Hello. I've been having a couple problems recently and hopefully someone here can help enlighten me. I drive a 95 protege with 75k miles on it and a manual transmission. The first problem I'm having just started up a few days ago. After I drive for a while the pedals and the shifter seem to become a bit stiffer (more force required). This is most noticeable with the clutch and gas pedal. I'm not entirely sure if the brake pedal really changes at this point. I checked my brake/clutch fluid and it was at max I believe.

My second problem is that the engine seems to, well, hiccup occasionally. The power will drop off and the car will jolt as the check engine light flickers on and then back off the next second. It generally tends to happen when I'm driving up a hill as I push the accelerator down. I tend to use the cheapest gas I can find around here.

I'd appreciate any advice on these issues.

Thanks,
Patrick

 

The second problem you have sounds familiar, I had a similar issue with my '86 323 near the end of it's life. Obviously I don't know your exact problem, but three things I would check are your TPS output, your fuel pump pressure, and the vapor recovery system (the charcoal canister thing).

Your TPS (throttle position sensor) is a little box on the side of the throttle body that will return 0-5V depending on throttle position. Preferably with an analog meter, check the output to ensure that it increases smoothly with throttle input.

The fuel pump pressure simply should be within specs, which I don't know offhand. You may well not have the equipment to check this yourself, in which case I'd try 1 and 3 first.

The final solution to my 323's issues was the vapor recovery system. The charcoal cansiter was blocked, which meant on heavy acceleration the fuel pump would generate a vacuum in the tank, causing all manners of problems. Pop the canister out and make sure it is not blocked. If it is, that's almost certainly your problem.