Hi Everyone. I'm a Mazda noob.

Last week we bought a 1997 Protege to replace the Chevy Prizm that my college student daughter lost in a rush-hour traffic accident. (no injuries, luckily!) It's going back to school in Texas with her in a few weeks. The paint is typical for a car that has spent 15 years in the New Mexico sun (clearcoat is missing from all the horizontal surfaces and much of the passenger side), but it came with only 70,000 miles on it. The seller said he had never changed the timing belt so I did that a few days ago and have an oil change planned for today.

A few questions:

I noticed that the fat round cuffs where the axles join the transaxle are green in color. Do they come like that, or are these aftermarket replacements?

I didn't change the water pump while the timing cover was off. I tried, but could not get the bolts off the inlet hose under the AC pump and my hands were already scratched and swollen from working in all the tight places; I decided to close it up while I had some skin left. (I'm naming the car "JAWS".) How many miles can I expect the original to last?

Spring Break or Summer I plan on changing tranny fluid / filter. Do you have any other suggestions to keep this a reliable college car?

Thanks!

 

I'm guessing the fat round cuffs are actually the inner CV joints? Yes they most likely factory.

Water pumps may last 150,000miles or they may fail at 50,00 miles.

Give it a good tune up, plugs & filters etc, new coolant & thermostat. Flush the brake fluid too.

 

with only 70,000 miles chances are he did not change spark plugs. You may also consider new ignition coils on that old a vehicle as well as changing the PCV valve, cleaning the throttle body and cleaning the egr valve. You will be there anyway when doing the spark plugs, so do all of the above.

 

Just an update:

Spark Plugs look good and not worn so I'm letting it go for now.
There are no individual coil packs on the '97 but I checked the distributor and the cap and rotor look good. There is no way to replace just the coil, and the distributor goes for 400 bucks at Autozone so I'm going to wait till it fails.
I was assuming the CV joint was limited to the parts under the boot, but I was only curious; the axles seem fine, but thanks for the info! Brake fluid is light in color so it should be pretty fresh, and I changed the coolant myself.

Thanks everyone. I look forward to learning from you all!

 

Brake fluid cannot be judged by sight. It must be electronically tested.

Brake fluid is HYDROSCOPIC, which means it absorbs moisture. Failure to replace brake fluid can cause failure of critical brake components, and the dreaded brake failure due to the moisture content in the fluid boiling, creating vapour lock.

 

Bstew7890:
Welcome to the forum. Look at the stickies: there is an "Unofficial User's Guide" to this very model.
I replaced my distributor at about 160000miles with a Cardone ordered from RockAuto.com it was about 200 bucks. I doubt that you need one.
The boots on our '98 are black. That doesn't mean anything because I don't know if they are original.
I wouldn't even worry about testing the brake fluid. Replacing it is less than $10. Just do it.

 

the boots. if they are ok, then leave them alone. the water pump.... well, if it is driven by the timing belt, the moment to replace it was when you replaced the belt. most of the work to replace it is removing/replacing the timing belt (again, if it is driven by that belt). i had a water pump failure because the impeller blades were so eroded that all of them broke off. the car overheated, my son did not stop right away and i ended up replacing a head gasket and taking the cylinder head to a machine shop. probably the previous owner replaced the belt but did not replace the pump. 124k miles later, it blew up on my face. if your cars water pump is driven by the timing belt, replace it.

 

I have (my son has) the same engine. The water pump is driven by a serpentine belt, not the timing belt.
His car has now 180K on the odometer and I have no idea if the water pump was ever changed.
These cars are very tough. Just make sure to get quality replacement parts when you need to replace something.

Obviously, you are concerned that your daughter might get stranded somewhere. You may want to look for a trustworthy mechanic at her college town, that way she has a place to go to if a concern arises. Also make sure she has the roadside assistance number handy that possibly comes with the insurance or get a AAA membership for her. And have an extra grand in the emergency fund. Not for the car, for your peace of mind.

If the car runs well now, hand it over to her.

 

replace the water pump.

 

If there is no sign of seepage from the pump & the coolant is new & clean then there is no need to replace it. Its unnecessary at this point. 70,000 miles isn't huge.