10.0

really awful
Typical Repair Cost:
No data
Average Mileage:
198,000 miles
Total Complaints:
1 complaints

Most Common Solutions:

  1. replace engine (1 reports)
1997 Mazda Protege engine problems

engine problem

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1997 Mazda Protege Owner Comments

problem #1

Jan 112017

Protege DX

  • Manual transmission
  • 198,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

It was -4 degrees outside, I started the car. There was a slight clanging noise coming from the engine as I got going. When I got onto the highway it became really bad like there was gravel in the cylinders clanging and grinding around. I pulled over into a parking lot and stopped the engine. I had it towed, and the next time I tried starting it all I heard was the starter motor trying to turn over the engine. You could feel a slight lurch each time you do it, but it never could get the engine to move. I'm guessing my engine is toast.

All I know is that the oil pressure light was on (I had checked the oil level just one or two days previous and it was fine). It would come on whenever it was cold and the engine hadn't warmed up yet. I infer from this that the oil pump had failed, or wasn't able to pump the thick oil through the engine enough to lubricate the cylinders. This led to the engine overheating on some component and it failing.

If anyone thinks it was something else, please feel free to post feedback.

- David P., Salt Lake City, UT, US

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