Hello All,

I have a 01 Protege, 2.0L. There are approx 75,000 km on the vehicle.

My check engine light came on a couple of weeks ago. Before I got a chance to get to the garage, it shuttered, and almost cut out while I was sitting at a stop sign. It idled roughly for only a couple of seconds, and then ran fine again, but the check engine light started to blink. I brought it to the dealer (still had extended warranty). They read a general misfire code (no specific cylinder), and advised that I change the plugs, wires, and coils. I got a second opinion from my regular mechanic, who suggested to try replacing just the plugs and wires first. I replaced these and worked fine for about a week.
Yesterday morning as I started the car, a similar thing happened...the car idled roughly, and sounded as if it was going to stall for a few seconds, but then ran smoothly. The check engine light came on again.

I brought it back to my mechanic again..same misfire code....he ran every possible diagnostic test, checked valves, coils, wires, etc...but could not find anything wrong.

I don't feel comfortable driving a car waiting for something to die to figure out what the problem is. Has anyone had a similar problem?
thanks
Dave

 

sounds to me like either a short in the ignition system somewhere that comes and goes or a bad coil pack. there is a third option here. there could be an exhaust leak that is just fouling things up every now and then. on my old protege, i had this problem when i went from a header back to the stock exhaust manifold. i would take the heat shieldoff of the exhaust manifold and see whether or not there is sut anywhere on it or the egr tubing.

 

I have replaced plugs and wires, and had the EGR cleaned, but I am still experiencing this problem. The code is a general misfire, but is not giving a code for a specific cylinder. Are you aware of a way to test a coil pack without simply replacing them?

Other than the ignition coil, can you think of any other issues that might be causing this? I had all other systems checked....including fuel delivery, etc.

 

Inspect/replace your crankshaft position sensor and the teeth on the crank pulley. Inspect/replace camshaft position sensor

 

I had this problem woth my 02 protege 5 turned out it was water in the fuel

 

If the dealer suggested the coil packs, I would try that next.

BTW, are you in Canada?
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you really need to give more information. what is the vehicle doing when it misses, do you have freeze frame data, and if it still has a warrenty then why didn't the dealer replace the coils? it should be free. the workshop manual shows there are many things that can cause the engine to miss. what sensors were checked and diagnostics were run?

 

yeah, coils are often intermittent problems. they can be fine when you test but bad when you drive. one way to tell is, when you accelerate, does it seem to hiccup kind of like the tranny is slipping? the difference will be that the tranny slipping will cause the car to jump more and sometimes, if you accelerate quickly, could cause the tires to chirp. the coils will just make the car feel like it is missing some power.

 

This topic actually convinced me to make a profile on here. I have just encountered this problem and have replaced with new wires and some NGK Iridium plugs and still had the problem. So I went along and bought new coils from O'reilly's and the problem has been solved, so far. Coils are like 14 bucks at O'Reilly's but are like 40+ everywhere else, so it's not too bad.

Let me know how it turns out.

 

I too am having the same exact same problem. Started out with a 300 code now the 401 code comes on. Have replaced plugs, wires, and 02 sensor. I am now going to try the coil pack which are much cheaper at O'Reillys. If anyone else has tried anything can you post and let us know. Thanks. Oh yeah, what is a pre-cat and is it the same as a cat. O'Reillys cant seem to find a "pre-cat". Thanks everyone, this forum is awesome!