2003 Mazda Protege: check engine light

Filed Mar 16, 2020 · Engine · 188,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 mazda protege. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle stalled with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the engine and timing belt needed to be replaced. The engine was taken apart and the mechanic found a screw inside of the intake valve. The vehicle was not repaired. An unknown dealer was contacted and informed of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 188,000.

Filed Mar 2, 2020 · Engine · 130,280 miles · CA

Rough idle causing to stall while driving, check engine light on for cylinder misfire, found cylinder 4 with a bent spark plug with the gap closed. Replaced all 4 plugs car ran fine for a few months only to have the same issue cylinder misfire with cylinder 4 with another bent plug gap closed. Possible something loose inside cylinder 4 causing the misfire issues to the plug. Mileage 130,280

Filed Jul 23, 2013 · Engine · 114,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 mazda protege. The contact stated that while driving 45 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis where it was stated that the intake manifold needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 114,000.

Filed Apr 17, 2013 · Engine · 102,778 miles · MN

On at least 3-5 occasions this 2.0l engine has suffered the exact same fate as the federal safety agency id# 10422484. Check engine light on, misfiring, associated noise sounding like a bolt / screw bouncing around in the engine for maybe 15 seconds, then would return to normal. Each time there has been a different cylinder misfire, upon spark plug removal it was found the gap was closed causing no spark. Each time, a new plug was installed and corrected the immediate problem. After seeing these complaints and a recall regarding this issue I realized I've had the same issue. Don't know if my VIN # is in the effected range or not. Car now has 123105 miles. Would hope that mazda would cover any vehicle with this problem.

Filed Aug 27, 2010 · Engine · 101,000 miles · PA

While driving on highway at about 60 MPH for 40 minutes, the car began sputtering, jerking, making noises, losing acceleration and the check engine light came on. It initially felt like someone was taking their foot on and off the gas. We pulled off road and were towed to our garage. Mechanic found that the spark plug for cylinder 4 was smashed shut, he replaced it and told us to take it to the dealer since this was the 3rd time we had this problem. In dec of 2009 the spark plug for cylinder 1 had same problem then again in feb 2010 it was the plugs for 1 & 4. Each time we were driving at 55 MPH or higher when car began to sputter then check engine light came on. Mazda is telling us nothing is in the engine, the compression is fine and they have no idea why spark plugs are getting smashed. The first time it happened our mechanic thought it was bad spark plug and replaced it free of charge, the second time we took it to the dealer who could find nothing. It is now at the dealer again and they are saying the only thing they could do is take the engine apart and look but have no guarantee of finding anything and it could cost $1500. They removed spark plug, checked for debris and tested the compression. They also used a magnet to search for foreign body in cylinder and found nothing.

Filed Feb 26, 2008 · Engine · 67,000 miles · OR

Loud rattling noise at highway speed, engine light came on. Took to mazda dealership, found problem to be butterfly valve screws backing out and falling into intake manifold. Estimated repair cost ~$900.00.

Filed Jan 15, 2008 · Engine · 129,000 miles · CA

While driving to work my car began to shudder and hiccup. Then the engine light cam on so I pulled off the highway. I started it back up and the car had a more serious shudder. I got it to a local service station and they ran a computer diagnostic and said it was a misfire in the #4 cylinder. The sparkplug was smashed. Nothing was found in the cylinder so the sparkplug was replaced and temporarily fixed the problem. Two weeks later the same shudder problem and again the engine light came on. This time the #1 cylinder was the problem and again with the same smashed sparkplug. My mechanic thought it was a very odd occurrence and checked and found the recall #3005c. My local mazda dealer then said my VIN# did not fall within the range of the recall and yet there seems to be many people with this problem. It looks like mazda is trying to avoid this problem.

Filed Dec 27, 2007 · Engine · 80,000 miles · DE

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mazda protg. The contact stated that the check engine light illuminated. The mechanic checked the codes and stated that the engine misfired. The current mileage was 84,000 and failure mileage was 80,000.

Filed Apr 12, 2007 · Engine · 100,000 miles · OH

I purchased vehicle new in jan 04. While exiting the freeway, I felt a "hiccup" in the engine at which time it ran very poorly and check engine light came. The serpentine belt had also jumped about 25% off drive pulleys. I was traveling out of town at this time and took it to a local service station. Technician identified problem as an engine misfire and installed a new belt. I decided not to have service station perform any additional diagnosis preferring take vehicle to dealership instead. Dealership determined that a spark plug had failed and came apart. Dealership then replaced all spark plugs. Vehicle ran fine. Appx 1 month later, exact symptoms occurred - engine hiccup, rough idle, check engine light. Again I took to dealership. Master tech was assigned to my vehicle this time and determined cause to be shutter valve screws had come loose from the intake manifold and entered engine causing damage to spark plug. Technician informed me of recall # 3005c that had been issued and that he would contact his regional service manager to request the repair be covered by mazda. Regional svc mgr declined to cover costs stating my specific VIN was not in the effected range and that my mileage was too high. I looked up the recall and determined the recall issue date to be 6/1/05. At that time my mileage would have been 40,000 to 50,000 miles. I then contacted mazda USA customer assistance - reference number 112751060. I was told that mazda would not cover the expense because my VIN # was not in the range of effected vehicles. I was also told that VIN range was determined by the federal safety agency and not by mazda and that it was illegal for mazda to pay for the repair expense. I believe this to be a lie on the part of mazda. I believe mazda is not accepting its' responsibility to the consumer because this would be admitting the problem is larger than the original scope and will cost the company a substantial amount of money.

Filed Sep 25, 2006 · Engine · 67,000 miles · CA

Dt*: the contact stated the check engine light illuminated and the vehicle began hesitating. The vehicle was taken to an independent repair shop, who determined the computer gave a code stating a misfire in the first cylinder. The spark plug was taken off and the gap was closed. The air intake manifold was then taken off and the screw had come off, this closed the gap on the spark plug. The intake manifold was being replaced.

Filed Sep 2, 2004 · Transmission · 87,700 miles · TN

Overdrive light flashed on and off, and check engine light stayed on. Transmission shifted hard. Dealer discovered four solenoids defective because they were steel plated. Manufacturer stated consumer will have to repair at his own cost.*ak the consumer stated that 4 soleroids inside the transmission are going bad. Steel plates in transmission show thermal damage. Rear door locks not functioning and making a shorting sound.