I just bought my daughter a 1999 Mazda Protege. So far I am pretty impressed with it. I knew it had issues when I bought it and I have been working on those. It has 155,000 miles on it and a ding here and there. The interior is immaculate. I have replaced the TPS Sensor (because of the code) and the O2 Sensor (because that code came up after I replaced the TPS Sensor). I have also replaced all of the radiator hoses and of course did an oil and oil filter change. Brakes look good and I cannot find any leaks over and under the engine.

My question to all of you owners is perhaps what I can expect out of this car over the next three or so years. It is an ES with the 1.8 double overhead cam engine in it. Ran pretty sweet even before I did any work on it and now it runs about as good as I have seen any small engine run.

Any advice from any of you would be greatly appreciated. I can also help with any problems you might be having as I am well versed in all types of engine problems.

 

Hi Barry - let me see if i can look in the ol' crystal ball. I have a 99 DX with the 1.6 and manual trans (now with 205,000 mi), so I believe most of this should apply....That being said and not knowing what other work has been done on the car, here we go:

Engine - except for the rubber parts you've already replaced, you can expect to replace most of everything else, especially the air intake boot between the air filter and throttle body. I once had a crank/oil pump seal fail which created a nice mess under the car after hard driving - not common. The vacuum hose between the engine and power brake booster will fail and create a pesky vacuum leak that can be hard to find. Camshaft timing components, i.e. - the belt, tensioner, and idler are due if they haven't been changed within the past 60-70 K-miles. While you're in there, replace that water pump also. Plan on replacing plug wires, as well as a coil pack or two. Of course, the starter, alternator, power steering pump, and A/C compressor (if equipped) could be on the list as well (I have had good luck with these items so far - knock on wood...). Hopefully your engine is in sound mechanical condition because you know what that means. I've been fortunate in that the majority of engine emissions and management sensors (crank/cam, etc) on my car have been pretty reliable - knock on wood again.

Chassis - By now, the car should have had the front struts replaced as they are probably worn. Maybe the same story for the rear struts. The lower ball joints are probably getting loose (check the protective boots on them for cracks/breaks). Same for the outer tie rod ends. One note about the lower ball joints - if they are bad, the entire lower control arm has to be replaced (at least on mine), as they are not removable from the arms. The axle shafts are also probably getting tired if they are the originals. Again, check the inner/outer CV boots for breaks or leaking lubricant or clicking noises on turns. Mine went bad at about this mileage.

Other - Catalytic convertor on mine started to fail at around your mileage, and I think it starts kicking out the P0420 code (catalyst efficiency). If you have a manual trans, then you might start thinking about the clutch - depending on how it was previously driven. If it has an automatic, hopefully it has been serviced properly in the past. Lastly, the cast iron exhaust manifold (at least on mine) got tired after all the hot/cold cycles and eventually cracked at around 170,000 mi. Just something else to keep an eye on...

Hope this helps and I know it's not all-inclusive...just things I have dealt with over the past 6 years of ownership. I'm sure that others here can add on to this. As you know, good PM is the key.....Good Luck

Jim