97 Protege breaks down first day i buy it =(
 

Hello everyone.. this is my first post.. im new to Mazda's.. i own a 90 331 Mustang.. and a 91 TSI AWD talon.. and i bought this protege for a daily.... its very clean and has 112k miles on it.. i bought it in pennsylvania( i live in ohio) and i drove it all the way home with no problems.. i took it out today.. and its blowing huge clouds of white smoke... and overheating.. so from past experience im thinkin its a head gasket.. are there known problems with these cars and head gaskets? or warped or cracked heads with only 112k? how hard is it to swap a head out on a DOHC motor? ive only swapped heads on the Ford 5.0 motors... NE help is GREATLY appreciated.. thanks everyone


andre.

2 questions:

#1. Did you check all of the fluid levels prior to driving it so far? If it was low on coolant it may have stayed cool enough to keep from overheating at highway speeds but now is warped too badly keep the headgasket sealed.

#2. What is a 331 Mustang?? Are you saying it has a 331c.i.d. stroker motor in it?

Yes i checked all the fluids.. and test drove it.. and drove it over 30 miles before i took it on the highway... and everything was ok on it.. then today i try to take it for a ride and it was just shooting huge clouds of smoke.. yes.. by 331 i mean a 331ci mustang..

there are no issues as fas as head gaskets on any model protege AFAIK...head is not that hard to do if you are mechanically inclined...however obviously you would need to go to a machine shop or something to get the head shaved, as the gasket going warped it...honestly for the amount of work involved though and cost it is far easier to get another engine and drop it in..possibly a 1.8 BP if you can find it!

all take all of these into considerations.. im not really interested in a new motor.. i have swapped out tons of heads before on mustangs... im sure thatt i would be able to handle the head... i guess ill just pull it off and have it looked at by my machine shop... ne more replies is appreciated... thanks..

Ya i bet you its the head gasket lol. I had the same exhaust problem. A few weeks after I bought my protege, white smoke came from the exhaust and it overheated like hell and it still did after the gasket was changed until my mechanic fixed it. But ya sounds like the gasket