I have an 03 protege with troubles. In Jan. 07 Left drive shaft fell out on highway. I had it replaced and since there is a noise that occurs whenever. It is on the left side, or atleast sounds that way, and at high speeds when it happens the steering wheel jerks to the left but does not affect the steering. I have had the driveshaft replaced a second time in case I got a bad part and there was no change. I can get the same noise by jerking the car in 1st gear and now it will do it when I am pushing in the clutch between 1st & 2nd and 2nd & 3rd but the steering wheel will not jerk. I have had it to a mazda dealer, trans shop, and our mechanic (twice). My mechanic after the second visit believes it to be the transaxle but trans shop says no. Any ideas?

Shannon

 

by driveshaft i assume that u mean axle. i think that this has something to do with the steering linkage since the steering wheel pulls to the right but thecar doesn't actually pull that way. i think that would explain the noise between gears also because you are losing momentum when you push in the clutch and that makes the car rock forward slightly onto the front suspension. i would check the outer and inner tie-rod ends to see if there is any play there. this would also explain why it started after the axle was replaced because these parts must be moved to replace the axle. i'm not convinced that it is in the drive train at all.

 

you are correct, it is driveaxle. I didn't realize I said shaft. The tie rod end was replaced when they did the axle but I will have someone check into the linkage. Thanks

 

the tie rods have two ends, inner and outer so you will need to have all four checked. i would also check the ball joints even though they should be good unless you drive it on two wheels all of the time