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.
Mazda Protege check engine light comes on
38 of the 1,074 owner complaints about the Mazda Protege describe check engine light, most of them for the 2003 model year.
- owner complaints
- 38
- worst model year
- 2003
- typical repair cost reported
- $1,500
- typical mileage
- 86,000
By model year
Often reported together
Misfire 7Transmission failure 4Stalling 4Jerking 2Shudder 1Overheating 1Loss of power 1Hesitation 1
Trouble codes mentioned
P0421 1
What owners say
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
Check engine light on no matter what the reading says change all parts will go off but back on and fail inspection mass air flow sensor has been change three times and cayli. Converter twice.
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.
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.
The car began to shutter and dropped from 50 to 25 in seconds. The check engine light (cil) starting flashing and the car began to stutter like it was going to die, I pulled to the side of the road and the car died. Started car again the cil continued to flash, it only would accelerate to 25 miles an hours even with my foot all the way down on the gas. I took it to the a mechanic and the codes were p0421, 171, 300. The mechanic did everything from engine flush, spark plugs, oil, air filters and installed a new catalytic converter but the problem persists. Its now a year later and the car is doing the exact same thing.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Related recalls
Engine and engine cooling: engine
- What is wrong
- The wire rod used in the manufacture of the engine valve springs can develop minute cracks causing breakage of the springs.
- Risk
- This breakage can cause engine chatter, damage to the engine pistons, and cause the engine to stall increasing the potential for an accident.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace all sixteen (16) valve springs in the engine of the affected vehicles.
Recall number 95V033000 · Recall details
Questions about the Mazda Protege check engine light
Why does the check engine light come on in the Mazda Protege?
Owners who report it most often also describe misfire or rough idle, complete transmission failure and engine stalls while driving, and the codes they mention most are P0421.
Which Mazda Protege years have check engine light problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2003 (11 complaints), 2000 (8 complaints) and 1995 (4 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix check engine light on the Mazda Protege?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $1,500 (median of 6 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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