Help please 03 P5

AnthonyP5

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Mazda Protege5
So my Protege has been running weird. Lets start off by explaining what happend. I took my kids to get ice-cream and the car was running perfect, after leaving the car seemed to have no power and was jumpy between 2-3k rpms. Its a Auto. So after reading about the problem and others having similar problems i have tried a new MAF, New Coils new wires new spark plugs, New tps, new crank and cam sensor, Checked for Vacuum leaks and found none even in the intake pipe. I have replaced both Solenoid for the vics and the vtcs, i have also put new Fuel injectors in. The car keeps giving me a cam position sensor code which i have changed it 3 times in the course of a week. The only time the code comes on is when i rev the car up in neutral which bounces and usually stays at 3k rpms unless i let off the gas and keep applying it and eventually it will go over the 3k which at that point the rpms dont bounce anymore. If i try to hold the rpms at 2-3k rpms the needle just bounces up and down and you hear the engine losing power as it goes down. I am stumped with this car, first Mazda i have ever owned and only owned it for 2 months. When driving the car it takes forever to get up to speed and once i get into top gear if its above 3k rpms it runs fine, but once i need to slow down or come to a stop its a pain all over with it cutting in and out of power and jerking between 2-3k rpms. Any info our input would be amazing.
 
have you checked your timing belt? I've seen camshaft error codes caused by a stretched timing belt (or belt jumps a tooth) and the cam sensor does not time correctly with the crank position sensor. IF you just bought it, it's worth checking the timing belt anyway. if it breaks the car quits running and will leave you wherever it broke.
 
The codes was p0340, which keeps coming back after changing the sensor 3 times. p0123 but hasn't came back on since changing the tps.P0171 that one also hasn't come back on.
 
Oh and just recent the idle now without reving it up started to bounce like it would act like its going to cut off it would idle around 1k for awhile than dip as you hear the engine die than goes back up. its not a constant thing it does this about every min or 2
 
Check your wiring to make sure there isn't a broken wire internally.
Also pull your valve cover off and check your timing marks. Id bet either it jumped a tooth or the belt is badly stretched, in either case i would replace the t-belt.
 
I was going to check the belt yesterday but it started to storm. I was checking the belt cover on the side but that looks like it may take some time. So ill pull the valve cover off and check it that way.
 
Reading about the symptoms of a jumped timing belt. Would it run perfect above 3k rpms? seems at that high of a rpm it runs and sounds normal other than its 3k + rpms lol. I would think a jumped belt would run like crap in any rpms range
 
You have to pull the valve cover off before you can remove any of the belt covers anyway. But if you pull the VC (simple, takes 5 minutes tops) you can see the cam gear timing marks. Just rotate the motor over by hand until the crank is TDC and the I and E marks on the cams line up (they should line up next to each other in the center).

IF you pull the spark plugs out it's a lot easier to turn the motor over by hand ;)

Don't get discouraged... it's probably the most reliable car i've ever had. Tons of poeple on here have 200k plus miles on them with zero issues (other than rust up north). I've replaced the timing belt twice since I bought it about 3 years ago. Replaced it the first time at around 190k miles, and again a couple months ago at 250k miles. First one was my fault, I knew it needed replaced when I bought it. 2nd one was probably due anyway because I had 60k plus miles on it, but the tensioner spring failed.

Aside from the 2 timing belts (they're easy, only take a few hours start to finish) I really haven't had to do anything to this car except change the oil. Runs great, everything works, doesn't leak, burn, or drip a drop of oil, and has perfect compression across all 4 cylinders after 250k miles.
 
Reading about the symptoms of a jumped timing belt. Would it run perfect above 3k rpms? seems at that high of a rpm it runs and sounds normal other than its 3k + rpms lol. I would think a jumped belt would run like crap in any rpms range

not necessarily jumped... it may just be stretched. centrifugal force takes effect at higher RPM's. If it's stretched, there's more load on the belt than there is at high RPM. It may be something throttle body/IAC related as well... but really first thing I would do with ANY new car is check the timing belt. Nothing sucks more than getting stranded somewhere because of a $30 belt and a $5 tensioner spring.
 
Very nice the miles makes me happy knowing they last. This one has 130k miles on it. Never got stumped on a problem from a car before usually you can run the codes fix the problem. This car though has a mind of its own lol. I was thinking maybe egr is clogged so i need to clean it but that one bolt is a pain to take out unless you drop the rear mount. Than the IAC i was going to replace that but i need the t25 for it which is at my inlaws. So i guess this weekend ill run there to grab more of my tools are replace the IAC, clean the Egr and check the timing marks.
 
The other weird thing ive never worked on is those butterfly valve things. The green one only opens when its above 5k rpms other that that it doesnt move. The white one seems to move but it taps alot and is kinda loud, like if i was to have a valve tap. if i move the lever on it it stops but once i release it and allow it to move on its own it just taps fast. unless i unplug it
 
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