Mazda 6 engine jerking

Good day to you all !

Firstly I am new to the forums so Hi to everyone !

So I have a mazda 6 '06 model and it has 391 000 +- on it right now (I know it's a lot but it still motors )

It's never missed a service but recently (or one day) I was climbing on the highway and 3rd gear suddenly became a jerkfest between 3-4 x1000rpm, like the fuel was being cut on and off. Basicaly it looks and feels as if you would be out of petrol.

Now in 2014 my ball joints and control arms were replaced and fixed and during then my neutral switch was taken out (could that be a problem?). Now the neutral switch hasn't and/didn't cause me any problems for a long time, could it being disconnected for that extended time period take strain on the motor somehow ?

It is the inline 4 motor in it .


Recently it the jerking has made its way into 2nd gear at 2-3 x1000rpm and somewhat in 4th, 5th, and 6th but nothing as serious as 3rd and second.

I also have this very bad sound coming from the engine at 3000rpm in any gear, it basically sounds like when a gearbox splits (that spitting sort of sound) and I know there is a hole in my cat/exhaust.

Is there anyone that may have had this before and/or knows of such a problem and best fix solution for this ? (please don't te;; me my block is done for haha .

Whilst I'm posting here has anyone come across this thing where the dipstick just gets covered in oil , it does not read at all anymore it merely goes everywhere, though it could possibly be muck in the sump and or the dipstick chamber being clogged somehow?


Thanks and Cheers (Y)!

When I disconnect the mass airflow meter the jerking stops all together but it burns my fuel ridiculously rich and lose around half a tank in mileage compared to it being connected.