The most annoying Protege5 problem EVER.

[Strela]

If you have any advice, I'd love to hear it.

My wife has a 2002 P5 Auto with a very, very annoying issue, that has been around since about 27,000 miles to the 102,000 miles it has on it currently.

After driving it to the point that it is warmed up, if you park it and leave it for about 20-30 minutes, when you start it, the car fires right up, then stumbles horribly for 15-30 seconds. If you give it any gas, it will try to stall. Sometimes it 'seems' that if you kind of flutter the gas pedal, it will "wake up". After this time "window", the car seems to run ok. It starts and runs fine from a cold start, and seems to drive "ok" after this initial hot-start stumble. 0-60 in 12ish seconds, but who knows how fast it was originally. This is an every-day occurence. It has only ever thrown one code (and that was unrelated to this issue, o2 sensor replacement).

I'm out of ideas - here is what I've done or had Mazda do (while it was under warranty).

1:Reflash ECU
2:Replaced ECU
3: Replaced Fuel Pump
4: Replaced EGR
5: Cleaned MAF
6: Replaced Plugs
7: Cleaned IAC
8: Replaced FPR
9: Replaced Cam Sensor
10: Replaced Air intake boot/hose
11: Checked for any vacuum leaks, nothing obvious.
What else could be causing this?
Halp!

 

[tweety2300]

Sounds like coil packs to me. Also are you sure that the egr was replaced? Not all mechanics will do something they're told to do if they don't think its the problem. Id say try replacing your coil packs and plug wires do you always get gas at the same place everytime? Could be cheap gas or injector problems.

 

[Strela]

Tweety - not sure regarding coil packs - again, it's never thrown an OBD code. it only misses during that hot start. I replaced the EGR myself, actually.

 

[canadian357]

Don't see why it would be injectors. Doubt it on the coil packs too. Have you tried Seafoaming it? Just to kinda clear everything up...I had a similar problem on my accord but it was a carburetor issue.

 

[Strela]

Canadian - Can't say I have. I've had really bad luck with seafoam on cars It's a bizarre, annoying issue with this car that has never gone away. I've searched forums, and saw something similar, but the person with the issue never definatively described what was going on, or what (if any) solution they found. It's oddly consistant. If you drive it till it warms up, then park it for 20-60 minutes, then start it, it stumbles badly and will stall if you press the gas pedal down (popping through the intake at the same time). This goes on for about 15-30 seconds, then seems to recover and run ok, with a nice steady idle, until the next time you shut it off warm. If you leave it longer, say a couple of hours/overnight, it starts up and runs without the issue. It's gutless when floored, but I really don't have a reference as to whether that is a symptom, or just normal for Automatic Protege5's.

 

[njaremka]

sounds like you are getting some kind of fuel vapor lock, but i'm not sure what would be causing it. first guess would be fuel pump or regulator, but if you have had those replaced, i have no clue. like 'canadian' said, if it was a caburetted vehicle, i would guess it was getting heat soak on the float bowl. very curious... any mods on the car?

as for being gutless, well, its a 4-speed automatic on a car with no power anyway.

 

[Strela]

Njaremka - no mods, it's completely stock. It's been doing this stupid crap for 50,000 miles or more, lol. I know when I replaced the FPR, I pulled the relay, cranked it "dry" (or so I thought), and then pulled the FPR off, and gas shot everywhere weeee.

 

[njaremka]

what if you try turning the key on, waiting a couple of seconds for the fuel pressure to rise, then firing the engine?

 

[Strela]

Same issue, I'm afraid. I can't actually hear the fuel pump running at any time, so I don't know if it does a "prime" like older FI cars.

 

[njaremka]

maybe it doesn't then, i thought it did... have you tried extended reach plugs? the spark plugs from the 2001 protege 1.6 engine will fit, but they have an extended reach. whatplugs do you have in there now? some of the platinum bosch plugs dont work as well as the NGK copper basics.

 

[pasadena_commut]

a very, very annoying issue, that has been around since about 27,000 miles

Any service work or other events just before this started?

I doubt this is it, but just to eliminate one possible gremlin, check the electrical grounds and make sure none are loose, dirty, or are bolted to a rust patch that used to be a piece of metal. If a ground is loose there can be very mysterious temperature related issues. Admittedly after that many miles gremlins usually turn into trolls, that is, break completely, but since you are grasping at straws, have a look.

 

[Strela]

I wish it had been serviced first Could it be the IAC? I don't see how it could, if you floor it and it stumble/stalls, you'd think that doing that would kind of "bypass" the IAC due to the volumetric difference, but who knows?

 

[BoostedPR5]

Pretty common if a car doesn't cool down enough before you s*** it off then start it back up. Just for s**** since I've heard this a lot on Protege's in particular, I know you said you waited to see if the fuel pump gained pressure but I know mine starts up better if I turn the key, put on my seat belt etc. let it sit for a second till all the lights and dings stop then start it. Other then that I'd say you have no real "problem" per say, you're starting a car that internally is hotter than it is when it runs...

 

[Strela]

PR5, I thought this kind of stuff went out with carbs, lol. I've never seen a fuel injected car act this way. I forgot to add that I disco'd the FPR hose and tried it that way, and there was no difference. It's kind of annoying trying to pull out of a gas station with it stumbling, stalling, etc.

 

[hotcracker69]

i say just replace the coil anyway and see what happens, your cars is at 100k anyway. not a bad idea to replace it.

 

[Strela]

Which one? heh/

 

[hotcracker69]

there is only two, replace both and the cables

 

[FunkyBuddha]

Check compression in the cylinders.

 

[M2P503]

(deadhorseI dont know why no body mentioned this but i would say the problem is your Shutter Valve located in your Intake manifold. Just replace the Shutter valve and the Intake Manifold! Because what happens is when you step on the gas peddle that Screw off the Shutter valve comes loose and falls down into the Cylinder chambers and literally causes internal engine damage which causes your Motor to violently shake the way it does and that screw moves around in different places that's why it stumbles more times then others . I hoped that helped!

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

If it was VICS screws coming loose there'd be much bigger problem and a machine gun noise with screw being shot around inside a cylinder. BUT.................I suppose it maybe could have something to do with the VTCS butterflies near the head not acting like they should but if the actuator had issue you'd think there would be a code. They are supposed to only "work" for 30 seconds or so on cold starts. Maybe something is making them try to do their thing even with motor warm? I hate mysto rebuild every gadget on the motor crap like this. Not sure what else you haven't covered. Weird. Hope you find the gremlin..........