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2003 Mazda Protege: engine knocking or ticking

6 of the 120 complaints about the 2003 Mazda Protege describe engine knocking or ticking.

owner complaints
6
of this car's complaints
5%
typical mileage
14,475
recalls
0
Is there a fix? 12 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Engine knocking or ticking by model year

  • 2003
    6
  • 2002
    1
  • 2001
    3
  • 1998
    2
  • 1993
    1

What owners say

Filed Oct 25, 2013 · Engine · 13,200 miles · NC

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 mazda protege. The contact attempted to start the vehicle but the engine failed to start accompanied by an abnormal knocking from the engine. The contact also mentioned that the failure occurred more often when the engine was cold. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 13,200.

Filed Jul 5, 2007 · Engine · 58,000 miles · OH

Purchased a pre owned 2003 mazda protege with approximately 50,000 miles on it. I drove the vehicle for about 4000 miles before there was an engine failure. There were no events that lead up to this incident. The engine began to make a loud knocking noise. I had it towed to the dealer of purchase. A screw on an the intake came loose and went into the engine cylinder. Damage caused the engine to need to be replaced. Mazda has recall 3005c for this problem for the exact year, model, and engine as the one I purchased. However, the VIN number was a few thousand numbers outside of the recall range. Im stuck with a 15,000 piece of junk.

Filed Jul 31, 2005 · Fuel system · 32,000 miles · MS

I have had two occurrences of screws from the butterfly valves on the vtcs system from the intake of my 2003 mazda protege 5 coming loose and being sucked into the combustion chamber of the vehicle. Each instance has caused the piston to knock the screw into the spark plug, thereby causing failure of a spark plug, which causes the engine to misfire to the point where it is undrivable, thereby leaving me stranded on the side of the road. The first incident was misdiagnosed (spark plug replaced). The second was diagnosed correctly and the intake manifold assembly was replaced. This is a widespread problem with the 2.0l fs-ze mazda engine. Many other owners have had the problem. For more information to demonstrate the prevalence of the problem, please visit http://www.msprotege.com and search using the keywords "vcts" and "screw". You will see many threads where people are discussing this problem.

Filed Jan 11, 2005 · Engine · 14,475 miles · PA

Car stalled at red light, there was a loud knocking sound coming from the engine. After stalling t more times the car ran for another 3 minutes to ge me home for the evening. I then to it to my local mazda service center.

Filed Jan 2, 2004 · Engine · 5,600 miles · LA

There's a knocking sound coming from the engine when started in the morning.

Filed May 20, 2003 · Engine · NY

When the vehicle was started a knocking noise was heard. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and was unable to determine the problem.

Questions about the 2003 Mazda Protege knocking

Is engine knocking or ticking a common problem on the 2003 Mazda Protege?

6 of 120 owner complaints about the 2003 Mazda Protege (5%) mention engine knocking or ticking. The model year with the most reports is 2003.

Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2003 Mazda Protege?

There are 0 recalls and 12 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.

Other symptoms on the 2003 Mazda Protege

Seat belt 14Misfire 12Stalling 12Check engine light 11Engine failure 8

All model years of the Mazda Protege

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