-I have a 1996 mazda protege se 1.5 L automatic
-my car starts fine
-if i push on the gas in Neutral or Park the engine revs normally
-car reverses fine
-if i go for a drive and stop at an intersection and go to pull away and push on the gas, the car staggers and almost stalls and has stalled before
-if i slowly push on the gas, it doesnt always do this but still staggers a little, the quicker i push on the gas going from a stop the more chance its going to stagger/almost stall or stall

-so far as per mazda i have replaced the fuel pressure regulator...it did not fix the problem
-mazda suggested to replace distro cap/rotor and spark plug wires
-i have replaced the spark plug wires as of tonight...the problem is still there (friend of mine had a neon with the same problem and replacing the spark wires fixed the problem, but not in my case unfortunately)
-i had the spark plugs replaced last spring
-my car has 174800 km on it
-last spring at around 150,000 km i had the spark plugs themselves changed

anyone have any idea what is causing this? it seems that the less pressure i put on the gas when pulling away from a stop the less likely this problem presents itself...but this can be very dangerous if i pull out into an intersection and it stalls...or staggers and i lose acceleration so ive been really careful how i drive.

should i replace the distributor cap/rotor next? does that even sound like it would cause the problem?

this happens during dry or damp weather and doesnt matter if ive been driving the car for a long time or not

this problem started early spring and went away for a month or two and recently came back and seems to be happening more frequently now

i have burned the gas to prettymuch empty, filled up and used fuel injector cleaner.

any suggestions? i could use the help

 

hmm, first thing I thought of was a vaccuum leak. I'm not real familiar with 2nd gens but it sounds to me like your tranny is causing this to stall out.

I'm going to stay quiet until I get a minute to think about this all the way through.

 

could it be compression?

my car was stolen 2 yrs ago and when i got it back the compression was off, 100, 40, 17 and 100

insurance paid for the engine to be rebuilt..

i'm very cautious about the fact that whoever worked on the engine didnt put it back together right.

this problem only showed up this spring and has been very intermittent until most recently

 

it could be.....buy a compression checker for $10 and check out each cylinder....I don't know why I didn't think of it.

 

For crying out loud, stop trying the bumper-to-bumper maintenance system (the one where you start at the front bumper and move to the back, replacing parts as you go).

My thought would be to get the sucker hooked up to a scope if you can, though I've seen a tendancy for Madza TPS's to go bonkers after a while. Hook a meter into the TPS output wire and see what readings you get as the engine is revved, it should be a nice smooth increase from 0-5V.

If that doesn't do it for you, do yourself a favor and take it to a mechanic. You will pay for his time, but he might actually have a clue what's wrong instead of just replacing various parts on a whim.

 

uhm...i had the car at the mazda dealer

they told me it was 100% the fuel pressure regulator, which i replaced...it didnt seem to help...so they said i needed replacement spark plug wires and distributor/rotor...

so i replaced the spark plug wires, and it has not happened since the day i replaced them so we'll see

i may have just needed new wires

i do need to replace distro/rotor tho cuz i have not done it in a long time

 

Things I can think of:
How high is your AC on when this stalling is occuring?
Fuel Injectors might be clogged. (not enough fuel getting into the motor fast enough)
Check your idle, and change it...(if you know how to do so, it IS manual)
Spark Plug Check (take a plug out, start the motor, see if there is spark...sorry if you're scared LoL)
Distributor not working properly?

 

This is stupid. As an ASE mechanic I'll tell you straight up: Your car must be current on ALL scheduled maintaince and have any KNOWN problem areas resolved prior to looking for underlying conditions. This is the ONLY way to get an accurate read on what is actually wrong with your car.

Why try to diagnose an engine running problem when the oil hasn't been changed and the fuel filter has been on the car for 80K miles?? (not saying that is the case here, just a common mistake people make). Besides, even if it doesn't fix his problem or help diagnose it he has performed needed maintaince and his car now runs better and will last longer.

 

I agree with the vacuum leak issue...check all your vacuum lines and check the TPS,the cap and rotor should probably be replaced too....changed the fuel filter lately???

 

If you're saying that regular maintenance is important, my response would be "duh".
If you're saying that the best way to fix a car is by throwing parts at it without even attempting to diagnose the problem, I can only laugh.
There would be very little point. I never suggested otherwise. Holy cow, you are suggesting that one should simply throw parts at a car. Well while you're at it, I guess you might as well replace the brake pads too. They may have nothing whatsoever to do with the problem, but they had to be done someday anyway so it was a reasonable attempt at repair.

I hope you're not offended if I say that I find myself doubting your ASE certification.

 

i should just sell the damned thing

i lost power going around a corner the other day and after about 1-2 seconds it came back..didnt stall, the gas just stopped responding...

/sigh

first time its done that....but its still losing power as i pull away from a stop and almost stalling

the slower i start off from a stop it seems to not do it..

 

nah, I don't mind. I know what I'm doing and people trust me more than you anyway. It's not a problem.

 

you've got a fuel injection/fuel pump/fuel system problem.

 

btw...mazda told me it was a fuel pressure regulator problem at first and that was the first thing i replaced...didnt fix the problem but it needed replacing anyway

i then replaced the spark plug wires, no change

i had my spark plugs and distributor cap / rotor replaced yesterday and the car is working normally now

the one thing i am noticing, related or not..is that my power seems to be a lot less

pulling away from a stop doesnt seem as quick as it used to be...

not sure why

at least its not stalling or staggering anymore

btw: its my own fault really i have not changed the spark plugs/wires and dist/rotor in a long time

i did the 144 km high maintenance package at mazda last year and i assumed that it would be done but it was not done now that i looked over the invoice