New member with 1994 Protege LX

[daeruin]

Hi there. I recently bought a 1994 Protege LX. It has a lot of miles on it (can't remember exactly, close to 210,000), but it has a newer engine with only 90,000 miles on it, and I was really charmed by it. I love how peppy it is, and it gets great gas mileage for my daily commute. It's my third Mazda—I previously owned a 2000 Protege 5, which I really liked a lot, and a 2002 MPV which I had to sell when my family outgrew it.

I am here because I believe my Protoge has a transmission problem, and I'm hoping for advice. I'm not sure what the protocol is for asking questions. I don't want to abuse the forum or anything. Thanks!

[me109]

Welcome. Which transmission do you have?

[daeruin]

Thanks for the reply! It's a manual transmission. My mechanic tells me the synchros are shot, and I'm wondering how long I might be able to drive it. It grinds going into second gear unless I'm really careful. Sometimes I hear a minor grinding going into third as well.

[me109]

Check your junkyards, and car-part.com. A replacement should be cheap, and it's not that hard to change. You might want to rebuild the current one after you replace it.

[daeruin]

Yeah, I found a used transmission for something like $550, and the mechanic quoted me about the same in labor costs (I'm not really a do-it-yourselfer). If that were the only problem the car has, I might do it, but it has a number of other problems. I love the car, I'm just doubting that it's worth all the work at this point. I want to know how long that transmission might last me if I didn't fix it.

[me109]

Post a WTB in the classifieds here. $550 is too much for that transmission.