Protege Problems

[jdmprincess19]

Hey yall .... I'm not too knowledgable about protege's and Mazda's in general, so I hope this is the right foum, lol. I'm trying to help out a friend, so here goes:

My friend has got a 92-3 Mazda Protege sedan (top of the line, power everything, sunroof, etc). She's taken it to 3 different mechanics, and no one has been able to figure out whats causing all the ruckus. Here's what the car is doing: she'll be driving, and the car will just up and die. Completely stall. The power steering goes out, all the lights come on (check engine, etc). It doesn't stutter, and the only times the RPMs shoot up is when she's climbing up a hill. It has an a/t and she recently had her oil changed. It's got quite a few miles on it, and one of the many mechanics she's taken it to mentioned something about a "harness".

Can anyone tell me what a harness is? (I'm just learning engines and stuff :D ) And can anyone offer any suggestions as to what it might be?

[derrick1623]

harness, could be the wiring harness, its like the electrical backbone of the engine.

[OurP5]

the coil coming from the ditributor cap.

Did the earlier pro's have distributor caps? (help me here guys)

I had the same thing happen with my first car. There was a coil that had deteriorated (sp) and cause the engine to lose spark. Sitting at light and it would die. Slowing down coming up to an an intersection, and it would die.

Good Luck and let us know what it is.

[Captain KRM P5]

This happened on my father's Neon. I was driving, took a turn, and the car just died in motion, power steering and all. Restarted it, drove it for a mile, then it died again. Turned out that the car was in dire need of a "tune up". The modern tune up in such a car isnt at all like those of yesteryear, but suffice to say the car needed new spark plugs, new wires, new fuel and air filters and the like all the way around. This was at 120,000 miles.

I am thinking that due to the age of this car (92 - 93) your friend probably has a lot of miles on it and might be in need of that kind of general maintenance.

[jdmprincess19]

Nah, she JUST had a tune up. That was one of the questions I asked her - when they changed her oil and stuff, they checked out her plugs and stuff and it all works fine. The car does have a lot of miles on it though ..... she didn't know exactly how many though.

Frustrating!!!!! But thanks for all the imput!!!!!!!!

[Toru]

Check that coil!

I had an '82 Honda Civic once that did the same thing. It would run fine for a while but when the coil got warm it would no longer provide enough juice for a spark and the car would just die until it cooled down.

[20ESGUY]

Check the fuel pump. I've had a lot of cars do that with the in-tank units. They'll develop a short over the years and while you're driving a slight bump or something along those lines, will cause the pump to cut out and the car to just stall. Easy check is when the car stalls take a dead blow hammer, the plastic kind with sand inside, and tap on the fuel tank pretty good. If the car will start after a few good taps then that's more than likely the culprit. It's not a fool proof test so.....

[SA2002]

If the car just cuts out while under normal driving, it’s most likely an ignition related problem. If on the other hand the car stumbles or hesitates before dying, it could either be a sensor or fuel related problem. My advice is to wait until the problem becomes bad enough for a technician to duplicate it, and pay the $125 for a thorough engine diagnostic. It’s hard to diagnose a stalling symptom without performing a battery of tests. Another thing, ask around to find a competent technician or company that has good customer service. LOL:)