I have a 2000 Mazda Protege LX, 1.6L engine. I have more than 176,000 miles on it and I got an oil change yesterday and replaced the air filter.

The problem is this: when I back up, the engine sputters and sometimes shuts down. When it does shut down, the check engine light, the battery light, and the oil light are all on. However, when I change the transmission, the engine runs perfectly fine. This never happened before and yet today, the engine did shut off 3 times today and consistently sputters when backing up.

It has been some time since I had the transmission fluid and transmission filter replaced and the spark plugs (along with their ignition) have been replaced either earlier this year or late last year (I forget which).

Please help.