I have a '93 Protoge (LX?). 5sp, 1.8 DOHC. I bought it with 120K+ on it and now have 160K+. LOVE the car!!! But here are a few "quirks" I'm having with it and just wonder how many of you have experienced the same and maybe have fixes, info. on them and are any perhaps recalls from Mazda, etc.???

1. seat belt light comes on and beeps a lot from the driver's side belt

2. oil from inside the distributor housing leaking into distributor cap

3. rear driver's side caliper park break lever sticks (even after lubing it)

4. shifting lever gets stiff... pulled the pivot pins on the linkage, cleaned, lubed, and reassembled and worked great for a few days, but get "gummed up" again constantly

5. rear driver's side door lock gets almost impossible to move up and down

6. driver's side window linkage "pops" and "snaps" as it goes up and down especially in cold weather (I'm sure it's regulator trouble, just don't want to admit that to myself )

7. went to check timing and the two places the manual says to place a jumper wire don't match what's actually in the connector

That's pretty much all I can think of. Seems like a lot, but in light of the cars age and miles, these are pretty minor issues.

Thanks!!

 

I agree, it's a great little car. Economical too. However the
only problem I been having on your list is the door locks
getting stuck and being hard to move up and down, only on
my rear doors though. Lucky?

Guess I'am going to have to take the ole door panels of this
spring and clean the black sealent of the mechanisms.

Regards

 

my main prob is my back doors, windows and locks are very stiff, gets more stiff when not used or under extreme cold...

 

The gummy back door locks is almost certainly due to the black tar-like sealant that gets on the lock mechanisms. For me it got bad in the summer because the sealant seems to get soft and goop into the door panel... as well as onto the door jam and sometimes my shoes and pants. Annoying. Anyhow, i used some gasoline on a rag and it ate right through it.
Tony

 

The lock on my rear driver's side door sticks a little too. And there was that beeping problem from the seat belt. I haven't had any of the other problems though.
('91 DX 1.8L SOHC 5-Speed)

WJM

 

That would be the little gear on the seatbelt reel under the center console behind the parking brake. If you unplug the four-wire connector and jump the wires (the two left and the two right) you can fix the problem so that it'll never beep again

Leaky cam seal.

Mine does that too... check the little adjustment allen key to see if it's over adjusted.

Have you checked your oil level in your tranny? That can cause shifting issues if the oil is old or the level is too low. You have to remove the speedo-cable (one 10mm bolt) to check the fluid level, it should be up to the top of the red gear.

Probably the black tar stuff that holds the plastic up to the inside of the door... pop the door panel off and you can find out for sure.

Pop off the door panel, and lube up every moving part... 1st gen LX's all have power window issues I believe

It should be the "TEN" and "GND" on the diagnostic port... a paperclip works

Those are pretty minor issues, the hardest thing on your list is probably the cam seal, i'm not sure how much they cost but i'm certain installation is a pain.

 

lscrx - Thanks a lot! Very to the point. I feel like a heel! I didn't even think about the park adjustment on the caliper! Well, that's why we ask I guess. Again - thanks!

 

no sweat! stick to the forums and you'll learn all kinds of stuff!

 

Yeah! I'm learing!

 

...learNing... *** oops.