Keith's '02 Protege ES Worklog

[Sleezer1533]

Ok so learned some stuff but still bad news and out more money...

Got home from work, checked the O2 sensors ... nothing. Pulled the IM (basically reversing the work I did sat.) then put everything back in checking absolutely everything as I went. Got it all back together, put the key in and nothing.
But then! A breakthrough (Yes all those who told me to check fuses can kick me in the nuts) in the fuse box in the drivers foot well the 10A fuse labeled "ENGINE" was blown. Replaced it with the one next to it (which prolly wasnt the best idea because the tranny doesnt shift and I think it started to overheat a little) but the car started and I got to Advance auto not too far away. Gravved a box of 25 10A fuses and put one in in the parking lot. Car was back to its old self minus a CEL

But then it gets bad ... about 1/4 mile past the place I got towed from last time the car dies again. So I said, no worries Ill just replace the fuse, put it in and it blew instantly, five more fuses went this way... so I had to call for a tow

$65 dollars and 2 hours later my car is back in the parking lot at my appt.

Any ideas guys?

[FE3-323]

short to ground somewheres start looking for wires touching/grounding out

[Mazda_Powered]

exactly ^^

[Sleezer1533]

So heres how my day went.

Spent about 3 hrs disconnecting all the connections and inspecting every inch of ever wire and harness and found nothing grounding out ...

As you can see this is how she looked before putting things back together:


Was pretty bummed cuz I wanted to find something that was like "yep thats the problem right there". I did do two things though ... One was to remove my HID kits and put in normal bulbs. I thought to do this because when I swapped in the 6000k bulbs the polarity between high beam and lo was backwards ... not sure if this would have been causing my engine problems but who knows. Second, after removing the grounding kit the other day, I thought to sand the connection of the wire that goes from the batt. to the stock grounding point ... I noticed that the piecce of metal that the wire bolts to was corroded and now that its the only ground it may not have been grounding properly ... I duuno if a bad ground would cause my engine problems but again I fugured why not.

So I got everything hooked back up, put in a new 10A fuse, turned the key to on and the temp guage was all the way down like it should be. Started her up and let her idle for 20 minutes while I cleaned up my tools, then took 4 laps around my small parking lot. Everything seemed fine. I want to drive the car to work tomorrow but Im so afraid its going to die again (

One thing I was thinking is that if it were a short why does the car run for a while and then cut out after driving fine for a while the two past times??







Oh and a side project .... :D
Rear two should be done come wednesday

[Mazdaspd2008]

glad you're seeming to make some progress here, keep the updates coming!

[Sleezer1533]

Stated the process of changing my color theme by painting some things

Intake piping: orange, Strut bar: orange, Oil cap: orange, Hkpro's galleryfresh alternative: screws: white + washers: orange

Sneak peak


UPDATE:


(Dont mind the coffee table, got it for $15 at the salvo )

UPDATE:
Intake and strut bar complete and out back on the car (proper pics to come)

[Sleezer1533]

Did a bunch of work today so here goes

Went to home depot to get some machine bolts and finishing washers to get that galleryfresh look, but the bolts were the wrong thread pitch, gotta get the right ones. Also when trying to take off the right bolt that holds the passengers side fan on the radiator the nut stripped so I had to break it off, then snapped the bracket off the fan when trying to get the nut off the bolt FML.

Then tackled the SLS midpipe which I wanted to repair some rust and some worn out gaskets at the back flange. Snapped the two bolts on the back end because I didnt use coated bolts last time and the rusted real bad. Then broke the ratcheting mechanism on my 1/2" ratchet, and then sheared the 3/8" drive end of my 3/8" ratchet. FML again. Went to autozone and got a decent pair of 1/2 and 3/8 this time and got the pipe off. Scraped off the rust, hit the rusted areas with rust reformer, then coated the whole thing in 1200* paint.




Then I removed the cruise control unit from the engine bay (pics to follow)

Then Finished up the orange wheels, heres a quick pic, and yeah shes realll dirty


And before anyone says anything, yes I know it needs drop, it is on the way, will be ordering tein s techs next monday and Stagg struts the following monday

[Sleezer1533]

Waiting on my STechs to get here, should be here later today or tomorrow

Ordered new front tires (General G-MAX AS-03) because mine look like this:


Went to the junk yard and came across this (An LX):


Pulled all this for $21:


The IM will be cleaned up and painted wrinkle black

The caliper Im hoping I can lube and fix up (The hinge that opens the caliper up to get at the pads is a bit rough)
Maybe this will fix my odd rotor contact problem once I replace out the caliper
On a side note, anyone know a diy for bleeding your own brakes?

Finally I got her all washed up

[Sleezer1533]

Oh and literally just received these:

[Sleezer1533]

Ordering Tokico HP Blues tonight

[Sleezer1533]

Oh and these just came :D

[Mazdaspd2008]

Holy crap! epic fail to epic win! can't wait to see this thing dropped and all that jazz

[Rustypro]

nice

[Sleezer1533]

These came: Powerstop "Kinetic Rotors" drilled and slotted rotors, and Prowerstop Evolution brake pads:




Replaced just the rear brakes and rotors for now. The calipers have succumbed to the northeastern rust and I couldnt budge the piston allen gear so I had to turn the piston itself. Hey whatever works, right? Anyway there was a loss of brake pressure that I was concerned about but brake pressure seems to be back to normal and the brakes seem fine. calipers will be next on the list to be replaced. Maybe Ill upgrade to the larger 6 rotors and calipers next time the brakes need to be done, or ill just replace the stock calipers at some earlier point, not sure yet what is best.

Also went and had the new tires mounted and balanced (On a random cool note the drivers side didnt need a wheel weight) And Im going to wait till the tires are broken in to make any comments but so far so good.
What they look like:


Also repainted the inside of the rear drivers mud flap since red was starting to show and painted the caliper black, was going to do the other side but after all the frustrations with the calipers and an asshole I mention later, I said **** it if Im going to replace them there is no sense in painting the caliper, but now the brakes seem fine so I might just leave em as is
Ill take pics of the good looking side tomorrow

Also Im a bit mad right now, before signing my lease here I asked the Lady in the office who was real good helping us getting everything squared away if working on may car in the parking lot was ok and she said it wouldnt be a problem and that other people have done it in the past
....Well today a maintenance guy stopped and told me it was not allowed, so I stopped by the office to talk to the same woman again but she wont be in till monday :/. Looks like I might have to start looking for a place to wrench

[Sleezer1533]

Started the valve cover
Before: Scale, corrosion, and oil


After: "Smooth"


Threw on my three heavy coats of wrinkle plus (vertically, horizontally and diagonally) and now waiting the two hour "wrinkle period" ... ill post up pics when that time is up, I sure hope it comes out the way Im anticipating