Boston

Hey all

This is my first post here and my first post about my new-to-me vehicle, a 91 Protege LX, but I have a good understanding of cars in general. I apologize for the length. First of all, I'd just like to know what some of the common problems with these cars are so I will be prepared. I did several searches before I posted but I didn't find any specific information, so here's my post

I bought this car to use as an everyday vehicle and for weekend roundtrips of about 200 miles to Portland, ME. I'll be working a new job about 30 miles from my house, so this car is going to see about 350-500 miles each week. Does anyone else drive this kind of mileage on their Protege? I'm guessing that the gas mileage is great with the 1.8L engine and I have heard good things about the reliability of Mazdas. My girlfriend used to own a Protege, but I think it was a 2nd generation model.

The car has 100,000 miles on it, 5 speed, DOHC, cruise, cloth interior, power sunroof, power windows, and it looks to be in great shape (I've posted some pics below). The car runs and drives great except for a couple of minor problems.

The first problem is one of the power steering hoses has a hole rusted through it. The hole is on the part of the hose that is near the reservoir between the grill and the steering rack. I looked for a diagram online, but I haven't been able to find one. The line is not a pressure line, so I am assuming I can just cut out the rusty part of the line and replace it with rubber power steering hose of the same ID as the OD of the metal hose. I don't want to risk removing the fittings of the old metal hose because they look rather rusty also.

The other problems aren't as serious. One of the license plate lights doesn't work. This caused it to fail inspection the last time my friend took the car in.

The brakes are quite mushy and the rear brakes seem to be the culprit. We are going to remove the rear calipers, check the pads, bleed the brakes, and possibly change the pads if they are bad. The master cylinder has plenty of fluid, so there isn't a big leak anywhere. My guess is an overheated caliper and air stuck in the lines. I'm hoping the calipers won't need replacement though.

The last problem is that there is a battery drain through the "BTN" circuit. We did some troubleshooting to see where the short was and remove af the "BTN" 60A fuse in the main fuse box causes the test lamp between the battery positive and ground to go out. I can't find any info in the owner's manual what this "BTN" circuit is for. The battery drains completely in about 3 days if the negative lead isn't removed when the car is turned off.

Aside from that, the only problems seem to be a slightly rusty muffler and/or tailpipe and typical undercarriage rust from being in New England for 10+ years. The rust doesn't appear to have affect the body much.

I plan to buy three more Sumitomo SRIXON4 tires to match the one new one that my friend put on there to before inspection but has hardly driven on. Does anyone have any tire recommendations for the everyday driver Protege?

I'm looking forward to owning a vehicle that will give me some good long miles of service, good gas mileage, and some fun driving to boot. ANy info you can pass along my way that will help with keeping this vehicle going for a few years would be great!

Thanks!

jporky99

tires eh? well if you are just interested in commuting, get yourself some standard h rated tires. i mean, you're not some freak like me who +0 sizes his 14" steel wheels to get V rated yokohamas cause he likes to drag race civics at stoplights. *EDIT* actually, i'll race anything that wants to (civic, mustang, ferarri, or whatever!)

i drive a 94 lx with 95k miles on it and it's running great . . . except for when i fuxored my VAF because i think i'm smarter than the engineers who designed my car (look around for that thread, i'm sure it will humor you somewhat)

the only problem i've had with my car is stuff that is expected. i had a bearing replaced in the front right as well as my front struts.

also, when i first bought the car it idled roughly sometimes and when i took the car out of gear to stop it died on occasion. I called a car guru on one of our local radio shows and he told me to replace my spark plugs . . . he was right.

so that about wraps up my dilemmas! oh and if you havent experienced it yet, you will soon learn about. . . .

THE SEATBELT LIGHT OF DEATH! actually groharlem wrote a nice how-to in order to get rid of it

Boston

Thanks for the reply!

Actually, the tires are only $34 each from Tirerack.com and $60 or so from NTB. I'm gonna order the 3 tires and have them installed locally. I am definitely looking to keep the costs down, whichis why I'm just going to match the tires. The Sumitomos seem to be decent tires according to my research.

I'll probably do a tune-up on the engine as well as change the fluids.

One problem that I forgot about is that the motorirzed driver side seatbelt doesn't move. It just stays in the "door shut" position. This is better than the alternative and luckily the seatbelt can be unbuckled unlike the late 80s/early 90s Toyota Camry motorized seatbelts.

jporky99

w3rd! don't go to walmart!

Boston

Michelins are good, but the car already has a nearly new Sumitomo tire on there and I liked the reviews, so I thought I'd round out the set with 3 more.

I'm downloading that PDF manual as we speak. Should be done in 10 minutes Thanks!

Boston

It's 1200 pages?

As for the alloys, I dunno man, I'm new to this import game. They look like good wheels. As long as they hold the rubber, I'll be as excited as you

protejay

if you take care of it... it'll take care of you

original owner of my 91 and it now has 220K - with *no* signs of dying....

i did replace the rear calipers with ones from a wrecked pro. the parking brake mechanism had apparently corroded due to the salt/snow from 9 yrs of driving in NC and MT. this seems to be a fairly common problem.

other than that, its just normal wear/tear items - i've never had to replace the alternator, power steering pump, distributor, starter, or fuel pump.

bty: the LX's *did* come with stock Enkei alloys, but yours aren't the stock ones.

NoFear

nice clean car for the year. the interior is also pretty clean

demoninvictus

possessed seat belts, weak windows, failing electrical things.. they're very common BUT small to deal with. your rear bulb... if your mechanic couldn't fix that, he needs help. just open your trunk, and you'll see a white cap with wires going into it, just twist it and pull it out, the bulb is right there. i believe it's an 1156 bulb.. if not, 1157... which ever is a single element bulb. As for the 60 amp BTN fuse under your hood... my 94 manual says HAZARD, ROOM, DOOR LOCK, STOP, and TAIL fuses.. basically, i'm assuming, breaks power to both your power door locks, your clock, your interior light, your trunk light, your hazard lights, brake lights, your horn, your tail lights, side marker lights, parking lights, your instrument cluster illumination, and your liscence plate lights. now this is according to my owners manual... which is a little more direct than the 323's manual i would hope. what the hell all this means to you? you probably have a short in your electrical system that is constantly causing a drain on your battery. solution?? i have no clue... but welcome to the club and much of luck to you bud.. car looks amazing. and those rims are DEFINATELY aftermarket rims... something i wish i had on my car.
peace

Boston

Hey man, thanks for the ideas.

The bulb is good, I checked it already. I'm gonna strip the tape on the wiring harness and see where the break is. The license plate light on the passenger side works, the driver side is the one that doesnt work. It's only about 12" of wiring.

I realize that there is a short in the BTN circuit somewhere. I just couldn't figure out what that circuit is for. There was an aftermarket alarm installed a while ago, and then uninstalled, but shoddily. I'm going to remove the rest of the alarm wiring and then test again for the short.

Thanks for the compliments and the welcome!

Brock - The alloys are "Borbet" wheels, not stock I am guessing.