MSP 2003.5 DYING at stops.

[Fernaenaturae]

http://i6.tinypic.com/14kibup.jpg
Yeah that's her-- Check engine light just came on a couple days ago, but the problem started about a week ago where the idle would drop when I was in neutral---Then it started to drop and die-- It doesn't always die, only once in a while, however it continues to drop almost die and then come back. She's at 43,000 miles now, was suppose to have a tune-up at 30,000, and I was told she did, now i'm not so sure cause I checked the air filter and it's the original, so I have to change that, doesn't appear to be dirty, but feels "old"--I have my doubts that the guy that had it before me tuned it up, and me being the 20 year old, naive blonde girl, I took his word and neglected her. I can't get into the shop to have her tuned or looked at until next week on Wednesday, so that's why i'm here--I use to work on my old 1988 Honda Accord, but i'm affriad to even touch this one aside from the easy stuff--I have a similar problem with my Honda, although that was carb., and I had to rebuild the carb... This is fuel injected, and yes, I already went out and bought some of that "dump in" stuff... No luck, I guess I should get it taken in to get it REALLY done... Ideas? What do you guys think? Tune up first then troubleshoot? Might just have a go at her by myself until I make it to the shop, I need to get her fixed so I can start doing other things to her...

Another piece of info that may or may not be of any help...

I got into a bit of an accident when some pr!ck tried racing me down the road after work--Now after a 13 hour day of work I really didn't feel like playing, so I pushed it and I took off. Couple minutes later, he was back, since I had already let him eat my dust I figured i'd let him pass me and just get behind him... We came to a complete stop, he wouldn't let me get behind him--He got a little too close for comfort on my right hand side so I figured i'd just gun it and go--Bad idea, girl in front of me was already slamming on her brakes to hit a turn she just about missed--Braked, slid, pulled up e-brake (bad idea), SPUN several times out of control, when backwards bumper to bumper with the guy who was screwing with me, then proceeded to spin out again, this time clipping the side of her car with my front end (WISH I would've hit HIM!) I have NOT taken her in to get the bumper replaced, it's just a smuge in the front from where I clipped her, but it did knock around a lot of stuff under the hood like the radiator, when I popped the hood a couple plastic pieces dropped, pieces that hold the radiator and the top grill in, nothing else that was obvious I looked over, under, everything else seems to be in place... Not even sure if the car repair place would even consider the dying car part as a result of the accident considering the accident happened about a month ago and this dying when in neutral just started...

Any help would be greatly appreciated, don't get to talk to anyone about this car because i've only seen ONE other one driving on the street since i've got it. THANKS GUYS :)

[slowmotionmsp]

http://i6.tinypic.com/14kibup.jpg
Yeah that's her-- Check engine light just came on a couple days ago, but the problem started about a week ago where the idle would drop when I was in neutral---Then it started to drop and die-- It doesn't always die, only once in a while, however it continues to drop almost die and then come back. She's at 43,000 miles now, was suppose to have a tune-up at 30,000, and I was told she did, now i'm not so sure cause I checked the air filter and it's the original, so I have to change that, doesn't appear to be dirty, but feels "old"--I have my doubts that the guy that had it before me tuned it up, and me being the 20 year old, naive blonde girl, I took his word and neglected her. I can't get into the shop to have her tuned or looked at until next week on Wednesday, so that's why i'm here--I use to work on my old 1988 Honda Accord, but i'm affriad to even touch this one aside from the easy stuff--I have a similar problem with my Honda, although that was carb., and I had to rebuild the carb... This is fuel injected, and yes, I already went out and bought some of that "dump in" stuff... No luck, I guess I should get it taken in to get it REALLY done... Ideas? What do you guys think? Tune up first then troubleshoot? Might just have a go at her by myself until I make it to the shop, I need to get her fixed so I can start doing other things to her...

Another piece of info that may or may not be of any help...

I got into a bit of an accident when some pr!ck tried racing me down the road after work--Now after a 13 hour day of work I really didn't feel like playing, so I pushed it and I took off. Couple minutes later, he was back, since I had already let him eat my dust I figured i'd let him pass me and just get behind him... We came to a complete stop, he wouldn't let me get behind him--He got a little too close for comfort on my right hand side so I figured i'd just gun it and go--Bad idea, girl in front of me was already slamming on her brakes to hit a turn she just about missed--Braked, slid, pulled up e-brake (bad idea), SPUN several times out of control, when backwards bumper to bumper with the guy who was screwing with me, then proceeded to spin out again, this time clipping the side of her car with my front end (WISH I would've hit HIM!) I have NOT taken her in to get the bumper replaced, it's just a smuge in the front from where I clipped her, but it did knock around a lot of stuff under the hood like the radiator, when I popped the hood a couple plastic pieces dropped, pieces that hold the radiator and the top grill in, nothing else that was obvious I looked over, under, everything else seems to be in place... Not even sure if the car repair place would even consider the dying car part as a result of the accident considering the accident happened about a month ago and this dying when in neutral just started...

Any help would be greatly appreciated, don't get to talk to anyone about this car because i've only seen ONE other one driving on the street since i've got it. THANKS GUYS :)


maybe this info could help you? http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106488

[Fernaenaturae]

maybe this info could help you? http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=106488 Thank you :)

Although, I did neglect to mention that BEFORE the accident there was a high pitch noise that came and went---I believe it was coming from the turbo, NOW it rarely does it, maybe once every two weeks I can hear it one day and then it goes away--Also, it seems like I have more power ever since I've been experiencing the idling issue--I swear it! Not sure what the heck that could mean... I do have a boost gauge installed, in which case I need to check because I noticed the sleeve is kind of knocked off a bit at the top, probably from the accident... I'll go get her tuned up and keep you guys posted, thanks again! :)

[prostylez]

your prob is most likely related to this...

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94788&highlight=egr+valve

(dirty EGR VALVE)

it's helped many others including myself...

[SpeedBeaver]

I had something similar last winter. I had a leaking turbo pipe. Check for leaks before going into the whole process of getting the EGR valve checked.

[HeHateMe]

Sorry to hear about your accident. Are you running a complete stock setup? if you have any aftermarket BOV on there it will cause the stalling fo sho. Othewise check for vac leaks, that high pitch sound might be a leak. Hope you figure it out.

Ps. Great color!!

[tricky]

pretty much what's been said but I'd definately check your IC pipes for cracks. That accident may have hit the radiator just right to hit the IC and possibly crack a pipe. Accidents suck, hope you get it all straightened out.

Any mods?

[BlueBeast22]

If you have factory IC pipes, then one of those could be cracked, could have a loose vaccum line somewhere that was over looked... Could be an exhaust leak somewhere? maybe even a cracked exhaust manifold... that happens to alot of people on here, and they usually get a whistling sound when the turbo spools and it doesnt hold boost very well. A dirty EGR valve could also be the problem, alot of people who have stalling issues on stock setups end up cleaning the EGR valve and the problem is solved. You should also check your spark plugs and see if they are fouled.

[jred321]

my first thought is cracked IC pipe or the intercooler itself from your accident. i'd start there. on mine i had my IAC die, which wouldn't let it idle, so something else to consider, but i'd start by doing a pressure test to check for boost leaks. check here for a good way to do that http://vfaq.com/mods/ICtester.html or use any other number of methods

[Kansei]

I had the same happen to me the other day when one of my intake hose clamps (I'm ordering some nicer ones from boostcontroller.com) decided to give up on life and one of my intake pipes popped off after the MAF. The MAF wasn't seeing any air moving past since the engine was taking unfiltered hot engine bay air in, and so it stalled unless I kept the revs high at a stop (which wasn't too easy). I wasn't in a place where I could pull over (was driving downtown) so I had to wait until I found a parking lot to pull into to fix it.

Definitely a leak somewhere from the sound of it.

[gone_fishin]

Go to your local auto zone and have them run a diagnostics...most of them will let you do it for free. Check up on the code it gives you, but usually iradic idling is due to a blown gasket, usually an intake gasket. Gaskets will fail with expansion and contraction over time, but usually it doesn't happen that early in the cars life.

[Rainman]

Certainly sounds a lot like a boost leak, probably from a loose or cracked IC pipe/hose. Dirty EGR is also a possibility, but I think that the boost leak is more likely IMHO.

R

[Kansei]

Certainly sounds a lot like a boost leak, probably from a loose or cracked IC pipe/hose. Dirty EGR is also a possibility, but I think that the boost leak is more likely IMHO.

R

Yeah, a dirty EGR might make a rough idle or a really low idle but would it cause the car to sit there struggling to keep running and eventually just stall? I watched my tach bounce up to like 1500rpms and then drop down to almost dead and then bounce back up a few times before it finally died.

[Rainman]

Yeah, a dirty EGR might make a rough idle or a really low idle but would it cause the car to sit there struggling to keep running and eventually just stall? I watched my tach bounce up to like 1500rpms and then drop down to almost dead and then bounce back up a few times before it finally died.

No those symptoms sound more like the boost leak. Somewhere the system is NOT closed anymore.

R

[Kansei]

No those symptoms sound more like the boost leak. Somewhere the system is NOT closed anymore.

R

Yeah forgot to mention that.. those are the symptoms I had when my intake pipe blew off (figuratively as I'm not boosting so there was no pressure) of the elbow coming from the throttle body. It's a lot easier to check on your pipes than do the EGR valve cleaning, though you'll have to take some of the intake pipes off to get to that anyway.

[shane02pro5]

What is you boost gauge reading at idle (should be around 19-22in/hg) and in full boost (6-7psi). Idle surging and even stalling are a common problem with the Protege and the slightest boost/vac leak make it significantly worse.

[crashkelly]

I gotta agree with all the guys saying IC piping...especially since you mentioned some plastic breaking near the radiator. The loud whistling that you experienced prior to the accident was probably a small crack or leak on of the IC pipes...the air flowing through a small hole would definately cause a whistle and after the crash it probably worsened the problem to the point where it now dies rather than just leaking. Good luck with the fix though...when you get it fixed if the idle is still bad try changing the spark plugs...I was having really bad idle probs at like 30,000 miles to the point where it would drop so low on RPMs that it would almost stall. After changing them to some colder running iridium plugs she purrs nicely!

[505zoom]

If the car got faster though, you might have a issue with the wastegate signal line. The stock lines get brittle over time and can wear out, especially that one since it is so close to the exhaust manifold. If that line gives out, the car will be faster and it will run like shit at idle from the vac leak.

Take several pics of your engine bay for us, or go to town with some carb cleaner to test for leaks.

[msfamilia]

What is you boost gauge reading at idle (should be around 19-22in/hg) and in full boost (6-7psi). Idle surging and even stalling are a common problem with the Protege and the slightest boost/vac leak make it significantly worse.

I second that. It sounds like a big vac leak to me if not boost leak.
You have a boost/vac gauge to verify?

[msfamilia]

btw, you look HOTTTT! (cool)

[Fernaenaturae]

btw, you look HOTTTT! (cool)
Thanks :) --Maybe after I get her fixed from the accident and whatnot i'll strike a pose with her.

I do have a boost gauge... Haven't even had a chance to look at the car since I posted this---I think i'll go ahead and have her tuned up first, and then move in on the problem, i'll run all the checks requested and let you know what's up--THEN after we get the problem solved i'll have some bigger better things to move onto :) I'll keep you guys posted, THANKS so much for the replies, I really appreciate it :)