My 2000 Protege 1.6 5 speed has always been reliable and peppy for a car its size.

Last week I started it up first thing in the morning, and soon as it fired, I heard a single metallic "klink" under the hood, and the engine stopped firing.

Restarted, and it fired fine, warmed up and idled fine. Can't see any problems under the hood.

But ... now on interstates, when I'm in 5th gear going about 70 mph, and get to a hill, I lose power.

Car actually slows from 70 to 50 going up hill; not fun when you've got trucks behind you. Even shifting into 4th doesn't keep up the speed. Open the throttle but no engine speed increase if at high mph going up a hill. Never had this problem until after that "evil klink" sound last week. Weird.

No OBD codes.

Any thoughts? Seems fine and has power in all gears when driving slower (<50mph).

Timing belt replaced about 1000 miles ago.

Thanks.
Tom in CT

 

Hi Tom,

Wow - that is a head scratcher. The only clue here is the timing belt change. I suppose it is possible that the noise you heard was perhaps the timing belt tensioner spring and/or tensioner lock bolt giving way and the cam timing then changing (without the belt jumping a tooth or, maybe it did), but that may not explain why the engine quit firing, unless the cam sensor became temporarily confused during this period and shut the fuel pump down. That is my only working theory right now since you have no DTCs to report. Was any additional work done to the valvetrain when the belt was changed?

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable jumps in here with a better idea. Sorry for the weak help....

J

 

Do you hear clicking when it is idling?

 

Gentlemen - thanks for the ideas!

No clicking when idling. Engine actually seems smooth throughout its range.

The recent work was timing belt change, other belts replaced, a/c charged, water pump replaced.

Idle is spot on at 700rpm warm, 1500 cold; ups 50rpm with a/c on.

Car runs great, other than that loss of power at speed, going up a hill on an interstate.

Definitely weird!

Thanks.
Tom

 

Hmm...mystery indeed. If all else fails, find the cheapest shop and get he/her/it diagnosed.

 

Tom,

One additional thought - perhaps something broke loose either inside the exhaust manifold or pre-cat and/or muffler and partially plugged up your exhaust system? Could explain the loss of power at the higher speeds, but be able to run OK at the lower RPM range. Doesn't explain the loss of fire during that initial start-up, though..

food for thought...

J