* Recently my car has been acting up, its incredibly jerky in first with anything over 2000 RPM. And also is jerky in second with anything over 2500 RPM. It feels like the clutch is almost engaging and disengaging and makes for a very jerky ride. I put a new clutch in the car less then two years ago I can't see it being that.

Currently the car is throwing p0171 code, from what I've read I need to double check that I don't have any vacuum line leaks and maybe clean my MAF, but could this code be related to the problem I'm having with the jerkiness?


For anyone thinking i dont know how to drive my vehicle properly, this is not the case. I have owned it for 4 years and this problem just started recently.


Thanks for any feed back.

 

Welcome to the site, Adam!!
We are generally a pretty laid back bunch 'o' car nuts here. The current crop of members are all pretty mature people. No need to be so defensive, Adam. No one here will accuse you of not knowing how to drive your car, and your post reads as if you know something a bit more than just putting the key in the ignition and going.

That said, I would guess you are on the right track. The MAF sensor is a wonderful thing when it works correctly, but has not proved itself to be very reliable to me and is a very sensitive lil' creature. That too is where I would start, though it might be something different things causing the symptoms.
Be gentle trying to "clean" it though. Be too rough with it and you will be buying a new one, which you may end up doing anyway. Be sure to disconnect the battery before unplugging the MAF also.

 

Hi. That code is familiar to owners of older Proteges. You don't state whether your warmed up idle speed is normal and stable (700 rpm. +/-) .
I note you state distance run in Km., suggesting you (like me) are a Canuckstani.
Good, I own a '99 Protege (93,000Km.) lots of problems (cured) and currently in great shape, also I have the 2000 Protege 1.8L shop manual.
Living near Montreal, I have to contend not only with the arctic winters, but also with the most aggressive road salt mix known to man. This has led to problems the shop manual never even dreamed of.
Before getting into serious money, I suggest you look very carefully at that ducting between the air filter unit and the engine intake. Unclip the air filter, and don't be hesitant about really moving it around a bit either. The air duct has a habit of getting brittle and splitting apart. What happens is it seals at rest, the engine is then torqued on the mounts as you engage gears, then the movement of the engine opens the split, letting air (which the MAF doesn't "see") into the engine, making the mixture way too lean. Now the engine complains, rocking to and fro on its mounts, making the ducting work like an accordion (with a split bellows), so the whole show just rocks (literally) on the engine mounts. This you can fix with duct tape.
If the duct is OK, then next you get yourself a 2ft. piece of tubing (even garden hose works), and use it like a stethoscope to "earball" your way around all of the plumbing which is connected eventually to either the throttle body or the intake manifold, listening for sneak leaks. (The underside of the hood has a "map" of the vacuum circuits.)

Another common weirdo of the Protege is that bad ignition hickups can throw the ECU for a loop. Get yourself a spray can of contact cleaner (which is good for cleaning the MAF anyway), and remove the two connectors at the front of the coil packs. Give those connectors a really good cleaning with the spray, and clean the dirt off the coil packs while you wait for the contact cleaner to do its job.
While you're at it , disconnect the two connectors on the air filter/MAF assembly, (MAF and Air Temp.) and squirt them too. Then take the tube off the spray can and shoot a good shot down into the MAF itself too.
Now go back to the coils, spray them with WD40 and clean them up well, using an old toothbrush, rag or whatever.
Next, check the condition of your plug harness. If it's old, it will arc onto any metal it gets close to, so make sure all of the wires are 1/4" or so clear of metal and each other, and that the plastic spacers which slide onto the mounting tabs on the engine head, are clean and in good shape too.
Now put the four connectors back where they belong, but connect and disconnect them a few times to ensure good contact.
Start your engine, warm it up, note the idle speed ( should be 700 rpm. and stable to +/- 50 or so) , go for a run and (if you've got it) check out your cruise control.
Now call it end of phase one, and post your findings on this thread.

If you still have problems, we will need some maintenance history details, last timing belt change, spark plug, battery/alternator history, upstream O2 sensor etc.
Also, since P0171 is a "catch all" code, it often has subordinate freeze frame codes behind it which are very useful in pinpointing the source of the mischief, so a visit to a competent Mazda agent for diagnosis with a hardcopy printout of ALL OF THE CODES might help.

(As much as I hate doing this, and at the risk of making a fool of myself (again) on this forum, right now I'd put my money on a split in the main air duct, with the ignition system a close second, provided of course that you have been observing the scheduled maintenance regime).

 

WHOA!!! NICE post, oldeng!! Very informative. Thank you!
I will say that my post was based on the experience(s) I have had with my 3 series car and not a Protégé, so it may or may not be valid in your case.
Based on what oldeng said, you might want to try that way first. It's sounds easy to do and completely inexpensive to test the theory.

 

I second that virgin1 , GREAT post by oldeng

 

I'll third that virgin 1, after Adam S is Zoom Zooming again !

 

Adam S is MIA as he hasn't been active at all since he first placed the OP. What's that all about?
It's ashame that he may not even SEE your post. Good info. Thanks again oldeng.

Last Activity: 04-13-2009 10:42 AM

 

Hi there,
I did a bit of research before posting and found that alot of responses (on other forums) to the same problem were suggestions that the person did not know how to drive their car.
Thanks so much for the in-depth response oldeng - i will be working on my car tomorrow and will put a reply with my findings.
Wish me luck!
Adam

 

OTHER FORUMS??? Are there such things out there?
Best of luck Adam. I am glad you came back and that oldeng's informative response didn't go to waste.

 

Thanks for a great advise oldeng. Was a couple of splits in the main air duct (hard to believe how much this can effect the way the car performs!) everything is working fine now.

Thanks agian everyone.