Messed 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 ****ibly be and what
to expect when I take it in to the shop. thanks.

wrote:
> 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 ****ibly 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.

wrote:
> 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/BeckArnl...ml?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.

wrote:
> 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 ****ibly be and what
> to expect when I take it in to the shop. thanks.

On 30 Jun 2006 08:10:31 -0700, wrote:

>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.

On 30 Jun 2006 09:24:35 -0700, wrote:

>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.