Regretful MSP owner...

[BremertonMSP]

Well my clunk was driving me mad and I was wondering why it had gotten so bad when while loading 3 pc's, all accessories and 3 18'' Flat Panels into my trunk for a LAN session I found a 3 ft long pair of pruning shears that I had forgotten about. I soon realized that the advent of the terrible clunking and the time I had put those shears in there coincided DOh!
So my clunk is back to a minor annoyance.

Hmm, wonder if my clunk is due to my golf clubs being in the trunk?

 

[Turbo Matty P]

I thought I had the clunk in the trunk, turns out it was Junk in da trunk....big difference.

 

[Black Majik MSP]

HA HA, my trunk is always full now too.

car cover
bucket full of car wash stuff
cold weather clothing (because it's freezing cold at late night car meets)
emergency kit
random other stuff

 

[N1XRR]

On top of all the other problems that take away from the MSP, I've recently got another gift from Mazda. The past week has gotten colder here in SC. Now when I drive the car in 40-50 degree temperatures, the suspension makes some awful sounds when going over bumps and dips. It's a horrible scrubbing, crunching kind of sound. Sometimes it sounds like the tires are rubbing in the fenders or something. I guess it's the struts and coils, but it's like the car was 20 years old or something.

Its actually the front sway-bar bushings. They are "better" than stock(probably polyurathane). ANY polyurathane bushing will squeek if not prepared and/or lubricated correctly. Here's the fix: Buy some White Lithium Greese(about $1.00-$5.00 for the can....$0.97 at Wal-mart) and spray a little bit on all of the bushings. My squeeking in the front went away when I did this.

Why does this happen? Because when its cold things like metal and rubber contract, putting more of a strain on the surface between the bushing and the sway-bar. If you didn't want better suspension then why did you buy a MSP? Go to an autocross and talk to ANYONE who has upgraded thier suspension and put poly bushings in. Unless the inside is sanded slightly and then lubricated with greese, it WILL squeek.

I've had it, I'm gonna sell my POS, I mean MSP. Even with the "flash", it still hesitates like crap. It would probably be a lot quicker if it didn't stutter so much.

One plus though, I had an annoying rattle in the backseat area only to find that it was my baby's car seat. Finally, something Mazda didn't mess up.

Use better gas. I have tested this out several times. I run 3 tanks of "cheap" gas(Spinx, Golden Gallon, Racetrack, etc) and then switch to good gas (Amoco, BP, Exxon, etc) and this difference is phenomenal. I even went back to Mazda the first time running crappy gas to see if it was truely flashed. It was, and I started doing some testing. I have run about 14 tanks like this now and its like clock-work. Cheep gas = hesitation and poor fuel economy. I get, on the average, 2-3 MPG less while running cheap gas. Just to let you know, shifting at 2000-2500rpms last tank yeilded me 35 mpg on Exxon. The same on cheap gas(Golden Gallon no-name brand) yielded 30MPG.

 

[DooMer_MP3]

Re: Re: Regretful MSP owner...

Its actually the front sway-bar bushings. They are "better" than stock(probably polyurathane). ANY polyurathane bushing will squeek if not prepared and/or lubricated correctly. Here's the fix: Buy some White Lithium Greese(about $1.00-$5.00 for the can....$0.97 at Wal-mart) and spray a little bit on all of the bushings. My squeeking in the front went away when I did this.

...

Hey N1XRR,
Did you jack up the front, remove the bushings and grease? Or just spray on/around them and hope it worked in there? I'd like to lessen the squeak on my MP3.

You are right, they are poly-urethane...

Chris

 

[Roywhitep5]

should have gotten a p5

 

[chino]

WOW 35MPG! I use 93 Octane and I only got 27.8 MPG on my last run to Austin and I rarely took it above 3000RPM! That was Pre-Flash so I will have to check again when I fill up.

 

[redwagon02]

Fatdaddy - Thanks alot! Hope you can resolve your problems one way or another ASAP.

 

[Imissmy3rdgen7]

Re: Re: Regretful MSP owner...

Its actually the front sway-bar bushings. They are "better" than stock(probably polyurathane). ANY polyurathane bushing will squeek if not prepared and/or lubricated correctly. Here's the fix: Buy some White Lithium Greese(about $1.00-$5.00 for the can....$0.97 at Wal-mart) and spray a little bit on all of the bushings. My squeeking in the front went away when I did this.

Why does this happen? Because when its cold things like metal and rubber contract, putting more of a strain on the surface between the bushing and the sway-bar. If you didn't want better suspension then why did you buy a MSP? Go to an autocross and talk to ANYONE who has upgraded thier suspension and put poly bushings in. Unless the inside is sanded slightly and then lubricated with greese, it WILL squeek.

He beat me to it. It's just needing proper lubrication...any car needs to be lubed up properly to prolong the life of the parts....think Jiffy Lube for an oil change and lube every time.

There's nothing really wrong, I had the same problem, sprayed some silcon on the bushing and problem solved no matter how cold it gets.

 

[Fatdaddy]

N1XRR-I used to have a friend that had replaced his stock bushings on his truck with poly bushings. They squeaked like crazy when it was colder. I never thought of that, so thanks. I will grease them and see how it goes. But that is part of my point-shouldn't the bushings have been "properly lubed" from the dealer? Why is anyone having to do this kind of stuff to a car w/only 7k miles, or even less for some? That defeats the whole purpose of buying a new car. BTW, I put poly bushings on my front and rear sway bars on my Civic, and they have never squeaked. It is setup for AutoX, too.

And as far as cheap gas causing hesitation....I have never used less than 93 octane, which is the best available here.

 

[Fatdaddy]

N1XRR-btw, I see you're not too far from me in SC.

 

[N1XRR]

Hehe, not far away at all. Its only about an hour and a half drive from Columbia (my grandparents live down there).

There are a few possibilities for your Civic: #1. They came pre-lubed. There are only one or two companies who actually do this and all of them should.

#2. They arn't torqued down as tight as ours on the MSP and MP3's.

They SHOULD have lubed them from the factory, but seeing as this is probably the first time Mazda has used Polyurathane on their cars (I don't think the Miata's and RX7's ever did), they have no reason to know to do it.

Here is the reason why I recommended White Lithium Grease: When you spray it, the grease comes out liquid and then firms up. This stuff is gods gift to squeeky doors and suspension parts. Note: This stuff is GREAT and I recommend it be part of any basic tool box. Want to stop your doors in your house from squeeking? Door latches sticking on your car? Windows getting stuck on your car(this applied to older cars)? This stuff works wonders.

So, to answer your question DooMer_MP3: No, I did not take my bushings off...although loosening them a little might help get some grease a little further in. But since its liquid, you don't really have to worry about it.

 

[shinzen]

On top of all the other problems that take away from the MSP, I've recently got another gift from Mazda. The past week has gotten colder here in SC. Now when I drive the car in 40-50 degree temperatures, the suspension makes some awful sounds when going over bumps and dips. It's a horrible scrubbing, crunching kind of sound. Sometimes it sounds like the tires are rubbing in the fenders or something. I guess it's the struts and coils, but it's like the car was 20 years old or something.

I've had it, I'm gonna sell my POS, I mean MSP. Even with the "flash", it still hesitates like crap. It would probably be a lot quicker if it didn't stutter so much.

One plus though, I had an annoying rattle in the backseat area only to find that it was my baby's car seat. Finally, something Mazda didn't mess up.

Hey, I've got a 2002 ES with no suspension noise at all- and no hesitation- I'll trade you straight across....

 

[N1XRR]

WOW 35MPG! I use 93 Octane and I only got 27.8 MPG on my last run to Austin and I rarely took it above 3000RPM! That was Pre-Flash so I will have to check again when I fill up.

I actually posted about this before:
http://www.msprotege.com/vbb230/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29442

That is pre-flash. I haven't put everything for 6000-12000 yet because I have not his 12000 miles(about 1500 away).

This, as well as my 33mpg post-flash tank where both 50/50 city highway. Shifting at 2000-2300rpms, then going no faster than 80mph on the highway. Yes, 80mph.

YES, shifting at 2000rpms can be done, you just have to know how to drive a manual car pretty well. No, my car does not buck or chug at ALL when I do this, it feels like normal but just SLOW.

In order to achieve 35mpg in my car required shifting at 2000rpms getting on the highway, going no faster than 70mph(65 or 60 is better) and 99% highway.

 

[Fatdaddy]

Re: Re: Regretful MSP owner...

Hey, I've got a 2002 ES with no suspension noise at all- and no hesitation- I'll trade you straight across....

No thanks. Every time I see a plain Protege, I cringe at the thought that it's what I really own. I'm not happy with the MSP with all of it's goodies, plus it's still not too quick. I can imagine how slow the ES must be.

 

[supman]

argh... another msp hater. Its your opinion and i respect tht, i love my msp though and it hurts to see someone bashing it . And the hesitation and other issues only happens to certian msps, not all msps in general. Mine did have hesitation but its completely fixed now and i never had the "clunk" (i'm at 8300km). And actually the msp is pretty fast, well in my stadards. Even without the flash before i stayed up with my friend's type S and DESTROYED him on corners in the mtns. I'm not just saying this because all the magazines say its good handling, i actually felt it! I was pulling away on the first corner, but of course he caught back up on the straights. Its a incredible machine ...

 

[yashooa]

Re: Re: Regretful MSP owner...

Use better gas. I have tested this out several times. I run 3 tanks of "cheap" gas(Spinx, Golden Gallon, Racetrack, etc) and then switch to good gas (Amoco, BP, Exxon, etc) and this difference is phenomenal. I even went back to Mazda the first time running crappy gas to see if it was truely flashed. It was, and I started doing some testing. I have run about 14 tanks like this now and its like clock-work. Cheep gas = hesitation and poor fuel economy. I get, on the average, 2-3 MPG less while running cheap gas. Just to let you know, shifting at 2000-2500rpms last tank yeilded me 35 mpg on Exxon. The same on cheap gas(Golden Gallon no-name brand) yielded 30MPG.

Ditto, I only buy Diamond Shamrock super 93 octane and get about 36MPG when is short shift. My front end does not squeak at all and it is in the 30's now maybe the Tech that installed my Front suspension components did a decent job

 

[yashooa]

Re: Re: Re: Regretful MSP owner...

No thanks. Every time I see a plain Protege, I cringe at the thought that it's what I really own. I'm not happy with the MSP with all of it's goodies, plus it's still not too quick. I can imagine how slow the ES must be.

Well the third gen can't be all that bad as Car and Driver remarked that the P5 "Was BMW 3 Series virve for under 17 grand." To me that's a pretty high compliment of the basic Protege setup albeit with a few extra goodies on the P5.
All in all the third gen Protege is a very well built little car with a confident well poised chassis, good brakes, and an extremely high fun factor.
Maybe you have have sand in your vagina just douche that clam out, go back to your dealer trade your MSP in on a used Hyundai and be happy.
I mean dude Does your coochie ever stop flapping?
What do you want your MSP to do? Give you head, do the dishes and get 40MPG, all while serving up steaming hot 12 second 1/4 miles?