2001 Protege 2.0 random misfire - symptoms

My 01 was doing most of what everyone elses was doing. My coils were intermittently failing, replaced them with autozone $26 ones. The bad coils destroyed my pre-cat, so I went with the OBX header non-fouler mod. And its been code free for 5 days and 200+ miles. Thanks for alot of good info in this thread!!
 
The rain has finally stopped here in the south and I almost have all my parts to do the conversion... waiting for my wires. I cleaned up my valve cover and may paint it while I'm waiting for the wires.

Anyway... I'm going to be doing this conversion in the next few days. I'll try to take pics as I go along. If anybody wants specific pictures (of my engine during the conversion) let me know.

I'm not sure how I'm going to attach the new coil packs. It came with a bracket but I'm not sure if it is the same bracket everyone is talking about. If anyone has specifics on how to attach the coils let me know... if not, I'll figure it out

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. If this fixes my problem (and I'm 99% sure it will) I will be eternally grateful.

Dave

blackprotege5smiley.gif
 
New plug wires fixed my problem. My car now runs like new again, or as new as I've known it to run. I got it when it was 4 yrs old. ;)

Old wire boot had an arc running all the way up inside it. Very strange.
 
I recently had a misfire on my number 1 plug. It turned out to be the spark plug wire. The boot at the spark plug tip was allowing the spark to leak through the boot. I had the resistance of the plug wire checked and was told that it was a good reading. but there was an ashy color were the leakage was occuring.

I hope this helps.
 
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i having the same problem also. and this is keeping me from being able to boost with my car.

i am getting both symton's as u and DIS. but my car run's tho.

i get the random misfire's and my car want's to die when i take the cluth out and want to come to a stop. but it pick's it self back up and doesn't die.

also when i start in the morning the idle tend's to bounce up and down alot and then settle it self.

this is what i done so far and had some sort of progress.
1- clean out the egr valve
2- check my o2censor's.
3-swap my ecu cuz the other one i had was fried.
4- i had a falty ground wire.
5- swaped my maf sensor aswell.

well i dont no what to next so if find out what happend let me no bro thx
emilio

i did the same on my 02 mp and found out that it is a faulty electrical fuel injector on the -neg side on cylinder 2 but i still need to find out how to repair this problem. if anybody knows anything any help will be greatly appriciated.
 
Same problem here ,missfire!!!

Hello everybody!
By reading all this posts i found hope!

I got a Mazda protege 5(323 F sport in europe ,live in europe)
It all started when the check engine symbol poped up,i whent to a mechanic to read the fault codes, i dont remeber exactly what the fault codes where but i remember it said misfire unkown cylindars.The guy told me it was my coilpacks that we needed to change with new ones so we did.
After a few days the check engine poped up again and something worse happened th check engine symbol started flashing and the car lost alot of power i could barely drive it.I drove it to the mechanic and he plugged into the computer and saw the same error message: missfire unkown cylindars.
One coilpack hade melted!!he couldent explain that!we changed the melted one to a new one,problem fixed we thought.After 2 days of driving smae issue but now the other coilpack melted instead!!!We changed that one to changed spark plugs and coilpack cables .After 2 days same thing!!!!the coilpack melted again!!i was going crazy!!!!I changed that one to ,my mechanic dident have a clue what was wrong with the car he said i cant fix it!go to mazda!

I went to mazda sweden(where i live)told them about the problem and they said they couldent fix the problem!!
So what i did was i called mazda europe headquarters in Germany and told them about my problem with the coilpacks melting.
The answer and solution was this:
1.Reground the coilpacks
2.change cat
3.change o2 sensors before and after cat (both).

I did that and the issue was fixed!!!!No more problems no more coilpacks melting anymore no more check engine symbol!!We opened tho old cat and looked inside it was like a big ball ,like it melted!or something!

But there is always a BUT!

I ve noticed that i have rough idle 700-200rpm sometimes an sometimes i hear a clunking sound in the engine room....reading the posts here i understand that this is a serious issue.One more thing the car consumes alot of gas alot more now.
But when you drive it goes really well no problem at all only the gas consumption is high and that clunking sound that comes and goes but no check engine symbol lights .

So im going to clean the EGR-valve se if that will help with gas consumption.
 
Misfire symptoms starts to occur

Hello,
I have a 2002 Mazda Protege ES 2.0. Twice today the delay in acceleration occurred when accelerating from a stop. My gas is half full when it happened. And I had my gas tank repaired from leaks just the other day. I haven't checked the codes yet. I'm thinking that the fuel system got messed up when they have to remove and reinstall the tank for reconditioning.

Suggestions please?

Thanks.

P.S.

This is my first post.
 
OBD Code P0300 Random Misfire

I am newbie in fixing my own car but after reading a few forums and looking at the service manual and 2001 Mazda Protege car parts catalog, I decide to do my own tune-up maintenance. I got the P0300 code several times over the past 3 weeks and the exact same symptom is hesitation while driving on freeway. While driving at 65-70 mph, the car would suddenly lost power for a few seconds (disengage) and then reengage again and a CEL will come on.

I had replaced the EGR valve 10 months ago when I had experienced it for the first time. It seems to creep back on me this past weeks after it go over 103k miles. It seems like most people would have the ignition coils, spark plug wires set and spark plugs changed. I just did a change of the ignition coils just to see if there is any improvement to isolate the culprit one by one.

I got the BWD Ignition Coils Part # E427 for $26 each and a 10 mm socket (for bolts removal). You can get the BWD coils from O'Reilly or Advance Auto Parts. It seems to me BWD is the OEM parts for the car (please correct me if I am wrong here) since the design is the exact same and there is an identical fineprint code. See attached photos for details. Hope someone would find use for them.
 

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I got the BWD Ignition Coils Part # E427 for $26 each and a 10 mm socket (for bolts removal). You can get the BWD coils from O'Reilly or Advance Auto Parts. It seems to me BWD is the OEM parts for the car (please correct me if I am wrong here) since the design is the exact same and there is an identical fineprint code. See attached photos for details. Hope someone would find use for them.

Dang, that a dam good price for those coils. I got mine from the dealer at around $110 each about a month ago.

I for them here for $25 bucks is anybody needs them. Wish I would of known of these before.
 
I got the BWD Ignition Coils Part # E427 for $26 each and a 10 mm socket (for bolts removal). You can get the BWD coils from O'Reilly or Advance Auto Parts. It seems to me BWD is the OEM parts for the car (please correct me if I am wrong here) since the design is the exact same and there is an identical fineprint code. See attached photos for details. Hope someone would find use for them.
Did this fix the issue for you?
 
2002 Protege5 with Random MRisfires galore

I've been reading this thread a bit and want to see if anyone has any ideas where I can go next in my troubleshooting basically the same issue. I'll sum up what I've done here:

Car cruises fine, than power drops like a rock (feels like 1 or 2 cylinders just stop firing), then clear up 20-30 seconds later. Sometimes it'll do it cold in the drive way, and sometimes it has to warm up. Also, it'll some times go a day or two with no issues and then be practically unusable for a few days. Lately once it's warm it might not even clear up and today it wouldn't even let me restart it once it stalled due to the issue. (I eventually did get it started after playing with spark plug wires for a bit)

I get P0300's and sometimes P0421's.

I swapped both coil packs, put in some new Platinum +4's (though the old ones were still gapped and clean, it had been about 80k since then). Put on new spark plug wires, replaced the top O2 sensor and ECU. Cleaned the EGR Valve, did a sweep check on the TPS and cleaned/sanded all the grounds on the driver side strut tower.

All these things made some sort of impact, it seemed at the time, as things would run well for a week or two afterwords before returning to the same issue (well, besides the sweep check since I didn't change anything).

I did notice for a few weeks that if the car started to sputter, if I wiggled the wires going to the passenger side coil pack, it would miraculously run perfectly again. Figuring I had solved the issue (and because I couldn't find a replacement wiring harness), I spliced new wires into the harness a few inches into the split loom and soldered them right to the coil (If this worked I was going to drive an hour or two to a boneyard and try to get a replacement as the wiring harness from Mazda only comes in 1 size, at $1200.) And like other things it seemed to, for a week. Week's over, now it seems like #3 (same coil pack, the one with the spark plug wire to the side of the coil) doesn't want to fire, sometimes... I actually swapped the old plug wire back in and it worked for a day. Then, back to the same.

Any other ideas? I checked vacuum lines, replaced a number of them 'cause that's a $3 fix I figured couldn't hurt. Thought about maybe the fuel pressure regulator, but it seems that it's mostly #3 now that's got the problem. And it's not that it's just misfiring, if it's stuttering and you pull the spark plug wire from #3, it makes absolutely no difference, like it's not even getting spark, but you can smell that it's getting fuel that's not burning.

Sorry for the novel, I've been at this for a while it seems... Thanks for any help!
 
Did this fix the issue for you?

Yes, it does fix my problem. No more CEL on the dash and I pass the State Emission test after a week of driving the car with the new coils. I also replaced the spark plugs and spark plug wires thereafter. I noticed just after replacing the coils and the spark plugs + spark plug wires, the car rpm will be very low when idling at stops and struggle to stay alive. But after one day, it does not do that anymore and seems to idle smoothly at stops. So if you also experience the same thing after replacing them, don't panicked, maybe it just needs sometime to adapt.
 
01 Protege P0300 code

I have an 01 and the CEL came on twice in the past month, pulled up P0300 codes as well.. I cleaned the EGR and check resistance on the wires and coils, checks out fine..Any ideas on the next step to take
 
Stormtrooper,
Remove both coils, then pull out Coil Caps (Boots) & Springs. Inspect both ends of the Springs and Inside area of Coil Connector. Let us know if there was any signs of corrosion, fusing, etc.
I have same car ES 2001, with P0300 and it's getting worse. I found some corrosion inside of one Coil Connector, cleaned it well, and car was SUPPERB for two days.. then same s*** P0300 and almost stalled. Today i replaced hat coil with new and so far so good, but it's too early to tell if it was fixed completely. I already replaced EGR, Plugs, Wires, cleaned IAC, TB, checked Air intake, Visually inspected MAF, changed PVC, and now i am almost loosing my patience. This is my second mazda. First one was 626. They BOTH HAD SAME issues with rough idling, etc. Mazda has a built-in "trouble maker" after 150,000km imho. I might trade it for an old dog and shoot it...
 
Thanks for the thread guys.

My issue comes only for about 500rpms down low, usually 1500-2000, then runs fine. After a few months of slowly getting worse (I don't drive a ton now) it finally threw a CEL code 0303. I assumed the coil fed the direct plug and not the wired length just because it was weak, and replaced it. It was great for a day, then it resumed a lighter version of the problem. CEL came back the next week, 0300. Did the other coil and both wires last week.

The car has never been an instant starter, and now may take a bit longer to fire up. But it runs great 98% of the time, with fewer and minor stumbles down low. And it is getting excellent mileage...full summer mpg for a car that takes a solid 10%/3mpg on winter blend gas. It's on tank #2 now, and I hope the ecu will learn a new spark and cure the rest.

PS_ here's a link to another who had the low rpm only version of the misfire

http://repairpal.com/car-misfires-apon-throttle-at-low-rpms-then-goes-away-543
 
Has been a while sense this thread has been revived. I have been reading the 12 pages of posts and find myself at a loss. Have a 2001 Protege LX 2.0L. 79K miles. Started with loss of power on the highway speed approximately 70 MPH, gas input from peddle did nothing, CEL blinked, came on solid, car recoverd. CEL came back with P0300 Random Misfire. Found split in the Air Inlet tube. R & R'd Air Inlet tube as well as air filter and seafoamed during fillup. Car ran good for 2 days, CEL cleared after I think 10 starts. Then alas the same problem came back. CEL with P0300 code.
KBB has this car at $2400. I have already put almost $700 in it. $512 of that being new tires. (2 front ones went down similtanously) They needed replacing anyway. Now I have read where many say change the 2 ignition coils ($90), Mass Air Flow Sensor ($110) with many saying that it did not fix the problem. Now changing the "TITLE" will most definantly make this problem go away but then I will be dealing with another car payment. Already paying on the Wife's vehicle.
Now I do plan on removing the EGR valve this weekend and cleaning it because that will not cost me anything. Has any one came across a common dinominater that fixes this problem yet? I changed the spark plugs in August 09, made sure the gap was correct. These should still be good considering I have only put less then 20K miles on the car since then but plan on changing them as well when I clean the EGR valve. Not too expensive and easy to change.

Any and all help and suggestions will be most appreciated.

All the best,

Ian
 
Has been a while sense this thread has been revived. I have been reading the 12 pages of posts and find myself at a loss. Have a 2001 Protege LX 2.0L. 79K miles. Started with loss of power on the highway speed approximately 70 MPH, gas input from peddle did nothing, CEL blinked, came on solid, car recoverd. CEL came back with P0300 Random Misfire. Found split in the Air Inlet tube. R & R'd Air Inlet tube as well as air filter and seafoamed during fillup. Car ran good for 2 days, CEL cleared after I think 10 starts. Then alas the same problem came back. CEL with P0300 code.
KBB has this car at $2400. I have already put almost $700 in it. $512 of that being new tires. (2 front ones went down similtanously) They needed replacing anyway. Now I have read where many say change the 2 ignition coils ($90), Mass Air Flow Sensor ($110) with many saying that it did not fix the problem. Now changing the "TITLE" will most definantly make this problem go away but then I will be dealing with another car payment. Already paying on the Wife's vehicle.
Now I do plan on removing the EGR valve this weekend and cleaning it because that will not cost me anything. Has any one came across a common dinominater that fixes this problem yet? I changed the spark plugs in August 09, made sure the gap was correct. These should still be good considering I have only put less then 20K miles on the car since then but plan on changing them as well when I clean the EGR valve. Not too expensive and easy to change.

Any and all help and suggestions will be most appreciated.

All the best,

Ian

Ian,

Change Ignition Wires (about $60.00) and ONE coil. Which one ? Well take them both apart look for any signs of failure (discoloration, fused contacts, rusted metal, damaged plastic casing, etc). If, after changing one coil, problem does not go away - put back first coil, and replace the second one with the same new coil). Longer you wait - greater chances that you will damage your WU Cat. (Not the end of the world, but your CEL will stay On forever). As for cleaning your EGR valve - good luck, but it is waste of time. I have one very slightly used (canadian EGR) with brand new hoses. Will sell cheap. It is in almost new condition - will last many-many years. Anyways, i changed one coil & wires and all above symptons - gone.
 
Greetings nfsp and thank you for the reply. I removed the EGR valve, took apart and cleaned out with Gum Out. Will admit the plunger was slightly stiff until I cleaned it and cycled it. So there is a noticable difference there. Removed both ignition coils and inspected and I could not see anything noticably wrong with either one. 10 to 1 a failed ignition coil would not show visable signs. Removed all 4 spark plugs and inspected. These are less then a year and a half from install and they look great.
Removed MAF Sensor and inspected for any junk on the sensor leed but that too looked fine.
Put all back together, disconnected battery to clear the CEL and took for a test drive. No problem. Drove to work this morning (approx 15 miles highway, speed 65 - 70mph) no problem. But I am not doing the victory dance yet. This has been an intermittent problem and when I changed the air inlet tube it drove fine for 2 days prior to having a problem. :)

Thanks,

Ian
 
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