Buying an 02 Mazda protege5, 66k miles. AutoRX it?

[poison]

I see AutoRX is no longer a sponsor here. What do you guys recommend I do as new owner of a used car? My immediate thought was AutoRX, but if you all have a better idea...

 

[c3po]

If you want to keep the car a very long time, then auto-rx is a good idea.

If you are only going to keep it for a few years, then just change your oil and have fun driving this car.

 

[poison]

Well, I tend to keep cars as long as I can, so I might as well do it, I guess. Cheap insurance. Nothing better than AutoRX, huh?

 

[c3po]

Originally Posted By: poison
Well, I tend to keep cars as long as I can, so I might as well do it, I guess. Cheap insurance. Nothing better than AutoRX, huh?


Did you buy the car from the original owner, or did you get this at a used car lot.

Since you plan on keeping the car for as long as you can, then a Clean and Rinse of auto-rx is very cheap insurance.

You may want to visit auto-rx.com and check out the forums when you are over there.

 

[poison]

Second owner, who's had it from 15k on. She's got all maintenance records, which I have not yet inspected. She's a school teacher, it drove well, and AAA checked it out A-OK, so I'm not too worried. Oh, and the Protege5 was just put in Consumer Reports top 10 most reliable used cars list. Sweet!

 

[c3po]

Is this a manual trans or an automatic transmission.

This sounds like a fun car.

 

[poison]

Oh, [censored], manual, of course! It's low on power, with 130 ponies or so, and that sounds like [censored] with an auto. More fun to wring low-hp engines with a manual. The auto in these cars isn't very well made, anyway, I hear.

It handles VERY well, better than my modified Subaru Impreza. Kind of a 4 door Miata.

 

[ArcticCat]

If the car is from out of state inspect it very closely for rust. The Protege5's are VERY prone to rust on the lip surrounding the rear wheel wells, and occasionally on the rear hatch. Hopefully, if the car has lived it's entire life in California, this should not be an issue with your example.

This is coming from a current Mazda owner (2004 MZ3) who has become (unfortunately) very handy with POR-15 and oil spray applications.

 

[c3po]

Have you looked inside the oil fill cap, and do you plan too take the valve cover off too see how it looks inside.

 

[poison]

I looked closely, and I hope the AAA inspection would catch it. It's a CA car, but spent some time in Reno. Looks OK though.

 

[oilboy123]

Originally Posted By: poison
I see AutoRX is no longer a sponsor here. What do you guys recommend I do as new owner of a used car? My immediate thought was AutoRX, but if you all have a better idea...


I must not have been paying attention, I did not know Auto-RX was not a sponsor anymore?

Oh run the Auto-RX IMO.

 

[sprintman]

I RX every vehicle when purchased. Rinse phase in the BMW and it's transformed.

 

[tom slick]

This photo is of my 02 protege5's engine at about 100-120k miles with only 7500 mile oil changes on synthetic seeing highway commuter duty. the dark spots are oil, zero deposits around the valvetrain. You can run ARX and it may help, but from my experience these engines don't have a deposit problem. My leakdown tests show very little leakdown and are even across all 4 cyls.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
Buying an 02 Mazda protege5, 66k miles. AutoRX it?


While you may not see anything to clean, I'd do it anyway for any potential ring coking (however slight). I see no reason not to do this prophylactically with a used car of any mileage/time just to reset any accumulations to nil.

 

[poison]

Thanks, guys. I ran the clean oil the car came with out to 3k, ran the autorx with chevron 5-30, then just put in my rinse phase chevron 10-30 for another 2500 or so. Can't hurt!

I am thinking about running either rotella synth 5-40, or possibly the amsoil extended drain oil and filter. Something about yearly oil changes sounds fun, lol. But what do you guys think about running a 5-40 rotella in this car?

 

[tom slick]

why not 10w-30?

 

[poison]

I tend to drive hard; I live in socal, where winters are mild and summers are brutal; I do lots of stop and go driving. I came from a subaru, where 5-30 is recommended for the impreza in the US, but a 40w or higher is recommended by subaru for the same car in other locales. It has to do with subaru of american meeting cafe standards, not what's best for the car's longevity. in other words, I don't trust any manufacturer to automatically do what's best for me.

I've read lots of reports of people here using it with great effect for many years, in kmany different vehicles. Seeing as the p5 2.0l is a 30-40 engine designed for a small truck, I figured rotella might be a good fit.

 

[Gary Allan]

The only hit you'll take is probably some fuel economy on shorter trip usage. Your location will minimize this to a decent amount. The oil will surely be up to the task. I don't know about anything that would prohibit you from using it. I would probably recommend SSO, HDD, or ACD for Amsoil products as an alternative. They're all 30 grades and well suited for annual OCI's.

 

[poison]

Ah, sounds good. Thank you! I will check out those amsoil products, too.

 

[sprintman]

270,000+ kms on my Mazda and RX it regularly. Surprises every one who drives it.