Stuttering

drgnzadiel101

Member
:
2002 mazda protege5
Today while driving around my car started to idle funny ans stutter. at any low gear it wont go anywhere. it'll just pitter patter everywhere and then somehow engage to its full speed again like i hit nitrous or something. the check engine light started flashing and now its solid. i don't think its the egr. any ideas? i cant drive it to autozone or anything either they are too far and there is too much traffic here
 
I had the same issue. Just finished replacing my EGR valve but I broke the rubber line from the valve cover to the intake tube and I noticed my intake tube is cracked. I plugged the intake tube and the line to the valve cover and drove it around the block and it runs a lot better... No studdering. Now I need to clear the Check Engine and an intake.
 
Brand new EGR valve and gasket was about 212.00 at the dealer by the way. I'm sure you can find it cheaper if you have the patience. I read some posts about removing it and cleaning it but my 5 has 150k miles. I figured better to replace and not worry.
 
i'll clean it out first then see. i dont think its the egr though. my sentra did this before and it ended up being a coil pack but who knows. any other ideas?
 
wel i'll ask my lil bro to take me to buy some coil packs and see. It does it whenever it wants though. It'll do it in high rev or low. It really does bother me. Bought the car 3 months ago and already had to replace 3rd gear and clutch, headlight, battery, and add Heet every now and then so the car's gas wont freeze on not so cold nights here in florida. -_- its a mess but i love the car
 
Sounds like the intake pipe after the filter and before the IM. Check that first before the ignition system. If the air flow isn't measured correctly coming in, ther Air/Fuel mixture will be all fuxed up.

If you do find a crack in the pipe, order a new OEM replacement or a CAI/SRI. But in the interim just superglue it.
 
what the hell is this Heet you mention above? I've parked my car outside in -15 degree weather with no problems. Its possible whatever that fuel additive is has clogged injectors or damaged sensors.
 
Heet is a gasoline antifreeze. does the job well. i installed new coil packs today and the stuttering went away. drove for about 30 minutes and it was fine. hope it stays that way!
 
Its also complete unnecessary. Gasoline doesn't freeze until around -100* F which I don't see anyone driving through anytime soon. Glad replacing the coil packs fixed your problem but I'd stop wasting your money on gasoline antifreeze.
 
Its also complete unnecessary. Gasoline doesn't freeze until around -100* F which I don't see anyone driving through anytime soon. Glad replacing the coil packs fixed your problem but I'd stop wasting your money on gasoline antifreeze.

That would make sense if you were in a controlled environment with 100% pure gasoline. The fact however is that gas tanks and fuel lines get water condensation in them, and it is the water that freezes, not the gas. The gas antifreeze is pointless if you use ethanol, since it is basically the same stuff, but if you live in a very cold area during the winter, it can be a lifesaver.
 
Wow I was just about to start a thread with pretty much this same problem.

For the past 3 months or so, my car has been doing this- mostly on the highway. When this problem is happening, it idles really roughly and it even shakes when I'm at a red light. But the problem seems to fix itself really suddenly and yeah, I also get a jolt as if it's nitrous.

I've taken it to my local auto mechanic 3 times, and each time they say that they can't recreate the problem so they don't know what it is. Also, they say the check engine light was only flashing because of a "random misfire." And always, they say my car should be fine but the problem comes back.

Sorry if it's a noob question but: What are coil packs?

Also, are there any other threads on this topic? I'm not sure what to search for.

Thanks!
 
ignition coil packs. they are where your plug wires are. you have two of them. i payed like 50 bucks for 2 at autozone. took like 10 minutes to install. you could clean your EGR as well(below throttle body)
 
Back