Hi all, new to the board.

I have a 01 protege 2.0 auto.
Lately, when at idle (car is warmed up) the cars rpm drop to about 200, then go back up and drop again. when i take off, the car is hesitant to move. once going, it drives fine.
this started happening recently and ive noticed it about 15% of the time.

this problem is not throwing any codes.
is this egr related?
tia.

 

that sounds like a bad MAP sensor to me. you could try other things, but this is where the smart money is.

 

That really does sound like an EGR valve problem. Have it cleaned. It took me about an hour to clean mine. Mainly cause i did it at night and i have fat hands lol. Proteges have a problem with EGR valves. They are easy to take out and clean. Depending on if you took out your intake system or not.

 

I tried removing mine but no luck. The two 12mm bolts are merely impossible to remove. I sprayed PB Blaster on them and waited but still couldn't get them to turn without further stripping the bolts as it already has to some degree so I stopped. I was able to get the top half off (the upper part held by 4 little phillips screws) and spray cleaned it with carb/throttle body cleaner, I've also sprayed the 'spring/loader' on the other half and aimed deep inside any open passages, that's all I can get.

There are no issues with the car, it runs and idles very smooth, great pick and accelleration - just a darn CEL (haven't had a chance to check it yet). Before that, I replaced both O2 Sensors, New Coolant, Transmission Oil/Filter, Engine Oil/Filter, New Ignition Wires, and yesterday; I spray cleaned the MAF sensor...so far, the light is still ON.

What the heck can it be???