Hey guys,

So I have a 2000 Protege, and the odometer is reading 173,000km's..but after doing a bunch of work on it I'm getting a suspicion that it's actually a *lot* higher than that.

Anyone know how I can get just enough off to inspect the belt, without going through all the steps of replacing it?

 

Take off the valve cover and you should be able to see the timing belt.

Did you just buy this car at 173,000 km's (107,497 miles)? If you don't know the maintenance history I would bite the bullet and change belt, water pump, drive belts, camshaft/cranshaft seals.
I bought a 2000 Mazda Protege with 133,000 miles on it and original timing belt. I did change belt, water pump and associated hardware out.