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.

- Santa Cruz, CA, USA

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

- Bakersfield, CA, USA

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.

- Angier, NC, USA

I recently purchased a '03 Mazda protege5. While driving down the road yesterday at 65 mph, I heard a loud bang and heard something hit the bottom of the car. The car exhaust suddenly became much louder. I immediately pulled off the road. I looked under the car, and the exhaust had come apart. The piece of the exhaust after the cat was hanging about 1 inch from the ground. This piece is after the catalytic converter, near one of the hanging points of the exhaust system. Two bolts, which hold this piece together, and the exhaust gasket were missing. Luckily, there was no damage whatsoever. This problem could have ended tragically.

- Houston, TX, USA

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.

- St Augustine , FL, USA

On at least 3-5 occasions this 2.0L engine has suffered the exact same fate as NHTSA 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.

- Columbia Heights, MN, USA