After reading here and on the other forum website, I thought my problem with sputtering, missing and difficulty in getting my car to move at lower speeds was going to be solved easily. The car only does this when it tries to take off--under heavier load. After you get passed 40 mph, or so, it almost completely stops. Well, it does it but way, way less. It's so strange since at idle it sounds like a dream. I thought that since I had a P0100 code (MAF Circuit Malfunction) that that would clear the problem. Before I dealt with that or the EGR, as I read, I had to fix a problem I saw with this just bought car: I had to reconnect a bunch of vacuum hoses that were incorrectly connected and others that weren't connected at all to get that out of the way. In the process, I noticed one of the hoses could not be reconnected because the place to connect it was broken off. The pieace where the hose went was on the part called the resonance chamber. It's that black plastic reservoir looking part right before the firewall at the top of the engine. It connects to the intake. Two hoses go into it but only one could be connected due to the break I mentioned. I got one from a junk car. When I removed mine, oil poured out of it. I asked a mechanic/neighbor what he thought. He said that oil is probably passing through the piston rings. He asked me to remove the oil cap and if compression was coming out of there then that was proof the engine was in bad shape. He also said I could check for wet spark plugs. I only checked the oil cap but that was all I needed. Compression was coming out of there and the air that came out was spitting sprinkles of oil all over me and the engine. What I thought might be an easy fit may require a whole new engine. I will post this on the "other" forum website too. It's a 95 automatic with the 1.5L engine.

 

well.....ive only got a 91 protege and probably dont have any business posting on this part of the forum....but i wouldnt worry to much about oil sprinkling up out of ur oil cap...ive run my engine plenty of times with that thing off and believe me....oil is gonna spurt out of it because of the valve arm flying up and down so fast......but my only other suggestion is to simply check your pcv hoses for clogs. (the hose that goes from the top of your valve cover to the intake manifold). Just my 2 worthless cents. who did you buy the car from? sounds like a beat to death lemon.

After re-reading...that definatly sounds like a problem with your pressure lines. Check your MAF air flow....that could be the bulk of your problem. Maybe theres a dead fuse somewhere and its not sending the correct fuel mixture for the ammount of air coming in

Id recomend waiting for a better source on the forum to answer your questions though..heh

 

I put a computer scanner to the connector to see why the Check Engine Light was on and it showed P0100. That code means MAF Circuit Malfunction. If you have that code and those same symptoms, my friend, you have just found the answer. It is the Mass Air Flow sensor. I replaced it and the problem went away 100%. It is a dealer only part and costs over $200 so look for a used one. I know this is not going to help those that don't get the code but it's going to help someone that has the same problem. The little filament ,or whatever it is, was completely missing from the very center of the sensor. It's like a little "feeler" that senses the air and sends the info to the computer. The fact that the computer would not put some default adjustment really annoys me. The car should not become almost undriveable. No more Check Engine Light (CEL).

 

You might try here for a less expensive OEM part.

OEM 1995 Mazda Protege Replacement Parts - REALMazdaParts.com