When in 2nd gear, the car jerks pretty bad, after getting out of 2nd gear it runs pretty good, also idles rough in gear. Have replaced the coil packs and spark plug wires, cleaned the mass air flow sensor without any effects. There is not any engine codes. Can anyone give me any ideas on what I need to do next. The car is a 2000 Mazda Protégé with 28,000 miles on it.

 

Please provide some info on your car, year and miles.

If your car runs good in all gears but 2nd then I guess your 2nd gear is bad and you are looking for a manual transaxle.

 

Sorry, it is a 2000 mazda protégé with 28,000 miles on it. it has done this before but the Mass Air Flow Sensor code was showing and it was replaced and it cured the problem, this time there is no codes.

 

O.k. that helps.

Now where the heck do you get a 14 year old car with only 28K miles from!!!!!That's an average of 2000 miles a year!!!!!!!!!!!Congratulations to that!

That out of the way, it is unlikely that your transmission is failing. It is more likely you have a minor issue with the engine. What happens is that over time the rubber compounds fail. Rubber gets brittle and develops cracks. Check the air intake hose between the air filter and the intake. You have to bend it to see if there are cracks in the accordion ripples. When the engine moves around it can open and close the cracks and cause the engine to stumble. Tape up the area with duct tape.

Obviously this car had been doing almost exclusively short trips. That means your throttle body might be dirty, the EGR system might be clogged up even the exhaust system might be clogged up. I would look at the spark plugs, possibly replace the spark plugs, give it a complete tune up and give it a good flogging on the high way. I would put some Techron Fuel Treatment in the tank and drive that thing at highway speed for 2 hours straight. That will remove a lot of deposits from the intake valves and combustion chamber.

I would also consider replacing the drive belt and the timing belt, not because of mileage but because of age.

 

I found the problem this afternoon, when checking the engine with the girlfriend speeding the engine up with it in gear holding the break, the hose between the air filter and the throttle body was opening up and causing the problem, put tape on it and it runs like a scalded dog. you were right about the rubber, I had already changed the plugs, cleaned the throttle body and put a fuel treatment in it hoping it would help, the car belongs to my girlfriends 84 year old mother who only drives it around town explaining the low mileage.

 

Cool.
Now do what I said earlier: tell grandma the scalded dog needs a workout. Drive it for 1 to 2 hours straight on the interstate. There must be a destination within that range your gf's grandma would like to go........

 

I've put over 200 miles on it since fixing it, now just need to get the gf to drive it once a week to keep cleaned out.


Thanks for the help.

 

You are welcome. Do you notice a better throttle response after the clean out run?

 

According to my girlfriend, the car has not run this good in years.

 

You are a lucky man. You have a happy GF!!