I've been getting an intermittent hesitation and I'm a bit stumped..I knew it had been a while since my plugs had been replaced, so I got some new ones and went ahead and cleaned my K & N filter....That didn't fix it...I noticed it is happening when I am cruising at about 3000 RPM's, and it is being accompanied by a Battery light ??? I have almost a BRAND NEW battery in the car, I checked the alternator connections and had the alternator tested and it is putting out the correct voltage....My belts have never been changed but I checked them and they look good, no cracking, and no squeaking from the belts... I'm stumped...Help !

 

how many amps is the alternator putting out under a load?

 

dunno...took it to a parts store and they tested it, and said it was ok....

 

hmm, i would want to test it myself. if you have a 100amp alternator and you're turning out 80amps you'd have a problem. However cars have all sorts of outputs on their alternators....gotta make sure they are looking for the right amount of amps.

you pulled the alt off a 3rd gen pro?? man, thats a feat!

p.s. was the casing marked with the output of the alternator? sometimes they are.

 

Lol, no...They tested it on the car...Not exactly the most accurate method I know...I may need to pullt it off and have it bench tested

 

It was my MAF !!!

I hadn't driven my pro in about 2 weeks(surgery, then i was driving the MX-6)

....I went to it and the battery was completely dead...Apparently leaving my alarm armed for that long likes to drain the battery...Charged it up and started the car and there was a CEL ??? Looked at the MAF and it was loose from the plastic housing ! The screws apparently had stripped right from the plastic !

Tried cleaning the MAF and re-securing with some JB weld, no good !! Barely started and wants to keep dying !!The alternator is charging well though, because I am able to keep restarting the battery after it runs a minute or so.

I just ordered a MAF from a junkyard off a low mileage 1.6L. Hopefully this fixes my probs...

Thank god for the second car...Pretty bad when my 90 MX-6 is more reliable lately than my '00 Protege with less than half the mileage.

 

update....I spoke too soon about my MX-6....it took a dump on me yesterday....not sure whats wrong...was running and then just died...starter spinds the engine but it doesnt turn over....checked the fuel pump and it's working..I think perhaps my ignition coil went after i washed my engine bay....cant get a spark to the block off the ignition coil wire..I'm going to test it with a multimeter today...

good news !!!! I got my MAF and the Protege now runs perfect again.....

interesting note ...the Mazda 3 MAF and the Protege 1.6L MAF are interchangeable parts...the guy at the junkyard said my MAF came off an '04 Mazda 3 2.3L.....

 

Haha, boy, that's some state of the art technology there, huh? Was '99 the first year for the 1.6l?

 

Yep.