So, there's this chick... and she's got a 99 Protege.

I look at her, and I'm like, DAAAAAAMN... that's a nice oil leak right there. She agrees.

We get under the hood, do the spark plugs, wires, air filter, valve cover gasket, and throttle position sensor. She cleans the mass airflow sensor. I replace a broken hose leading from the air duct off the filter box to just near said TPS. The car's off to Jiffy Lube for fluids and then it's back.

And after three days, there's no power uphill, and she says she can put her foot down and all that happens is the engine makes more noise, but not more oomph.

I remind her that putting her foot down often causes noise, but little result. She is not amused. I am.

And the code reader still has yet to give me any useful information. Oh, well. It's a code reader, not a mind reader.

So, I'm building a laundry list of things to check/clean/replace when she's off of work. If ANYONE has any ideas what's going on with this crazy Protege, bags of win are yours.

TL;DR Section:

Symptoms:

*Burning smell showed up after replacing TPS*

- "Plastic burning smell, lack of power when trying to accelerate, *zero* power up hills- like coasting to a *stop* no matter how much gas & hard you rev, 4th and 5th gear are useless, can't go above 45mph at all- and the engine is *roaring* at that speed."

- "I can only do between 2 and 5mph up hills in 1st gear. 2nd gear, *nothing*. The burning smell is there, but not as bad as yesterday or before. It takes nearly 30 seconds to get to 20-25mph from a dead stop level surface."


Fixes Already Applied (In Order Of Application):

- New spark plugs
- New wires
- New valve gasket cover
- Cleaned MAFS
- New throttle position sensor


What I'll Probably Do Next:

- Replace PCV
- Clean/Inspect Throttle Body (seems to be where the burning smell is coming from)
- Check Slave Cylinder (clutch slippage?)
- Check Transmission Fluid?


Any other ideas? Anything major I'm missing? I'm guessing it's a transmission issue, there's no codes or CEL, and I'm hoping there'll be a simple fix.

~ Karl

 

There are a large number of things that could cause this result. Without more information or specifics about what is going on, it will be hard to diagnose.

Oil Leak: I know it's a tough question at times, but can you identify where the oil leak is originating? If not, does it only leak while running/idling or does it leak even while parked?

Burning smell:
First, make sure all the vacuum lines are connected and make sure the PCV is working properly (it is a one-way valve, it should only accept air from one direction.)
Can you identify if the smell is oil burning or if it is actually plastic?

Poor acceleration and low top speed: Could be a result of
-Failing fuel pump/dirty fuel pump filter
-Bad timing or timing belt slippage
-Failing/failed ignition coils


If you've resolved the problem, I'd find it interesting to know what you did.


Best wishes,


PickyEngineer