Standard

Hi y'all.

Just picked up a 91 Protege DX for a winter beater, $500 bucks. Not the prettiest one out there.. hail damage, interior's a bit munched up, lots of little things wrong with it. But it runs, drives, and gets me where I need to go. Picked it up last tuesday and already put over 500 miles on it without a hitch.

Anywho, was wandering around the 'net for some info on 'em and realized they have quite a bit of potential. It may be my beater/daily driver but I just can't leave well enough alone As you can see in my sig, I have an '88 Fiero with a bit of work done to it. Currently in the shop because some dork of a kid decided to rear end it while it was parked and do $3400 worth of damage.

So, onto the questions:

1. I need an exhaust, and I figure I might as well go with a cat-back system. Any tips on good ones, and the best places to buy them?

2. The car has drum brakes in the rear, which need alot of work. Has anyone ever done a rear disc conversion with parts from an lX? I'd guess it would be almost bolt on, but some advice would be helpful.

3. The engine has a high idle. No tach, but it sounds like it's running about 2,000 - 2,500 in park. I'm thinking someone adjusted it high to cover other problems, but haven't had a chance to look yet.

I think that's it.. I wish it was an LX, but I pretty much bought it sight unseen from my girlfriend's sister. The funny part is my girlfriend bought a '96 dodge stratus a month ago for $2500 and she's already dumped almost a grand into it cause it's a POS. I tol her not to buy dodge, but women never listen...

UCSBgeek

3. Idle will run a little high (1,500ish) if the car is cold. See if it still does it after driving around.

Standard

Oh, I know that. This sounds more than a little high. First car I've owned without a tach, lol. But, I do know what a high idle sounds like. And it does do it after it has warmed up.

DarkApathy

Welcome new Pro owner! I love my 90 Lx Pro 5 speed. If you haven't already, you'll fall in love with your Pro. Take carez Standard. Later.

demoninvictus

1. cat back for first gens, pace-setter makes one, but rusts to **** in northern climates (salt is it's worst enemy). just go to meineke and dish out the $300 and they'll make you a full cat back with a flowmaster muffler. also, i could have sworn mazdaspeed made some sort of cat-back system, just not fresh in my mind, sorry
2. wil (groHarlem) would be the authority i would assume on rear break conversions.
3. baffles me, i'd check maybe your timing and ignition system?... there is one thing that i can think of, you can retard the idle of the engine by a slight adjustment of the throttle cable (don't know if it's the correct way to do it, but it can be done this way)...if you look next to the throttle body on the right where the cable is at, there is a mechanism you can adjust (two nuts on a threaded bolt).. most likely, this can help you're problem out. i did this and my idle would run really low to the point of stalling when it was adjusted all the way down. it only allows a minor adjustment, but when you get the idle right, should be around the neighborhood of 700 to 950 running warm and temp gauge running half way up.

hope this helps a little and welcome to the club,
peace

kevin

edit: after adjusting your throttle position ( i have no clue what the hell that things called really or what the hell that part is) it may help to check and make sure that your intake is intact, tighten everything up, make sure there is no leaks.

Identity_X

Welcome to the board.

Here's a link that will give you some info on the brake conversion.

http://www.protegeclub.com/forum/sho...ight=disc+drum

You might want to do a search (top right corner) for additional info as I am sure I've seen a few threads about it.

Standard

Thanks guys! Haven't really had time to do anything, as work has been picking up thanks to the warm weather.

I need to set a day aside so I can rip this car apart and fix all the small problems... not enough time and too many things to do.

Bizob

I've had my Pro for over 3 years now, and I used to have an unstable idle on the SOHC (it would hunt for the idle). Then when I got the DOHC, everything was fine. Now, there are 2 problems. First, if I don't give it a little gas when starting, it takes a few seconds before it starts.

Also, it's idling at 2000 rpm, sometimes going up as high as 2300 rpm. I reset my ECU and the idle dropped to 1200 (still high) until I drove it. Now it's back at 2000 all the time. It's not hunting, but it's idling very high. This is giving me a headache because of my loud muffler and the poor fuel economy.

Does anyone know what it might be?

I was thinking it might be the MAS, but I don't want to mess around with that until I've explored my other options.

Thanks in advance for the help.

zenilder

Try replacing your O2 sensor and then resetting your ECU. If you still have the problem it could be a number of problems. Next, I would try replacing your IAC module. It is what sits on the bottom side of your throttle body. You can pick one up at a yard. Just make sure it's in decent condition and buy a new gasket for it. If you're still having idle problems, try replacing the part (I'm not sure what it's called but it allows air to pass from the IAC into the intake manifold) that is on the intake manifold. If you lift the hood and look at the intake manifold, it's on the side facing you and has two small coolant lines running to it. If you don't know which part I'm talking about, I can post a pic like tomorrow or something.

If you're still having probs, go buy a RX7 VAF meter from a yard or dismantler. Check it first to make sure the little clear plastic nipple that protrudes downward into the air duct isn't dirty. I'm not sure if you can get away with cleaning those things or not.

Hope this helps.

Bizob

Those are all non-returnable parts. How can they be checked? I'm not about to spend 1000$ on parts that might not solve my problem...

But that does give me a path to follow, thanks.

I'm hoping someone is going to reply to this saying "Oh yeah, that's happenned to me, it's simple, it's just...." and give me a simple and cheap fix. I see it happen all the time on this board. Just never to me...

So has this happenned to anyone else? Oh yeah, and last night, my Engine light turned on and when I pressed the throttle, it went away. Can that mean anything else?

Thanks

Standard

I actually fixed my high idle recently. My throttle cable was a little tight, and a combination of that and a slightly sticky t.b. wouldn't let it close all the way. So I loosened that up a bit, but then I also had to adjust the base idle using the screw on top of the throttle body. It's under a rubber plug. Turning the screw counter-clockwise opens the air passage and makes it idle higher, and clockwise = lower idle.

Bizob

Yeah, that's the first thing I tried... Nothing changed.... It's as if there's something wrong with the A/F mix or something... When I loosen the idle screw, the engine shimmies. It does'nt "like" idling under 2000 right now. It's not smooth if it's lower. And no, I have'nt modified the cams, so that's not the cause. and it would'nt explain the engine light.

But I'm glad your problem is fixed, Standard!

zenilder

Have you tried adjusting your TPS? It's on the right side of the throttle body. I'm -kind- of having a similar problem. It only shimmies under 750. I have a feeling I have to adjust mine.

Oh.... I did have an idle problem a while back where it didn't want to idle under 1000. After driving hard on the freeway, it would idle around 1500. After I cleaned the throttle body with carb cleaner, it worsened and jumped all the way to frickin' 2grand. ...And yes, the idle screw was all the way down so I couldn't reduce the idle any more.

What I did to fix it was put on my Gude throttle body, which had a good IAC module. Our IAC modules suck in the aspect that it has a magnet core inside the module itself that cannot be removed to be cleaned or replaced. Once the damn thing loses it's magnetism, you have to replace it. Just go to the yard and see if you can find one. It'll cost you like 15-20 bucks. Most likely will fix your problem unless you find a F'ed one.

I think once I finish my NA engine, I'm going to work on something to replace that frickin' thing with something more versatile. If I come up with anything, I'll let you know.

Bizob

Everything seems to be better... my TPS sensor connector was loose!!! YAY!!! IT was a simple stupid solution!!! (knocks on wood...)

And the idle screw also helped....

THanks everyone!!

Standard

Good to hear man!! Sometimes it's the simple things that cause the most grief.