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I'm about to check the valve clearance on a 98 Mazda Protege. If the clearance does need to be adjusted I'd like to be able to do that also.
So does anyone know where to get the specialty tools and shims required? Or even better, does anyone know how to do the adjusting with common tools?  

the Torque settings for the various 1.5 motor bolts...





here is a link to the valve train page..

http://www.autozone.com:80/autozone/repairinfo/repairguide/repairGuideContent.jsp?pageId=0900c152802610d3

why do you need to adjust the valves????  going out of adjustment is not something they do .. unless the valves get bent when a timing belt is broken..

there are shims on top of the lifter buckets...  i don't know if this motor has hydraulic lifters...

when i worked at an engine rebuilder in the cylinder head department.. do to the amount of different diameters and thicknesses of shims....

i usually put the buckets in the head without the valves or springs.. put the cams in...   individually fit the valves to get to the proper clearance...  if it was too tight.. i ground a little off the tip of the stem... if it was too loose.. i ground the valve face slightly...   worked perfectly..   i did this counting on the valve spring pulling harder than i could push the valve stem up...  this i did because i had at hand a valve refacer. and all the tools to do this without needing to buy shims..  

there are J shaped wrenches.. and twist down tools to depress the valve buckets on some of these engines... so you can get the shims out without pulling the head...

goodson.com probably has the tools and the shims.. but they sell them in assortments to engine builders.. so there are going to be many parts more than you could ever use...  

"why do you need to adjust the valves????  going out of adjustment is not something they do .. unless the valves get bent when a timing belt is broken.."

I'm not sure I need to adjust the valves just yet. The car has almost 170k miles on it and the valve clearance is supposed to be checked every 60k miles. It's never been checked. Plus the OBD computer says it has a misfire on one of the cylinders. I've checked plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and the fuel injectors and all seem to be ok. The only other thing left to check is the valve clearance, right?  

And is it possible for a car to misfire and not show it? Because it runs smoothly.  

lets talk about this...

you checked... the plugs wires cap rotor coil... how????

can you describe it..

which cylinder????  PO301, P0302, P0303, P0304.. or the random misfire code.. P0300...


at 170 ***  spark plugs .., wires... cap and rotor are all due for a second replacement..

you can OHM the wires.. but they need to be check visually.. for signs of leakage..   OHMing them with a digital volt meter set at 200K ohms..   reading them directly.. the meter should display less than the wires length in inches..    a 14 inch wire should display less than 14 on the meter at that setting.. probably 8 to 10..

i would want to do a coil output test on this model...

the ignition coil is INSIDE the distributer...  i have had terrible problems with over versions of these coils failing..  they still spark.. and sometimes enough to run the engine. but just not enough to create a HOT enough spark to light the fuel mixture properly..  pick up a 7 buck coil output tester..

Great Neck/Adjustable ignition spark tester
Part Number: 25069
Alternate Part Number: 64



it needs to throw at least 50KV of bright blue snappy spark...    

you will have to remove the cap.. . clip the spark tester clip on the coil terminal top.. so the terminal top is in contact with the back of the jaws of the clip... so you are NOT creating a second ARC spot..  and a test lead between the tip of the spark tester and ground..   unless you can figure out something like a quad 4 gm spark plug boot you could use to go tip to tip on the coil with spark tester..



i like to replace the spark plug wires..



use a small application of dielectric tune up grease around inside the boot where it fits down on the spark plug.. but NOT where the metal terminals are.. this prevents the spark from leaking out between the boot and the spark plug insulator.. a KNOWN thing to happen..


i would like you to with a scan tool.. look at the short term and the long term fuel trims.. see if they are within 3 to 5 percent of 0..   either plus or minus..

are you aware that with an OBD2 scan tool.. and you can get them that do a decent job for 130 bucks.. 98614 at Harbor freight..  

that when a trouble code is set.. there is a segment of live data stored..  so you could see what the car was doing at the exact time the code set..

you will find.. Throttle position sensor voltage.. vehicle speed..   engine temp.. engine speed..  and a bunch of other things to  let you figure out whats wrong...  

The misfire is on number 3 cylinder.(PO303)

I had a compression test done in Oct.2006 right after the misfire code was read and here's what the invoice has for the compression readings.

1:170
2:150  
3:85
4:180

..And here's what I got today when I tested.

1:180 on the first set of cranks and then 210 on the second and third set of cranks. (I made sure the gauge was at "zero" before each set of cranks.)
2:200 on the first set of cranks and then 210 on the second set.
3:150 on the first set, 140 on the second set, then  added oil to the chamber and cranked again and got 150.
4:210 on the first set and 215 on the second set.

This was my first time doing a compression check but I followed the directions in the Mazda shop manual and the directions that came with the gauge to a "T". It's an actron BTW.

So why are the results so different? It seems like it's getting better which seems almost impossible because I keep the oil changed which should (at least I think) prevent carbon from building up on the rings.

I put a new cap and rotor on @ 162k.
I'm really just assuming that they are fine because their still kinda new. I shouldn't have said that I checked them, I was just trying to let you know that they were very unlikely to be the cause of the misfire.

I put new plugs in @ 163k and just put new plug wires on tonight. When I was
changing them out I noticed that the terminals on #3 and #4 were both coated with turquoise-colored corrosion on the distributor cap end and #1 and #2 were corrosion free. What does this mean? Oh, and these wires have been on since 131k miles.

I also noticed (tonight) a crack in the air intake duct that is big enough to let air in so I sealed it with silicone sealant. (the kind used for valve cover gaskets) Any reason I shouldn't have?  

The misfire might be gone now but I won't know until tomorrow night because the silicone needs 24 hrs to dry and I don't want to start the car until then.

And I do have a scan tool on the way. Here it is: http://www.amazon.com/Actron-CP9575-Scanner-Trilingual-OBDII/dp/B003IOKPLO/ref=sr_1_9?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1322941723&sr=1-9.
Do you think it's a good choice?

And should I try kerosene in cylinders 1,2 and 4 to see if I can get the compression down?  

first... go back and carefully examine the cap where those wires with the corroded end were...

the blue corrosion is from the wire terminals NOT being fully inserted into the distributer cap ... there was arcing happening.. Ozone formed in the cavity and caused the brass terminals to oxidize...  that blue as far as i know is copper oxide..  so don't get any on your hands..    the inside of  the cap is probably damaged..

the blue wire terminals corrosion were probably causing the misfiring..  making the spark jump 3 gaps instead of two...  what.. rotor tip to the cap terminals..  then across the spark plugs..  most people don't realize there is arcing happening in the cap..

i wonder where people are hearing about using kerosene to clean stuff..    i would not do that..


i like the harbor freight 98614 better..   but that scan tool will do a decent job..

http://www.harborfreight.com/can-obd-ii-code-reader-eobd-scanner-98614.html


sealing with some kind of glue is a good thing... you might want to probe the silicone with a pin before you drive it to verify the silicone has set all the way through..

put it back together.. see what happens...  

You don't think the high compression in those three cylinders is a problem?

Also, if the distributor cap terminals are oxidized, can they be cleaned with something or should I just buy a new cap?  

caps are NOT that much money..  i hope.. a good idea to replace if the internal cavities are corroded...  high voltage arcing does strange things to the insulation..

you can test the wires with an ohm meter.. and then plug them into the cap after cleaning to see if the resistance stays the same..   set digital volt meter at 200K ohms..


as for the high compression..  this car has electronic timing control and detonation sensors.. so it should not ping...

its the various compression reading that you posted worry me..   if the individual cylinders are within 10% of each other.. thats acceptable..

it was hard for me to properly understand.. what was done before.. what was dry and then wet..  

The only cylinder I wet tested was #3. The first test (dry) on #3 showed 150 . I then released the pressure from the guage and tested again. Got 140. I then added about a tablespoon of fresh 30 weight oil to the cylinder and tested again and got 150.

Do you think a bad ring is the cause? (Probably a dumb question but I want to be sure.)

Also, it looks like I'm going to need a new air intake duct because it has more than one bad spot. I was considering trying to get one from a junkyard..Do you know of a better place to get one? Maybe used online? I'm trying to avoid buying a new one because I imagine it would be very expensive.  

i forgot which motor you have.. the 1.5 or the 1.8...

this is the air intake duct from dorman  available at most parts stores if you ask for it by part number..




ask for dorman    696-609 if you have the 1.5 motor..

Motormite/Fresh Air Intake Hose
For your 1998 Mazda Protege 1.5L MFI DOHC 4cyl
Price: $56.99
Part Number: 696-609
my local autozone hub store actually stocks these according to the website...

i don't see one listed for the 1.8 motor.. yet.,,  

I received my scan tool and turned off the CEL. Then drove the car for two run cycles and the light came back on. I then checked the code in the scanner and it says there's a misfire on cylinder 3. I still need to ohm the distributor cap, so I've got my fingers crossed that that's the cause.

The scanner also pulled code P1195.
Barometric pressure (EGR boost) sensor circuit malfunction



Detection Conditions

   The ECU monitors input voltage from the EGR boost sensor when monitoring conditions are met.  If input voltage at ECU terminal 3F is below 0.35 V or above 4.5 V, the ECU determines that there is an EGR boost sensor circuit malfunction.

   Monitoring Conditions:
       Intake air temperature is above 10 degrees C
       EGR boost sensor solenoid is turned OFF (with barometric pressure applied to the EGR boost sensor).

   The ECU monitors differences between intake manifold vacuum and atmospheric pressure at idle, which the EGR boost sensor detects by switching the EGR boost sensor solenoid.  If the difference is below 6.43 kPa (48.2 mmHg, 1.90 inHg), the ECU determines that there is an EGR boost sensor performance problem.

Diagnostic Support Notes

   This is a continuous monitor (CCM)
   Check engine indicator illuminates if the ECU detects the above malfunction condition during the first drive cycle
   PENDING CODE is not available
   FREEZE FRAME DATA is available
   DTC is stored in ECU memory

Possible Causes

   EGR boost sensor malfunction
   Connector or terminal malfunction
   Short to ground in wiring between EGR boost sensor terminal A and ECU terminal 3F
   Open circuit in wiring between EGR boost sensor terminal B and ECU terminal 3AB
   Open circuit in wiring between EGR boost sensor terminal A and ECU terminal 3F
   EGR boost sensor signal circuit shorts to reference voltage (Vref) supply circuit
   EGR boost sensor performance problem
   EGR boost sensor solenoid circuit malfunction
   Loosened, damaged, misconnected, clogged or frozen moisture in vacuum hose from EGR boost sensor solenoid to EGR boost sensor
   Loosened, damaged, misconnected, clogged or frozen moisture in vacuum hose from EGR boost sensor solenoid to EGR valve
   ECU malfunction

Is this something to Worry about?  

another thing... when a code is set.. and you have NOT cleared the codes..

FREEZE FRAME DATA is available...  can you post the data stream from that snap shot..

i am going to have to research this.. as i don't know what the EGR boost sensor does.. i see you have posted it.. but .. i have not run into this..

is your model turbo charged??  

No, it's not turbo charged. It's the 1.5 liter Z5 engine with DOHC.

And I'll try to get the freeze frame data ASAP.  

Freeze Data for P1195:
(Barometric Pressure Sensor Circuit Malfunction)

-Eng speed  697 rpm
-Calc load  26.3%
-Coolant    194 degrees fahrenheit
-ST FTMR1   .8%
-LT FTMR1   -7.8%
-Veh speed  0 MPH
-Fuel sys 1   clsd
-Fuel sys 2  N/A  

well those were not quite enough to make a diagnosis...  can you capture some cold idle numbers.. warm idle numbers and driving down the road numbers....

wiring diagram...



this is generic EGR diagnosis..... as on a mazda... P1195 is the EGR boost sensor not the baro sensor..

http://www.autozone.com:80/autozone/repairinfo/repairguide/repairGuideContent.jsp?pageId=0900c152802611f4


i think that i am running into a translation error...  where the factory repair info.. is written in technical japanese.. and the translators do not speak technical japanese.. so they have to pick out words they think are close..

so i don't know if the EGR boost sensor is the EGR vacuum solenoid...  or some other device yet...  oh.. i just found it..



this is it...

its above the EGR vacuum solenoid...