njaremka

what did i do today? i took some pictures

D-rock240

Allright guys, so mazda is telling me I have to pay up to 120 to have a "Mazda Mechanic" to diagnose the issue before they will believe me, although from what I've read it definitely happened.

Here is the VICS thread on Msprotege:

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showt...hp?t=123619298

And in that thread, there is this description:

"1. Right before the screw/s will enter the combustion chamber (1-10 seconds interval) you will feel your vehicle bucking/jerking for a split second . If the screws just bang around inside the cylinder head, close your spark plug gap and then come out through the exhaust (thats when clunking stops), you will get a CEL but the vehicle still will be in a drivable condition."

That is exactly what happened. The fact that they say there is no recall listed on my car makes me think they are going to deny it even if I shell out the loot. What do you think? Should I bother trying to get them to fix it, or just get started on rebuilding the protege5 engine and get a hiboost kit? I'll be taking the protege5 intake manifold out monday and fixing it before putting it on my car.

aMaff

I'd get the cylinder scoped out to see if there's any scoring. If not, put a new plug in, pop the intake many open and pull your VTCS and you'll be good.

_Kansei_

If you had every symptom but one --the spark plug damage, then that would be a MAF INPUT TOO HIGH situation.

violent bucking, loss of power, etc. Happens when the MAF gets wet. i.e. if I get stuck in traffic in the rain.

aMaff

where the f is your filter!? And why not get a bypass for it? They're like $10

_Kansei_

bypass won't help. it's not a cold air setup sucking water in. You can see the filter by just standing over my hood. it's not directly underneath the vent, but it is kinda just right next to it, so if the rain is anything but straight down, chances are it'll get it wet.

I just need to get one of those 'heat shield' things for the filter and it'll be A-OK

_Kansei_

I'm still not entirely certain how the water gets all the way to the MAF though.. it has to go in the filter, get sucked into the compressor, shot out the compressor, through the FMIC, up past the BOV and then about 5" from the throttle body is my MAF.

aMaff

I have a feeling it's the same way that air gets in there lol.

You just need to get a SRI 'attachment' to get it out of the rain flow, doofy

_Kansei_

Yeah but.. um temperatures in the compressor are just a little bit higher than ambient , and I doubt the FMIC cools it all down that much.

I just need a nice chrome 'heat shield' .. the ones they make that just attach to the cone filter. It's as far from the rain as I can get it (without making it back into a CAI, which I'm considering because it's easier and I already have a collection of random bent aluminum pipes to use).. it's right behind the driver headlight.

anywhere under the hood gets quite wet.. fuse box, battery, spark plug coils, etc :P

so far it has just been mildly inconvenient, hence I've just been putting up with it since April when I put the hood back on. The car violently bucks once, CEL comes on, then you just baby it for the rest of the day (go nowhere over 4.5k rpms, always as light as possible on the throttle), cel goes away by the end of the day or by the next morning.

I could just get the OEM piece that mitsu uses on the EVO to protect against rain while still allowing some ventilation... but it very much limits said ventilation.

aMaff

It probably flashes to steam, which would make for some REALLY humid air.

_Kansei_

it only happens once every couple months so I'll deal with it when I get new intercooler piping welded sometime before the first snow

JoshP5

Fixed.

It was the one that attaches the strut to the endlink, on the left side.

I was surprised that it was on pretty tight but still clunked--I was able to crank it about 1/4 turn, enough to stop the clunkage.

I'll slap some lock washers on there. Thinking of doing some more spring swapping--you game, Rob?

Nice shots. Looks like a pretty fun road there. The last shot lets you see what you'd look like on polished rims.

Liquid_Ag

front rb?

JoshP5

Dunno, still thinking about it. Might go back to rear Teins and open a new can of worms with a rear swaybar. Will advise.

If it was a screw, I don't think the dealer will let you off for less than $500. Maybe you can beg Mazda to pay if you can prove it was a screw?

There seems to be some ambiguity regarding which system (VICS or VTCS) is the true culprit. Mazda says VTCS, but a lot of guys on msprotege had problems with VICS. My advice is to make sure the screws on all the shutter valves are properly torqued.

Liquid_Ag

see, my vtcs screws came out. i think the sedan guys have vics come out