[SOLVED] Rough idle, stalling, doesn't start
This morning my wife was driving to a class and called me saying she had pulled over on the side of the road due to some heavy shaking and stuttering. After turning it off, the car would crank and crank but not turn over. We had it towed home and now I'm trying to diagnose.
It does start, intermittently and idles incredible rough. Sometimes it helps to give it a lot of gas but it is still rough. Idle revs up and down, from about 500 rpm - 1200 rpm (not normal, very low). My thought process is this is likely fuel starvation. It happened suddenly (this morning), no gradual onset over the past little while. That sort of rules out timing belt and fuel filter/pump issues. I'm thinking it's a valve or electronic malfunction.
Edit: Vehicle is a 2003 Mazda Protege 2.0 L LX with automatic transmission and approx 165,000 KM
I just finished taking out the the throttle body and the ERG valve. Pics are attached. They both look a little carbon-y but I wouldn't think they are blocked.
One thing I am concerned about is the normal operation of the ERG valve. I've never looked at one of these things before but it seems to be that it could be stuck. If I push it down, the spring does not pop back up. It sticks and needs to be pulled up. Here's a video that shows what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00cE1gU4d38
This morning my wife was driving to a class and called me saying she had pulled over on the side of the road due to some heavy shaking and stuttering. After turning it off, the car would crank and crank but not turn over. We had it towed home and now I'm trying to diagnose.
It does start, intermittently and idles incredible rough. Sometimes it helps to give it a lot of gas but it is still rough. Idle revs up and down, from about 500 rpm - 1200 rpm (not normal, very low). My thought process is this is likely fuel starvation. It happened suddenly (this morning), no gradual onset over the past little while. That sort of rules out timing belt and fuel filter/pump issues. I'm thinking it's a valve or electronic malfunction.
Edit: Vehicle is a 2003 Mazda Protege 2.0 L LX with automatic transmission and approx 165,000 KM
I just finished taking out the the throttle body and the ERG valve. Pics are attached. They both look a little carbon-y but I wouldn't think they are blocked.
One thing I am concerned about is the normal operation of the ERG valve. I've never looked at one of these things before but it seems to be that it could be stuck. If I push it down, the spring does not pop back up. It sticks and needs to be pulled up. Here's a video that shows what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00cE1gU4d38
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