Quick VTCS question

[JonP5]

Sorry guys, I know this topic has been beaten to death but I couldn't find an answer through searching. My 03 P5 VIN falls outside (below) the VIN range for the VTCS screw recall. Should I still red loctite the screws anyway or should they be ok on their own? The car has 105k miles on it.

Thanks

 

[Brian_K]

I would just remove the butterflys/rod and seal up the holes if you're going to be removing the intake manifold.

 

[hornsfan10609]

It's the VICS flap's screws that would fall out, if you haven't had a problem by now I don't think you have anything to worry about. The VTCS flaps you can delete to help the intake flow a little more air as Mazda did on the MP3 Protege. If you pull the mani to remove the VTCS it isn't hard to put some loctite on the VICS for peace of mind. Leave the VTCS solenoid plugged in to the harness to prevent a CEL, the vacuum lines don't need to be attached.

 

[LostinCanada]

Actually the bulletin is for the VICS AND VTCS screws. http://www.protegefaq.net/tsb/3005C.pdf

I had my intake manifold apart last week for cleaning, and discovered I was a "victim" of this problem - only because I discovered my #3 and #4 VCTS butterflies were each missing a screw, and the butterflies were jammed as a result of those two being askew. I then went on a massive internet research quest, which ended with my friendly parts guy at the MAZDA dealer.

My car VIN is included, however Mazda supposedly addressed my car in 2006. It might be that originally only VICS was considered a problem due direct access to the cylinder but both are listed in the recall. In my case the VICS screws are in so tight I cannot budge them, however the VTCS screws were obviously not addressed at that time and Mazda only warranties a VIN once. Too bad so sad for me. Thankfully no damage seems to have been done.

If you're lucky maybe you find the screws in the Dynamic Chamber with a good magnet as I did. Use blue loctite, not red - in case you want to remove the screws in the future for cleaning/maintenance - never say never... lol.

Before considering the VTCS delete, particularly in the absence of any other performance upgrades, I recommend you do your research carefully. There is a great writeup on one of these forums, with an excellent how-to .pdf. Goes on for 31 pages of excited VTCS removers.... and 31 pages of idle problems - many unresolved. The consensus seems to be that if you live somewhere hot, no biggy, great high end gain with the mod, no idle problems. However if you live and/or travel where it gets cold, you can suffer everything from rough idle to no start conditions. Apparently the additional mod of a Mada 3 PCM will cure this, but I didn't get any further in my research as I was sorting out other issues first before considering any mods. You can read about them here - some good pictures... http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123850621-Massive-smoking-issue-amp-crappy-idle-after-major-quot-improvement-quot-2003-Mazda-Protege-%28&p=6404191#post6404191

And here's the 31 page thread I mentioned - I'm sure there are others... http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?82884-How-To-VTCS-Removal-and-Porting

 

[cartracer12]

Actually the bulletin is for the VICS AND VTCS screws. http://www.protegefaq.net/tsb/3005C.pdf

I had my intake manifold apart last week for cleaning, and discovered I was a "victim" of this problem - only because I discovered my #3 and #4 VCTS butterflies were each missing a screw, and the butterflies were jammed as a result of those two being askew. I then went on a massive internet research quest, which ended with my friendly parts guy at the MAZDA dealer.

My car VIN is included, however Mazda supposedly addressed my car in 2006. It might be that originally only VICS was considered a problem due direct access to the cylinder but both are listed in the recall. In my case the VICS screws are in so tight I cannot budge them, however the VTCS screws were obviously not addressed at that time and Mazda only warranties a VIN once. Too bad so sad for me. Thankfully no damage seems to have been done.

If you're lucky maybe you find the screws in the Dynamic Chamber with a good magnet as I did. Use blue loctite, not red - in case you want to remove the screws in the future for cleaning/maintenance - never say never... lol.

Before considering the VTCS delete, particularly in the absence of any other performance upgrades, I recommend you do your research carefully. There is a great writeup on one of these forums, with an excellent how-to .pdf. Goes on for 31 pages of excited VTCS removers.... and 31 pages of idle problems - many unresolved. The consensus seems to be that if you live somewhere hot, no biggy, great high end gain with the mod, no idle problems. However if you live and/or travel where it gets cold, you can suffer everything from rough idle to no start conditions. Apparently the additional mod of a Mada 3 PCM will cure this, but I didn't get any further in my research as I was sorting out other issues first before considering any mods. You can read about them here - some good pictures... http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123850621-Massive-smoking-issue-amp-crappy-idle-after-major-quot-improvement-quot-2003-Mazda-Protege-%28&p=6404191#post6404191

And here's the 31 page thread I mentioned - I'm sure there are others... http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?82884-How-To-VTCS-Removal-and-Porting

I'm going to be doing a VTCS delete in a moderately cold, wet climate. I have however installed a re-flashed PCM with MP3 software. I got it off Mazdas247, from spicyorangemsp if you want to avoid potential cold start and idle issues, get your PCM reflashed then you won't need to plug in the solenoid as MP3s don't have VTCS. As another note, I have an aftermarket header installed and the MP3 PCM won't trigger a check engine light due to lack of catalyst efficiency. This is because the MP3 is a LEV low emmisions vehicle. Rather than the regular Protege which is an ULEV (ultra low emmisions vehicle)

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