1997 Protege Problems

viper624

Member
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1997 Mazda Protege LX
This problem just started the other day..I was stopped at a red light and the rpm's dropped real low then went to about 1700...the car was jerking pretty hard to....then it stopped but now it is idleing real rough. Any ideas on whats going on? Any and all help is appreicated. Thanks
 
The check engine light came on today and the computer gave the code 505 and said idle controll malfunction. Does anyone think it could be the throttle position sensor?
 
My friend's 96 was doing this for awhile. It just blew up last week.

The bill came to 1800 bucks from the mazda dealer:
New Battery
New Alternator Belt
New 02 sensor
New Camshaft Position Sensor
Possibly new Alternator
New oil rings
Air Intake Tubing cracked, replace (X2)

That's all that I can remember right now, but damn that's a lot of $$ I'll keep you posted.
 
Well I hope it is nothing that serious. Hopefully it is just a sensor or someting simple.Just in case does anyone have an idea of what a motor would cost and where to find one?
 
it could be your idle control valve.(or am I saying that right)

Did you clean your throtle body out yet?
I can look in my 2nd gen manual and see what it recomends to do for that problem.
 
I'd love to hear that as well. I have been experiencing some similar, though not exactly the same stuff, over the past few months. I've taken it to a dealer and a local shop. Neither have found anything wrong, but I know it just does not feel right. I am not much of a car guy so can you explain what these two things are? I will check my manual tonight as well.
 
I think it is the idle control motor. I am going to take the car to the dealer tomorrow to see what they say. The other shops I have taken it to could not find anything wrong either.
 
viper624 said:
Also the car seems to lack power.
Ok i seem to be having the same issue...>NOBODY has given a clear answer to this issue. I am used to a very strong knowledge base "take it the mechanic" dosnt cut it for me because half the time the mechanic dosnt know what he is looking for anyway...especialy with my merkur.... Idle air control and cracked intake is what i see so far. Im gonna dick around through all the basics until i find this nagging issue.
 
If you find out the cause of this proplem please post. I cant find out exactly what is wrong either. (screwy) (dunno)
 
We also just got a mazda 626 with a 2.0 4banger
I want to put a tranny cooler on that thing as soon as possible.
It also suffers from the shakes and its really freakin anoying.
My 2.9L ranger and and even my stupid 2.3 turbo merkur dosnt shake like these 2.
 
my guess would that our throttle position sensors send a bad signal to the iac ??? i have seen bad tps send your idle all over the place
 
Hey Guys,
This is my first post here. But ive come to save you all : ). Ive been having the exact same problem with my 1.8L i just put in my protege. For a straight answer IT IS YOU TPS OR IDLE CONTROL VALVE. It wont blow your engine but it isnt good for it...it can cause it to run lean and so on. As for tps it can be adjust easily, but it may have to be replaced. As for idle control valve, check and make sure the wires are connected good. I just swapped my engine so i still have my idle air control valve and my tps off my old 1.5L i can sell them to you for alot cheaper than a dealer of autozone. Drop me an email at nickbloem@yahoo.com for more information.
 
i can pretty much confirm what the other guy said ...its mostly our tps. I tweaked with mine and now it idles at about 800 intead of hell knows where...not a perfect solution but it is alot smoother. I have a code scanner and it said it was out of ranger...guessing it wore a spot out on the tps right there since it seems to spend alot of time there or something....
 
Well thanks for all of the replies. It was my tps now the car is running the way it should be. The only problem is now my nissan is doing the same thing but it is worse. (bang)
 
viper did you replace it or did you try to mess with yours ? I think replacment is the only way to fix it properly :/
 
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