We have a 02 protege and it started to idle low at 3-400 rpm at stop and very rough (no stall yet) then engine light came on. Making appt at dealer but is it safe to drive without damaging engine? Forum indicates a variety of possibilities. Mass air flow, 02 sensor, vacuum problem etc., stuck idle valve, - Any of these make sense?

 

Could be that and many other things.Why not go to Advance Auto Parts,they code you check engine light for free.The dealer won't do that. It could be simple,cheap,and easy to fix.Again,none of that from your dealer.

 

Sounds very similar to problems I am having with my 2002 Protege 2.0 ES. Symptoms: Loss of RPM when coming to a stop - drops off to about 500, then recovers to 700/750. Sounds like a motorcycle when stopped - improves when put into "Park" - RPM's pick up. Very poor acceleration in the lower gears (this is an automatic transmission). NO engine light as of yet, however. Two suggested causes are the EGR valve clogging up - a chronic Protege problem - and possibly a crack in the neoprene boot that links the air intake system to the injection system - causes vaccum loss. (That isn't the problem with my car - I think it's the EGR). MEANWHILE - anyone with any suggestions about this problem - HELP! Also - what is the WARRANTY on the EGR? I have gotten a variety of answers.

 

A common problem with 01-03 Protege EGR is not so much the valve clogging up but the valve sticking open slightly when coming up to a stop due to rust on the EGR valve stem. Easy way to see if this is the source of the problem is to simply unplug the EGR valve electrical connector. Then the valve will never open and of course could not get stuck open slightly. Will make the CEL come on but that is ok. Easy enough to turn off when you see if the driveability problem has been solved or not. Would also be highly suspect of contamination of the Mass Air Flow sensor. Symptoms you describe of power loss are more typical of MAF problem.

 

sounds like egr valve. dealer can do a egr test on their msds system. could also be an intake gasket leaking. if it idles rough all the time check for misfire code and check the sparkplug in that cyl.for a closed gap.- screws falling out of intake