I have a 2002 1.8L Astina (a hatchback version of the Protege in Aus), auto and done close to 120,000 km.
Since the last service at 110,000 km I am getting random stalls when idling and losing power at high speeds (freeway driving). 90% of the time it's fine, but these random issues are starting to appear more and more frequently.
I can tell when a stall is about to happen because the revs start varying wildly from around 700, and up to 1500-2000, and then down to 0 or near 0 and then stalls. The only warning light that comes on is the battery, when the revs are at 0 or thereabouts. Sometimes if I'm lucky it'll go back to normal idling after it's little episode. Revving the engine also seems to help cure it as well, if my feet react quick enough
On the freeways I can be cruising, and then all of a sudden I can feel a mild shudder and then the car loses some of it's power. Hill climbing can become a pain, and usually you have to drop down a gear to just to get to the top of the hill without slowing down too much. This can go on for several kilometres before another shudder and everything seems to go back to normal. Like with the rough idling, if I catch it quickly enough I can put my foot down and it seems to go back to normal straight away. But if I miss it, I just have to wait and wait until it sorts itself out.
On occasions when I've still had this problem getting off the freeway, when I come to a stop the rough idling happens straight away. So I imagine whatever the problem is, it is responsible for both issues.
The car has been serviced by Mazda since I brought it new in '02. They have absolutely no idea what the problem is, and they've looked over it a few times. I've browsed the forums here and come up with a few possibilities, but as I'm due for another service I want to come prepared with as much info as I can so they can look over things they probably haven't thought about.
One of the reps suggested it might be something to do with the throttle, but the cost of the part was about AU$700. I don't think it was a TPS, it seems too expensive for that? It's had a transmission flush done less than 10,000k ago as well.
Any advice would be most appreciated. It's served me well for many years and this is the only ongoing problem I've had. Thanks
Since the last service at 110,000 km I am getting random stalls when idling and losing power at high speeds (freeway driving). 90% of the time it's fine, but these random issues are starting to appear more and more frequently.
I can tell when a stall is about to happen because the revs start varying wildly from around 700, and up to 1500-2000, and then down to 0 or near 0 and then stalls. The only warning light that comes on is the battery, when the revs are at 0 or thereabouts. Sometimes if I'm lucky it'll go back to normal idling after it's little episode. Revving the engine also seems to help cure it as well, if my feet react quick enough
On the freeways I can be cruising, and then all of a sudden I can feel a mild shudder and then the car loses some of it's power. Hill climbing can become a pain, and usually you have to drop down a gear to just to get to the top of the hill without slowing down too much. This can go on for several kilometres before another shudder and everything seems to go back to normal. Like with the rough idling, if I catch it quickly enough I can put my foot down and it seems to go back to normal straight away. But if I miss it, I just have to wait and wait until it sorts itself out.
On occasions when I've still had this problem getting off the freeway, when I come to a stop the rough idling happens straight away. So I imagine whatever the problem is, it is responsible for both issues.
The car has been serviced by Mazda since I brought it new in '02. They have absolutely no idea what the problem is, and they've looked over it a few times. I've browsed the forums here and come up with a few possibilities, but as I'm due for another service I want to come prepared with as much info as I can so they can look over things they probably haven't thought about.
One of the reps suggested it might be something to do with the throttle, but the cost of the part was about AU$700. I don't think it was a TPS, it seems too expensive for that? It's had a transmission flush done less than 10,000k ago as well.
Any advice would be most appreciated. It's served me well for many years and this is the only ongoing problem I've had. Thanks
