermarket parts that came on the car mess it up. regular proteges seem to be reliable autos. i bought it because it is fun to drive and has the looks to go with it. there is no reason why cars with under 30k miles should have that many troubles. did mazda test these cars before putting them into production?

just a little concerned for my investment. i am 22 and this is the first car i have ever bought. i thought that it was a good one. does anyone have something positive to say?
 
Dont worry man, as I said in your "anything good to say" post, the MP3 is still a kickass vehicle. I don't think I'll ever let it go. Yeah, I'll buy a new car sometime, but I'll just turn this car into my project car.

The only problem I've ever had was the clunking swaybar bushing. While annoying, its not the worst thing that could go wrong. If you live in a cold climate, you may notice your front suspension will squeak in the winter. More likely than not, its because of the superb tockico struts used to make the MP3 what it is - one of the best handling production cars ever. It is not a luxury car that will not make any little rattles or anything. Just get a good stereo and you'll never even notice :D.

P.S. Welcome aboard!

Chris
 
thanks man. i am in north carolina so i dont think that i will have the squeeks. i need to take it back in to have them replace the bushing on the rear sway bar. it seem like coming to this page makes me worry worst that before. everyone is complaining. but i guess that it is a good place to vent. the shifter forks seem to be a problem too. the previous owner of my car already had it replaced. thanks for the feed back.
 
I WOULD BE WILLING TO SELL MY STOCK MP3 SUB AND HEADUNIT...PRIVATE MESSAGE ME AND GIVE ME AN OFFER.
 
I replaced my head unit with a Kenwood basic CD player with a detachable face (forgot the model number, CD/AM/FM with remote for about $130 online) and to my ears it sounds the same and had less skipping than the original. It looks boring of course with no swimming dolphins. :)
 

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