What have you done to your P5 today?

[i12drivemyMP5]

Got inspection and registration today.....woohoo. I have been using the same place since we moved where we now live and today the dude told me my car had 94k on it in 2011 when I got it inspected.......the reason it caught his attention was that the car now has 101k on it.....yes, 7k miles in 10 years. My maintenance occurs because of time, not miles. 12 year old tires with at least half the tread replaced last year, oil changes twice a year, antifreeze every coupla few years, wiper blades every 5 years or more, pwr steering flush and new trans fluid replacing new looking fluid.......such is the life of a garage ornament.

 

[reut1]

I change my oil every 3,000 miles.

I used seafoam in with the old oil when I first got my car and drove it 100 miles, then changed the oil.
It was a dark black color and kinda thick.

After doing that a few times, and I washed all the gunk out, I put half a can of Seafoam, (also known as seafood, if you think it's snake oil) in with my new oil and leave it in there until my next oil change.

My car doesn't burn a drop of oil. I never check the oil level.


I went to get my car smog tested about 7 years ago where they sniff the exhaust, and the guy thought his machine was broken.
It registered no emissions.
He had to do the test twice to finally read something.

My car pollutes less than a brand new car.

They plug into the OBDII port now to test the car.


If my car doesn't pollute it also doesn't foul up the engine.
It runs clean.

Burning oil fouls up O2 sensors, burns out the pre-cat and main cat, fouls up the combustion chambers and spark plugs, and fouls up the EGR system.

Dirty engines don't run properly.

mine just burns all the oil yours doesn't, so we even one another out

 

[RPRP5]

mine just burns all the oil yours doesn't, so we even one another out

I don't know if mine burns oil, and I honestly don't want to know!

 

[pcb]

I don't know if mine burns oil, and I honestly don't want to know!

Keep an eye on your dipstick.
Don't let it go below the Low mark.
There is 1 liter of oil from the low mark to the full mark on the dipstick.

The oil burning starts off slowly and there is no smoke, then it progresses to the point where you burn a quart of oil with every tank of gas and you'll fog out the entire neighborhood.

I started with seafoam just after I got my car in 2009 after joining this forum and reading about the oil burning issue.

Some guys were using synthetic oil and going the recommended 10,000 miles before an oil change and they started to burn oil.

I just use regular Dino oil and change it every 3000 miles along with the seafoam.

I also put a shot in with the gas with every fillup as well, to help keep the injectors and combustion chambers clean.

There are other products available but some "engine flush" treatments are caustic and can eat away at engine seals and such.

 

[BenjiHoggi]

Mine burns oil too. Only 162k miles. Haven't done the math on what the quart/1000miles ratio is, but I know it's more than a quart. No smoke though (that I can see). I've run several bottles of Rislone engine treatment through it, but never tried seafoam. Maybe it's time for some experimentation.

Also on my third dipstick . I'm done replacing them.

 

[RPRP5]

Mine burns oil too. Only 162k miles. Haven't done the math on what the quart/1000miles ratio is, but I know it's more than a quart. No smoke though (that I can see). I've run several bottles of Rislone engine treatment through it, but never tried seafoam. Maybe it's time for some experimentation.

Also on my third dipstick . I'm done replacing them.

The top part of the handle broke on yours too?

 

[BenjiHoggi]

The top part of the handle broke on yours too?

Oh yes. On every single one.

To be fair, I'd get used cheap ones at junkyards, which were just as old as mine. If I bought a new one from Mazda, It might last longer. It's an $18.24 part though.

 

[tj4fa2003P5]

Pulled the transmission to replace...well... now turns out it will be "just about everything" once I got looking around.

Really thought the clutch was bad but turns out the throw-out bearing is trashed and probably the hydraulics.

----

Initially the clutch and pressure plate looked great when I removed them but then I noticed something odd about the clutch disc.

Is it me or am I missing something? Picture of disc below...
(Also pics of car prep before and after I removed the transmission)

 

[BenjiHoggi]

Pulled the transmission to replace...well... now turns out it will be "just about everything" once I got looking around.

Really thought the clutch was bad but turns out the throw-out bearing is trashed and probably the hydraulics.

----

Initially the clutch and pressure plate looked great when I removed them but then I noticed something odd about the clutch disc.

Is it me or am I missing something? Picture of disc below...
(Also pics of car prep before and after I removed the transmission)

Looks fun. I have no clue what an OEM or aftermarket clutch looks like, but that one on first glance does not look like what I think a stock one would. Did your flywheel have any noticeable warping (shuddering while slipping the clutch a lot)? Seems like a common Protege issue.

I'm going to have to replace my clutch this summer, so it's interesting to see what the job roughly entails. Never done anything as ambitious before.

 

[RPRP5]

Looks fun. I have no clue what an OEM or aftermarket clutch looks like, but that one on first glance does not look like what I think a stock one would. Did your flywheel have any noticeable warping (shuddering while slipping the clutch a lot)? Seems like a common Protege issue.

I'm going to have to replace my clutch this summer, so it's interesting to see what the job roughly entails. Never done anything as ambitious before.

I looked up a YouTube video on how to do it, saw how much time it would take to take everything apart and put it back together and said "**** this, I've got a mechanic for a reason!" About bankrupted me too, the damn bastard

 

[pcb]

Here are a couple of pictures of my son's $750- P5 that I'm working on.

This means YOUR cars are worth more right now and replacing parts on my son's car I rationalize is an "investment".

My investment is worth $275 as scrap metal... lol

I paid $6,300 for my car in 2009...

Now it's worth 10 cents..

 

[tj4fa2003P5]

Looks fun. I have no clue what an OEM or aftermarket clutch looks like, but that one on first glance does not look like what I think a stock one would. Did your flywheel have any noticeable warping (shuddering while slipping the clutch a lot)? Seems like a common Protege issue.

I'm going to have to replace my clutch this summer, so it's interesting to see what the job roughly entails. Never done anything as ambitious before.

Clutch pedal would engage right at firewall so there was some judder there when releasing the clutch pedal and then judder again when backing off the gas in gear.

I adjusted the clutch pedal so the MC pushrod would engage higher away from firewall but then got metal noises (likely throw out bearing).

Reverse would be tough to get into so I figured the hydraulics might be weak (going to replace the Clutch MC and Slave piston as well).

No apparent warping or damage notices on flywheel and fingers look good on the pressure plate. only real damage is the worn out throw-out bearing that appears it would have fallen apart real soon.

What gets me about the clutch disc, it looks newer than OEM (different friction material) and it doesn't have 6 springs to fill all 6 spaces on the clutch disc face like my replacement disc has.
I also don't know what those 4 solid things are that are replacing normal springs.
---
The job is a LOT of work and ...err...really "Challenging".

It also would be best for you if the car is up on a lift rather than working crawling around on the ground.

Right now I'm pretty much hate'n on the car. But I'm 67 and getting up and down and crawling around is harder to do than when we were younger.

Once it's the works done though, I'll probably forget all those pains and strains as P5s are fun to drive (until something else screws up).

 

[tj4fa2003P5]

I looked up a YouTube video on how to do it, saw how much time it would take to take everything apart and put it back together and said "**** this, I've got a mechanic for a reason!" About bankrupted me too, the damn bastard

Yeah Mazda engineers apparently didn't design them to be worked on by others - Bastards...

Hell, I've (finally) got the transmission out (after about 4 straight days) and STILL having trouble disconnecting the starter from below working on the ground to replace it.

But the good thing about removing the transmission is that it's the best time to change the oil filter.

Hmmm...No wonder a lot of P5s are burning oil. Even those 5 minute oil change places just drain and add more oil whenever they can't get at the filter to replace it

 

[pcb]

My clutch is fine.
I don't burn oil.
She purrs along like a kitten.

But she's rotting into the ground.

 

[tj4fa2003P5]

Yikes!!!
Hold onto that car. Don't scrap it out!!
Pretty soon they will give you $2k for it so you can buy an electric car with green new deal (cash for clunkers) money.

 

[RPRP5]

Yikes!!!
Hold onto that car. Don't scrap it out!!
Pretty soon they will give you $2k for it so you can buy an electric car with green new deal (cash for clunkers) money.

I will not scrap my P5 for any amount of money.



That is, until the day that the motor falls out of the ******* subframe!

 

[tj4fa2003P5]

My clutch is fine.
I don't burn oil.
She purrs along like a kitten.

But she's rotting into the ground.

Yeah I did notice your jack-stand just punched through your floor-board.
I've got some metal foil tape to fix it if you need to pass inspection.

 

[tj4fa2003P5]

I will not scrap my P5 for any amount of money.



That is, until the day that the motor falls out of the ******* subframe!

 

[pcb]

Reverse would be tough to get into so I figured the hydraulics might be weak (going to replace the Clutch MC and Slave piston as well).

Keep in mind that reverse is hard to get into for all of us.

The transmission locks us out...

 

[pcb]

I will not scrap my P5 for any amount of money.

That is, until the day that the motor falls out of the ******* subframe!

I'm not scraping my car.
It's great economy.
It owes me nothing.

I can't sell it because it won't pass safety.

I can still drive it though.

I'm gonna get 5 more years out of it..
That's my goal...
Then I will kill it. Lol