One problem I've had with my Mazda Protege is that Mazda decided to use cheap plastic in their design for automatic door locks, door handles and window regulators. In fact, I've had to replace the driver side, front window regulator twice, the driver side, rear locking mechanism twice, the passenger side, rear locking mechanism once and the driver's side, front interior door handle once. Perhaps it's not so much cheap as it is poor engineering after all Southern Arizona does average over 100° for several months in the summer - not a good complement to plastic. Whatever the reason, when the driver's side window regulator went out again on my 2003 Mazda Protege I was faced with a decision: Take... → Read More

Mazda Protege/Protege 5 Air intake Hose The adventure, The Process, and The How-To Video A couple of weeks ago I took the car to get an oil change at Brake Masters. They did their usual awesome job of getting me in and out quickly; changing the oil, rotating the tires and making recommendations as to other maintenance issues. Along with the oil change, I had them replace the air filter and was on my way in less than 1/2 hour. A few days later I noticed that my Mazda Protege was starting to lug off the line. At first, I assumed it was because it's the time of year here in Arizona that we switch from shoes to flip-flops and I was... → Read More

On a trip to the local bookstore the other day, I pulled to a stop and tried to get out but the door was jammed. At first, I thought it was the humidity forming a seal between the Mazda Protege's door frame and door (not uncommon after a monsoon rain). I tried putting my shoulder into it, but the door wouldn't budge - so of course, I got a bit peeved and tried harder. In the process the door handle came off, needless to say, I was truly irked; to get out of my Protege I had to roll down the window and open it from outside, ironically something I hadn't thought of before tearing the handle off. Once back... → Read More

Mazda Protege A/C Fan Stops and Starts Randomly For a while now, the heating/air conditioning fan has been going in and out on my 2003 Protege. It seemed completely random until one day I realized going over some bumps would cause it to go off or on. Then I discovered that sometimes shutting the glove box or the front passenger door would knock it out. Over time the issue became worse and the blower wouldn't turn on at all for long periods of time. At first, I thought it might be a loose connector or wire, but I had no idea where to look; so the obvious next step was to search online for the solution. Unfortunately, I couldn't find... → Read More