New Guy with Undrivable P5

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2002.5 Mazdaspeed Protege5
Hello everyone, my name is Jorge. I own a 2002 P5 and I love it to death. Its my first car. Everything is pretty much stock on the motor except for a Megan Racing Cat-back Exhaust. Today as I was driving home from auto zone, the car all of sudden misfired and loss of power for about a second and then came back. I thought it was just me at first but then it happened again. It only occurs when the RPM's are around 2000. I cant drive the car on the roads because at 2000 RPM's, it sputters and continues to sputter until it randomly gains power back. The car runs fine once the RPM's are above 3000. Anything under 3000, the car starts to sputter again. There was no CEL until I went to auto zone to get my codes checked. It came on when I was struggling to drive the car over 20 mph. The power inst there and it just sputters :/

There is also a clanking noise coming from the camshaft or the rockers. More specifically, where the timing belt is located is where the noise is comming from. I went to auto zone and had my CEL codes read. I ended up with 2 codes. One of them being the P0660 code which I know for sure is my vcts solenoid because the car struggles sometimes in the morning to stay on. I still haven't bought that piece yet. The other one is P0340 which is the camshaft sensor circuit malfunction. Could the camshaft sensor cause the clanking noise in the cams or the rockers???? Could it also be the cause of the other problem that I'm having??? I have no idea. Should I just buy another camshaft sensor and put it on to see if it fixes the problem? Or are there any other ways to check to see what is causing all this?? I could really use someones helps right now as I cannot drive my car anymore on the roads.

Im currently uploading a video to youtube showing what is happening when the RPM's are at 2000 and the clanking noise.

Here is the video. MIght want to wear headphones.
 
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the crank sensor maybe weak and causing that definatly a place to start as it has a code stored for that sensor. I would also check your timing belt and related components as well
 
I would not go to blame the cam sensor right away, most of the time it's the wiring. Check the connector for corrosion and for any damaging to the wires to the connector at ecu and sensor.

A poor signal from this input can give you a rough running condition though.

Just to give you an idea, cam sensors are usually used by the ecu to identify if a cylinder is on intake or exhaust stroke, which is more useful on sequential ignition systems more than on wasted spark, in any case an ecu can manage without this input, unlike the crank sensor, wwhich it cannot function without.
 
The loss of power is problaby bad coils. I had the same problem a couple weeks ago and swapping out the coil packs cured the issue.
 
The loss of power is problaby bad coils. I had the same problem a couple weeks ago and swapping out the coil packs cured the issue.

I was going to suggest the obvious like coils and plus, but do you really think they will fail to operate at ~2k rpm and no where else?
 
Well, I wish I could start diagnosing these issues, but I'm still in highschool so I can't do anything till 3 PM. I've checked the cam sensor plug and it looks fine so I'm assuming its most likely the wiring. Sorry for any misspelled words. I'm on my phone
 
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One other thing you can check is the resistance of the wire between can and ecu, if its several hundred ohms, then I would blame the wiring.

I had an issue with a wire between the IAT sensor and ecu on another car, it was fixed by just running a new wire from sensor to ecu.

The last thing that can be causing this issue is a troublesome ECU, but I would leave that for last considering it is the most likely case.

Finally, from what I understand the P0660 code does not trigger the light and people drive with that DTC code without issues, so I would concentrate on sorting out the cam sensor problem first.
 
I was going to suggest the obvious like coils and plus, but do you really think they will fail to operate at ~2k rpm and no where else?
This is pretty much exactly what my car was doing, just stumbling in itself until past ~2500 rpm then it was fine after that. Changed the coils and immediately cured (well except for when I forgot to plug one of the coils in).
 
Pull the VC and check the timing belt, especially if it has never been replaced or was replaced recently.
 
This is pretty much exactly what my car was doing, just stumbling in itself until past ~2500 rpm then it was fine after that. Changed the coils and immediately cured (well except for when I forgot to plug one of the coils in).

I will agree that sometimes things don't work and it doesn't make sense, but he has a DTC code pointing at the Cam sensor. In any case, it isn't a bad idea to keep a spare pair of coils with you, so I would say get a new pair.
 
One other thing you can check is the resistance of the wire between can and ecu, if its several hundred ohms, then I would blame the wiring.

I had an issue with a wire between the IAT sensor and ecu on another car, it was fixed by just running a new wire from sensor to ecu.

The last thing that can be causing this issue is a troublesome ECU, but I would leave that for last considering it is the most likely case.

Finally, from what I understand the P0660 code does not trigger the light and people drive with that DTC code without issues, so I would concentrate on sorting out the cam sensor problem first.
i do not think it is his ecu. a bad ecu will usually throw many random and meaningless codes on the CEL and can and usually does cause a hhard/impossible to drive or no start condition. this sounds more like a sensor issue to me. but yes the final step in any troubleshooting of this type is the computer so still a valid idea
 
Pull the VC and check the timing belt, especially if it has never been replaced or was replaced recently.
a great idea, i suggested this as well. the timing belt may have lost a tooth or the components maybe weak(tensioners and the like) thats what it sounds like to me in that video, that the timing is way off and something is broken.
 
the camshaft sensor is a magnet it works by using a magnetic field to monitor where the camshaft is. this magnet gets weak over time and when it weakens enough or fails it can cause your issue as well as a no/hard start condition and extreme engine shake. the coils may need replacing as well. i would say $40 each you may as well. get new spark plug wires for the other cylinders while your down there, to have a lifetime warranty on all of it and have it all new to help check things off the list. get new ngk iridium plugs as well (part number 5464) if you end up doing timing belt do the water pump at same time (easy as its in with the timing belt) so cheaper to do it then and not later, get new drive belts at that time as well. check the wiring for that sensor all the way back not just at the harness near the sensor.
 
Your VICS solenoid would cause loss of power at high (only) or low(only) RPMs.

Your VTCS helps warm the engine faster - but will not cause it to be hard starting (especially in FL!) ;)
 
Your VICS solenoid would cause loss of power at high (only) or low(only) RPMs.

Your VTCS helps warm the engine faster - but will not cause it to be hard starting (especially in FL!) ;)

oops. Lol, I got them confused when I wrote the OP. I changed it now. I leave to school at 6 in the morning. The sun isn't out at that time yet and it still cold outside. The car will sometimes struggle to stay on(RPM's drop around 200). I ended up taking it to my local mechanic because I really cant wait for parts to arrive as I need the car for school. Im going now to go pick it up.
 
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I'd say just replace your coils regardless,... they go bad in weird and unpredictable ways and can be extremely hard to diagnose. They have even been known to be bad right out of the box or bad ones test fine on the bench. Coils should be considered a wear item and replaced before they cause problems (including the worst problem for our car,.. the P0300-P0304 engine misfire codes that fry our pre-cat) (they're relatively cheap and easy to replace)

I think P-Funk is right in checking the T-belt,.. your tensioner spring may have snapped causing the noise and a skipped tooth on the T-belt and perhaps even cause the P0340 code because the ECU knows their is something wrong with the cam signal and throws the cam sensor code?? (your cam signal would be out of synch)
 
oops. Lol, I got them confused when I wrote the OP. I changed it now. I leave to school at 6 in the morning. The sun isn't out at that time yet and it still cold outside. The car will sometimes struggle to stay on(RPM's drop around 200). I ended up taking it to my local mechanic because I really cant wait for parts to arrive as I need the car for school. Im going now to go pick it up.

let us know the fix and the price it was. in case we run into similar issues.
 
Sorry for the late reply guys. The timing belt was the culprit for this weird issue. It had skipped a tooth and had to be replaced. That was the only problem with the car. The price was around $660 for the labor to R&I the timing belt as well as the valve cover gasket. They also changed my oil and my filter as well. I plan on replacing the coils later on but not now even tho I should. Dont have alot of money right now. Today, I installed an INSYS SRI and I love it. Makes the car more responsive and a sounds a bit more deeper. Going to change the cone filter later on but the stock one is fine for now.
 
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