Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

nezwick's 1998 ProDX worklog

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    nezwick's 1998 ProDX worklog

    A little background info:

    I bought the car as a beater so I could give my Escort some much needed attention and to save it from the PA winter. I didn't really plan to do much with it, or even really care much about it. The guy was asking $850 but I talked him down to $600, which seemed like a good deal at the time. It was inspected, ran well and the transmission shifted smoothly. The seller said it needed nothing, but I could tell it was going to need a rear wheel bearing in the near future. The car was absolutely filthy and the PO smoked in it, but I could tell it was salvageable.

    So I got it home, started doing the routine maintenance such as oil change, plugs and wires, etc etc when I started noticing lots of little indiscretions... a few examples were some hackjob wiring repairs and stereo "upgrades" and I could tell the interior had been taken apart once and not put back together quite right.

    So my girlfriend Nikki and I spent about a week completely gutting the interior, scrubbing and shampooing everything, and reassembling. It came out really nice but still needs some replacement panels to be complete.

    Then the wheel bearing got worse as I drove the car, so I had it replaced.

    Then I took a trip of about 300 miles and the car developed an oil leak. It wasn't bad, just a few drips here and there.

    I spent about $300 on winter tires.

    Then it started leaking out onto the exhaust and smoking everywhere.

    Then it started leaking a whole quart a week.

    Then one day the engine started knocking, the oil pressure light came on, and it struggled to stay running. I checked the oil, noticed it was bone dry, kept adding oil until it was full. Turns out it had lost over 2.5 quarts of oil in just over a week. It wasn't burning the oil, mind you, it was just plain leaking out. This ended up being the death of the motor, so I parked the car and got the Escort back on the road. I contemplated cutting my losses and ditching this POS Protege but I decided it would be better just to replace the engine.

    So I found a place in Pittsburgh that had an engine for $150. I wasn't expecting much for $150 since I paid $300 for my Escort's SPI, but I went with it anyway since it's just a winter beater. Nikki and I drove to Pittsburgh to get it one day, and it is the cleanest junkyard motor I have ever laid eyes on. It looks like it's in awesome shape.

    Last weekend, I started ripping out the old motor and getting ready to install the new one. Today, my dad and I got the new engine prepped and bolted in the car. We have some more work to do tomorrow but we're hoping to get the car back on its feet either tomorrow evening or early Sunday. My Escort's starting to rust really badly and I've only had it on the road for just over a month of winter type weather.

    Well without further adieu, here are some photos. I neglected to take ANY pics when I first got it, or pics of our cleaning job... because I didn't even think I'd care much about the car. Now that I have to put an engine in it, I've decided to keep it as a full-time winter beater / spare car.

    Comments, please!

    ----------------------------------------------------------------

    This is the 1998 Protege DX, 1.5 DOHC with automatic trans. The EGT wheels are from my Escort since I had to put the Protege's steelies/snows on the Escort. I like the colour scheme the PO was going for, but it was poorly executed. I think he used Rust Oleum spray paint or something lol






    Nasty engine bay and subframe/arms






    The filthy old engine and transmission (BUT it has a new starter!)








    All washed up. I did the best I could with some Simple Green and a power washer in 22 degree weather lol








    After disassembly, found the torque converter and transmission shafts appear to be in great shape.








    Pic of flywheel on bad engine. Seems to be in good shape.




    This is what the old engine looks like. It is completely covered in 230,000 miles worth of grime and oil.




    Front side of old engine.




    Evidence that the front main seal was the culprit, or at least one of them. It's even more gross looking in person.




    This is the new engine installed in the car - all the oil on the valve cover and intake mani are just from us handling it. We don't have too much more to go.




    Front shot of the new block - it's a little dirty here but it's nice and dry.




    Another shot of the tangled mess that is a Protege engine bay. It's a whole different ball game than my Pony.

    Last edited by nezwick; 12-25-2009, 08:07 PM.
    1991 Escort Pony:
    2.0 SPI swap, handling and appearance upgrades, and lots of little Mazda goodies (garaged for body work and paint)
    1998 Protege DX:
    Sold 11/05/2011
    1996 Escort LX:
    Front strut bar, short shifter, ES shift stabiliser bushing, fresh paint

    #2
    i got a b6 if you ever want to get rid of the z5


    NEUMAN

    Comment


      #3
      I don't think the car's worth doing anything with other than keeping it stock. Thanks though.

      My goal is to get at least 300,000 on the chassis. It currently has 230,xxx.
      1991 Escort Pony:
      2.0 SPI swap, handling and appearance upgrades, and lots of little Mazda goodies (garaged for body work and paint)
      1998 Protege DX:
      Sold 11/05/2011
      1996 Escort LX:
      Front strut bar, short shifter, ES shift stabiliser bushing, fresh paint

      Comment


        #4
        hopefully the new motor serves you well.

        One correction, the flywheel of an automatic is actually called a flexplate.
        -Dennis
        95 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4 - 191k miles

        I'll be back in the BG game eventually!

        Comment


          #5
          Oh, I did not know that. This is the first time I have ever had to deal with an automatic transmission lol. I guess the Escort's Haynes manual calls it a driveplate or something.

          The engine better serve me well. I'm about sick of fixing things on this car already lol
          1991 Escort Pony:
          2.0 SPI swap, handling and appearance upgrades, and lots of little Mazda goodies (garaged for body work and paint)
          1998 Protege DX:
          Sold 11/05/2011
          1996 Escort LX:
          Front strut bar, short shifter, ES shift stabiliser bushing, fresh paint

          Comment


            #6
            Glad to see you getting the pro back in working order. I'd hate to see the escort rust anymore than it has.
            SPI swapped

            http://www.cardomain.com/id/WhiteLightning96

            Comment


              #7
              Yep, got everything all finished up today and it's running nice and smooth. It had a horrible banging noise coming from the head when first started, but it went away after going for a quick run. Must have been a dry or sticky lifter or something. I'll just have to keep an eye on it.

              Something I forgot to post yesterday is that I discovered that BOTH engines' exhaust manifolds are cracked in the exact same spot. I take it this is a common problem with Z5 exhaust manis? I put the better of the two back on the car and I'm going to have my brother take the other one to school and weld it. It looks like somebody had tried to braze it but it cracked again after the "repair".

              We only had one weird issue with it, and that was trying to get the distributor adjusted to the right position so the car would idle properly. I guess I take my Escort's EDIS for granted.

              The engine runs and idles nice and smooth, and the transmission shifts way smoother than it did before. The fluid that came out of the trans was pretty nasty looking (black, but didn't smell burnt). I have never done anything with an automatic transmission before so I was kinda flying blind but used the Escort's Haynes manual as a guide. Everything was pretty much the same.

              At any rate, I'm going to drive the car a bit tomorrow to make sure everything is acceptable and then I'll have it back on the road and legal for use on Monday. I look forward to getting the Escort off the road again - I have a few plans for it this winter. Just ordered a nice new suspension goodie this morning.
              1991 Escort Pony:
              2.0 SPI swap, handling and appearance upgrades, and lots of little Mazda goodies (garaged for body work and paint)
              1998 Protege DX:
              Sold 11/05/2011
              1996 Escort LX:
              Front strut bar, short shifter, ES shift stabiliser bushing, fresh paint

              Comment


                #8
                Well yesterday on my trip home from Pittsburgh my car sprung a coolant leak. It's coming from under the distributor, so I'm guessing it's either that stupid metal hard line that runs between the water pump and thermostat housing, or it's where the upper hose meets the thermo housing.

                I can continue to drive the car as long as I monitor the coolant level and keep feeding it. I plan to work on that on Saturday afternoon.

                I also gave one of my cracked exhaust manis to my brother to take to school with him to weld up. I should have that back tomorrow night.
                1991 Escort Pony:
                2.0 SPI swap, handling and appearance upgrades, and lots of little Mazda goodies (garaged for body work and paint)
                1998 Protege DX:
                Sold 11/05/2011
                1996 Escort LX:
                Front strut bar, short shifter, ES shift stabiliser bushing, fresh paint

                Comment


                  #9
                  Fixed the coolant leak yesterday. It turned out that a hose clamp was not moved into place during the engine replacement and the pressure must have pushed the rubber hose off of the metal hard line.

                  Then I washed the engine up, and it looks tons better now.

                  When I went to leave for the night, the car was misfiring really badly. Turns out a ton of water had gotten into the spark plug holes. Cleaned out all the water to fix that issue. Also swapped out the cheapie Autolites for some NGK's... it doesn't run QUITE as poorly now... but still has a CEL (has been on since I bought the car). I'm going to borrow my friend's OBDII scanner some time to get that code read.
                  1991 Escort Pony:
                  2.0 SPI swap, handling and appearance upgrades, and lots of little Mazda goodies (garaged for body work and paint)
                  1998 Protege DX:
                  Sold 11/05/2011
                  1996 Escort LX:
                  Front strut bar, short shifter, ES shift stabiliser bushing, fresh paint

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Today I swapped the cracked exhaust mani for the repaired (formerly cracked) exhaust mani. Wow, what a difference... in both sound and smoothness.

                    Worked on troubleshooting my P0135 code... looks like my #1 O2 sensor was garbage. I swapped it with the spare one that came with the junkyard engine, cleared the code, and took it for a few runs. No more codes... for now. Hopefully it stays that way. I'm sure that both the cracked mani and the dead O2 sensor were what was causing the car to run pig rich.

                    Also located ANOTHER coolant leak. This one not so severe, but still present. Looks like the upper rad hose has a tear in it and is seeping. I'll get tomorrow when I go pick up the dust boots and bumpers for my Escort's S/R struts.

                    I have pics of the exhaust manis but I have to wait until my camera's batteries charge back up before I can post them.
                    1991 Escort Pony:
                    2.0 SPI swap, handling and appearance upgrades, and lots of little Mazda goodies (garaged for body work and paint)
                    1998 Protege DX:
                    Sold 11/05/2011
                    1996 Escort LX:
                    Front strut bar, short shifter, ES shift stabiliser bushing, fresh paint

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Still no CEL!!

                      Pics of the manifolds.

                      Cracked mani


                      Crack


                      Repaired mani (isn't pretty but it's welded AND brazed)
                      Last edited by nezwick; 01-24-2010, 08:51 PM.
                      1991 Escort Pony:
                      2.0 SPI swap, handling and appearance upgrades, and lots of little Mazda goodies (garaged for body work and paint)
                      1998 Protege DX:
                      Sold 11/05/2011
                      1996 Escort LX:
                      Front strut bar, short shifter, ES shift stabiliser bushing, fresh paint

                      Comment


                        #12
                        If it works than that is all that matters.
                        SPI swapped

                        http://www.cardomain.com/id/WhiteLightning96

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Well the SOB threw another code yesterday morning... this time it's P0455. Looks like I try to track down the "large" leak in the Evaporative Emission Control System.

                          Replace the gas cap, right?

                          I wonder where the purge valve is on this car. That may also not be working.
                          1991 Escort Pony:
                          2.0 SPI swap, handling and appearance upgrades, and lots of little Mazda goodies (garaged for body work and paint)
                          1998 Protege DX:
                          Sold 11/05/2011
                          1996 Escort LX:
                          Front strut bar, short shifter, ES shift stabiliser bushing, fresh paint

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Fixed ANOTHER! coolant leak last week... the upper radiator hose was leaking around the thermostat housing. Replaced the hose and clamp, and it's good to go.

                            My gas mileage has been sucking lately though... when I first got the car I got anywhere between 27-31 on the highway and now, I'm getting 24-26 highway. There are no more critical CEL codes being thrown... still just the P0455 which I haven't had time to track down yet.
                            1991 Escort Pony:
                            2.0 SPI swap, handling and appearance upgrades, and lots of little Mazda goodies (garaged for body work and paint)
                            1998 Protege DX:
                            Sold 11/05/2011
                            1996 Escort LX:
                            Front strut bar, short shifter, ES shift stabiliser bushing, fresh paint

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Well I'm still driving this car - haven't had any major problems in a long time!

                              It quit throwing the code about the EVAP leak so I don't know what that was all about. Last week I finally broke down and bought a new upstream O2 sensor and it got rid of that code too. So the CEL is finally gone, until something else happens.

                              I also replaced the fuel filter and what a PAIN that was. What is a 15 minute job in the Escort took me 1hr 20mins in this stupid car. I swear, every time I have to work on this car, I want to go back in time and punch the engineers at Mazda in the face. Hard.
                              We are in MD for the weekend and found a ton of parts at the junkyard today - mostly interior parts from LX's. I can't remember all of the things off the top of my head, but this is a basic list:

                              - PLASTIC trunk trim from a '95 (mine had carpet and it was gross)
                              - All four interior door pull latches and lock pulls and grab handle insert thingys (don't know what the real names for any of those parts are lol)
                              - All four black window cranks from MX-3 and BG 323
                              - Upgraded rear centre console piece with armrest and cup-holder (but it's missing the lid)
                              - Rubber hood bumpers (the PO had duct-taped some shop towels to the core support to hold up the hood)
                              - The small plastic bracket that the hood prop clips into because mine no longer held the hood prop
                              - Cubby hole insert for the unused DIN opening
                              - Brake pedal cover
                              - Trunk and fuel door release cable assembly (mine only had fuel door release)
                              - Small storage trays that go on the floor between the front seats and doors

                              We are going to visit another yard tomorrow morning and I'm really hoping to find replacement door panels for the front doors. I know I haven't posted pics of them yet but the PO attempted to spray paint part of them black and completely ruined them. I also hope to find new seats - hopefully from an MX-3. I found some very nice seats from a BJ protege but they wouldn't bolt directly into my BH. There were 2 extremely nice ones out of a Pontiac G5 but they definitely wouldn't fit lol. I also need to find a grill because mine is falling apart.

                              I'll get more pics of the car and the new parts up soon.
                              Last edited by nezwick; 04-03-2010, 08:27 PM.
                              1991 Escort Pony:
                              2.0 SPI swap, handling and appearance upgrades, and lots of little Mazda goodies (garaged for body work and paint)
                              1998 Protege DX:
                              Sold 11/05/2011
                              1996 Escort LX:
                              Front strut bar, short shifter, ES shift stabiliser bushing, fresh paint

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X