Rough idle, stalling... timing belt?

Hey

I have been having a problem with my 2002 protege 5 110000 miles. Over the past year it sounds like it is randomly misfiring. Now it is getting so bad that the car stalls in idle. Any sometimes it stalls when I press the gas pedal. Code reads multiple random cyclinder misfire. What can be causing this? I can smell gasoline very strongly from the exhaust. Is it my timing belt? It is so bad I can't even drive it. I took it to a mechanic a few months ago, and they charged me $200 and said they couldnt figure it out and it stopped so they couldn't find anything. I dont want to pay for a new timing belt just to have to pour more money into something else. any ideas?

It sounds like you have a plug wire, spark plug or coil going bad. I just got my car with 113000 on it. I was having the same problems. The cat blew up cause of the misfire. Raw gas was not firing and gets into the cat then ignite causing my cat to blow a hole the size of my fist in the side. I replaced it and my mechanic found out after it being in the shop for over a month i had a bad coil. Replaced it and she is fine

It was the ignition coil? (the 2 black boxes on the top of the engine). I already changed my wires, ignition coil, spark plugs. Is your mechanic trust worthy? Can he help me out? What is his info? thanks.

The air intake tube from the air filter to the intake manifold is probably cracked and letting unmetered air in. Check it thoroughly. If it is cracked, you can tape it up temporarily until you replace it.

I have a breather on there, and changed all the connections on the intake.

What are the symptoms of a timing belt that needs changing? Could it cause multiple cyclinder misfire? $350 on a new timing belt if it doesnt fix the problem would suck!

EGR valve all the way dude! Do a search, its an easy fix I've done myself. She'll purr like a kitten again when you're done. Good Luck.