ucfswimmer

Hey guys,

I'm new to the Mazda family as I've just purchased my very first car.

I bought this '94 Mazda Protege DX (SOHC) from a lady when it had about 115,600 miles on it. I've since put on 100 miles in this past week and noticed that it has been running just fine.

I have replaced the oil, oil filter, spark plugs, wireset, head unit & speakers and am about to change the air filter but I had 2 questions.

When the car is idleing at a stop light for example, it will shudder. Not too bad, but hard enough that the entire steering wheel will shake. It gets worse if I turn the AC on. Some people have told me that the ac is putting pressure on the engine and that it may need new motor mounts. But seeing as how much I know about computers is how little I know about cars, I decided to get some second options.

Has anyone else experience this and if so, what caused it and what did you do to fix it? Thanks.

Lastly, what the heck does the 'Hold' button on the gear shift do? I haven't yet looked it up in the manual, was just curious as to whether someone could explain it to me?

One more thing I guess...are there any care or performance tips anybody could recommend to me for this car? Either to maintain it's life or add a few more horsepower. Thanks.

~jeff~

Maz94Protege

Congrats and Welcome! Hope u like it here. some to most of the posts are all repeats...but alot of good topics are discussed here. Jus make urself at home and enjoy!
Im Justin by the way!

Identity_X

welcome!

the 'shaking' seems to be a common problem. Check your intake hose for cracks. you might also want to replace the fuel filter if it's never been done.

if you have any additional questions, make sure you search the site because a lot has been covered.

there's a lot of performance parts available. what exactly are you looking for?

ucfswimmer

Well...

I did want to find out about the seatbelt beeping...

I tried going to http://mazdaprotege.net/tech/howto/ but it seems as if the site is down. Are there any other guides or how-tos on how to fix this problem?

I just found out today from the lady I bought the car from that she completely unplugged the fuse box (?) for just this exact same reason. I would like to fix that.

As far as the mod's go. Any suggestions on a replacement air filter?

I'm looking for the most efficient mods for both fuel efficiency & power. I'm not going to be racing or going to shows. But I like to toy around with electronics/mechanics so anything I could do would be great. As I said, I am completely oblivious to car stuff so bear with me. =)

Thanks for the responses guys.

~jeff~

beachnut

LOL ... unless you get bit by the Protege bug like I have - my friends tell me I've got it bad!

As far as the seatbelt thingy goes try this Stupid Seatbelt thread and look for the post by Proteus - he helped me fix mine.

Welcome to the club btw, fellow Floridian and '94 owner!

MDTGGI

hey dude, welcome to the club

just so you know, my car does the same thing, i have a 94 LX and when i am at a stop light it shudders, shimmies, shaked, and pretty much dances a little jig for me, so you are not the only one. As for the problem, i have no idea why it does that, but i do know that if you shift into nuetural it will idle a little higher and this tends to reduce the shaking (perhaps the idle has something to do with the problem......). if nothing else, just think of it as a built in had massager lol

the hold button on the other hand, as far as i have been told anyways, keeps the trany from shifting. Take for instance you want to pass some one on the highway but you dont want to down shift, well since you have an auto the computer does it for you, but if you push the hold button and turn it on, it will keep the trans from shifting down and you will pass them in the same gear with out shifting. I think though that it was designed to originaly be used when you have to go up hill and you need to stay in low gear, but i could be wrong.

any ways welcome again

UCSBgeek

It makes the top gear 1 less IE

4(D) --> 3
3(S) --> 2
2(L) --> 1

And I'm not exactly sure but it seems to affecting the shifting pattern, I think if you have it set in second gear (lever all the way down or one down with hold on) it'll start in second.

Identity_X

as for the air filter. you could replace it with a cone filter. I got mine from MMR for like $70, but you can find one for around $20 at your local auto store. There is also an intake system on www.nopionline.com but it's a little pricey. If you like toying with stuff then you might be better off making your own design.
Here's Darryl's helpful website. You can get a few ideas from there.
http://www.automediazone.com/pro/intake_TB-VAF.htm
http://www.automediazone.com/pro/CA_intake.htm

Identity_X

check the link to this thread.
I guess Darryl is making some for sale. Get in contact with him if you are interested.

http://www.protegeclub.com/forum/sho...5&pagenumber=1

Maz94Protege

Look at ur throttle body
there is a hole where a screw is located. THis is your Idle speed adjuster, try settin ur idle up to 750-1000 rpms. Tell me if the shuttle shaking u have goes away. it should. if not, e-mail me the exact problem and ill take it to my work. I work as a helper in a Mazda Service shop. One of my guys might be able to tell me whats goin on.

Hope it helps a lil bit.

ucfswimmer

Will do that. Specifically:

It only shudders when in gear, when it's in neutral or park it purrs like a kitten.

It only shudders when stopped, there is no noticable shaking when the car is in motion and accelerating.

As I said above too, the shaking gets worse when the AC & fan are on.

I will check out what you said and see if that helps at all, it seems to be idling at about 800rpms, so i don't think that is it though but I'll check it out.

Thanks again for the replies guys.

~jeff~

Ghost

ucfswimmer,

I have a 93 1.8 SOHC and experienced the same problem back in 95.Your idling problem is most likely related to a misadjustment on the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS). It is identified by a harness plug attached to the throttle body. I have to find notes that I got from a friend of mine who was a Mazda Service Tech. It had the adjustment values needed to properly tune the TPS. Immediately after messing with the TPS my engine never stuttered again and is still running smooth going on to 175,000 miles. As soon as I find them, I'll post it
Peace

ucfswimmer

that would be great man. thanks.

~jeff~

ucfswimmer

i stopped by an auto mechanic today to get my oil changed...whoever did it the last time overtighten the bolt to the oil pan and so i couldnt get it off myself. anyways, the mechanic seemed knowledgeable enough and when he had the car up on the lift, i asked him about my problem.

he took a look around at the motor mounts and said that it was more than likely the rear transmission motor mount since he saw a gap there. does this sound like a plausible cause for this problem or should i still look into the throttle position sensor?

~jeff~