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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / June 2006Messed Up Idle and "Go" Problem with 92 Mazda Protege
I have a 92 Mazda Protege SE. 1.8 L SOHC 16 Valve Manual Transmission. It has been giving me problems for a while but now its really gotten bad. Today after work I started up the car and the idle was jumping around and I had the gas stomped and it was staying reved at about 2500 RPM. No incresaing or decreasing. The engine sounds like its putting as well. The check engine light come son once in a while but usually turns off and the car runs fine after its off. When stopped my cars idle will jump around but as soon as I accleate its fine. Also when I am going say in 2nd or 3rd gear it will all of a sudden start jolting and the engine basically does not rev and just dies. It doesn't turn off but I keep my foot on the gas and after a few seconds it takes off accelerating again. I got a strong smell of gas today when it was dying on me and the engine was just turning off on me today and I was lucky to make it home. I just want to know what it could pissibly be and what to expect when I take it in to the shop. thanks. > I have a 92 Mazda Protege SE. 1.8 L SOHC 16 Valve Manual Transmission. > It has been giving me problems for a while but now its really gotten [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > to make it home. I just want to know what it could pissibly be and what > to expect when I take it in to the shop. thanks. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I could be wrong, but no one else has said anything. I do not have much experience with mazdas in general or even transmissions, but maybe i could at least point you in the right direction...we'll see in due time. When you said "strong smell of gas", the very first thing to pop in my head was the timing of the vehicle. Running too rich it would seem. Bogging the engine down, and possibly everytime that you floor the gas pedal, your helping for more air to get to the engine. This could be varified by the fact that you say when idle it does this. Theres not much air-flow when you are at an idle, when you accelerate you are introducing more air into the engine (i said that already huh?). Anyway, thats just an idea. if anything one thing to eliminate. Im hoping someone will come up behind me and point out something else. Hoped this helped, and im curious to know what comes out of the trip to the shop. not sure what u mean by "running it to rich". I put a full tank of premium in it a few days ago. I dunno ifg that would mess it up and I do have a little too much oil in it as well. > not sure what u mean by "running it to rich". I put a full tank of > premium in it a few days ago. I dunno ifg that would mess it up and I > do have a little too much oil in it as well. "running to rich" means that there is too much gas being pumped (or injected) into the engine. I think i mentioned timing before...it sounds like timing issue. If you had too much oil in it....theres usually a very large amount of smoke coming out of the tailpipe(s)/out of the engine. However; with the problems your having and having a bit too much (depending on the amount of course), it really doesnt seem like the two are connected. This may be a really stupid question, but does your vehicle require running premium gas? If it takes unleaded or regular....stay with that. Is the engine stock? To me all the way around it seems almost fuel related as far as the initial problem. It very well might be something electrical; for example a bad wire (or wires) going to your injectors. Is there anymore information you can explain? Hope i helped clear up your question. I have been working on my wife's Mazda for a long time. It may sound strange, but make sure your car has new spark plug wires. No matter what brand they are, the spark plug wires on this car seem to need to be replaced at least every 40000 miles. Twice when the spark plug wires have gone bad they have caused our car's fuel / air system to go haywire. The first time I almost replaced the Air Flow Meter (here is a photo from the www.rockauto.com auto parts catalog: http://www.rockauto.com/ref/BeckArnley/Detail.html?1570183.jpg) but at the last second I saw the coil wire was arcing to the metal Air Flow Meter box. By the way, you can pry off the black plastic cover on the top of the Air Flow Meter and if you see an electrical contact arm moving back and forth then the Air Flow Meter door is probably working ok. Put some silcone on the black plastic cover to stick it back on. The second time the wires went bad I never did figure out what component they were freaking out but replacing the spark plug wires made the car run normally again. So replace the $20 spark plug wires before replacing the $300 Air Flow Meter, the $300 Idle Air Control Valve, etc. Also replace the Distributor Cap and Rotor if they are old. The engine "putting" might indicate a distributor / timing problem. Please post the results when you find out what fixes your car. > I have a 92 Mazda Protege SE. 1.8 L SOHC 16 Valve Manual Transmission. > It has been giving me problems for a while but now its really gotten [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > to make it home. I just want to know what it could pissibly be and what > to expect when I take it in to the shop. thanks. >I have been working on my wife's Mazda for a long time. It may sound Vane type air flow meters rarely fail except from being tampered with. Yes, plug wires are a frequent problem on these cars. Rich running -- look at the engine coolant temperature for corroded high resistance connections, check fuel pressure diaphragm for being ruptured. Don www.donsautomotive.com ok, I got my diagnosis. It was the engine collant sensor. It was reading my engine as being -20 degress when its like +80...lol and it was either feeding it to much gas or not enough. Thats what the mechanic told me anyways. so I will get it back today and see if its works fine. >ok, I got my diagnosis. It was the engine collant sensor. As I suspected -- a very common problem. The engine coolant temperature sensor is a thermistor. I contains an element that works backwards from most materials. Electrical resistance goes down with heat instead of up. If the connections are corroded due to minute coolant seepage through the terminals then the high resistance -- often intermittent -- will produce a signal indicating the engine is at sub-zero temperatures. Replacing the sensor is indicated but it also frequently necessary to at least clean the connector terminals or replace the connector to prevent recurrence. If you plug/unplug the connector a few dozen times with repeated spraying of WD-40 or similar that may be sufficient to wear away the corrosion. I like to follow up with a spray anti-corrosion grease such as used on battery cables ends. > It was reading my engine as being -20 degress when its like +80 About 200-220* fahrenheit warmed up. >...lol and it >was either feeding it to much gas or not enough. Way too much when it thinks the engine is very cold. Don www.donsautomotive.com > Thats what the >mechanic told me anyways. so I will get it back today and see if its >works fine. I expect it will! You might want to change the oil which is liable to be full of gasoline.
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