I have a 1992 Mazda Protege DZ 5spd. it starts and idles fine. after it is warmed up it still runs good but will idle down and die if you let off the accelerator. any ideas?

 

I've got a '98 auto that was doing the same thing until i replaced the MAF sensor. Seeing as they are $200+ brand new, try picking up some MAF sensor cleaner and electrical connector cleaner and spraying things down really well first.

I struggled with this issue for well over a year until i found out what was causing it.

Hope this helps!

rick

 

Sorry, just a dumb backyard mech that knows just enough to get in trouble. What is the MAF sensor and where is it located? I just had a dying issue with my daughters Jeep and I was told to take out the idle solenoid on the back of the throttle body and clean it up. It worked for awhile and started doing it again. Went ahead and replaced it and have not had anymore problems. Are we talking about the same thing?

I drove it again last night after it has set for about 2 months and realized i did not give the whole story. When starting it turns over real good for about 2 sec and then it is like it hits a wall and turns over real slow and hard before it starts. I have tuned it up but it did not make a diff. Some tell me these have had timing belt issues. True?

 

I have not had any issues with my timing belt (yet), but you may want to check the timing, or even just adjust it a little to see if that helps.

The MAF (mass air flow) sensor tells the car how much air is coming in through the intake. Its a very sensitive little bugger, and i hear about them going bad on Proteges quite a bit.

Start by cleaning the idle air control valve (bolted to the bottom of the throttle body) first, and if that doesn't fix it, remove the MAF sensor from where the air intake hose meets the air cleaner/box. If memory serves me right, its am inline sensor with a large square top.