Start-up and idle trouble with a 97 Protege
 

Ok, heres the situation. I had poor gas mileage with my car, so I took it to a garage and they did a complete tune up on it (plugs, plug wires, distributor cap) to have this problem fixed. However, the next day I try to start the car, it becomes very hard to do so. It takes at least 2-3 cranks to get it started. This was about a week ago. The engine is trying to turn over, but just won't kick in. On top of this, from time to time when I idle after first starting the car, it just dies out. Before I had the tune up there was no problems with start up or idling all. I took the car back to the garage to have the tune up checked over for any problems and they said it was fine, saying my fuel pump is most likely causing trouble. Any advice?

RE: Start-up and idle trouble with a 97 Protege
 

does the car shake at all after it has been started? and did they do an injector flush?

RE: Start-up and idle trouble with a 97 Protege
 

It shakes if the car doesn't start "right". As of right now, I have to start the car, like get it running so I can put it in gear, turn it off, and then start it again. If I do this, the car runs fine. However, if I try to drive it after it starting it once, it does shake and eventually dies out. I don't think they did an injector flush. I'm starting to think this is a spark plug timing issue. Thanks for the reply.

RE: Start-up and idle trouble with a 97 Protege
 

You can check wires and spark plugs.Be sureconnection correct - remember 1-3-4-2

RE: Start-up and idle trouble with a 97 Protege
 

yeah make sure the spark plugs are in the right connectors on the ignition coil and that there in the right cylinders on the engine. and double check to make sure that the boot of the spark plug connected with the sprak plug.

RE: Start-up and idle trouble with a 97 Protege
 

Thanks for all the help. As I am new to learning about cars and such, I'm not quite sure how to tell whats 1-3-4-2 on the wire side. I'm guessing on the spark plug side it goes 1-2-3-4 from left to right? Is there a diagram or something that can clear this up? I pushed the boot down as far as it can go, is there any other way to check if its connected right? Thanks again.

RE: Start-up and idle trouble with a 97 Protege
 

I went ahead and found a diagram on autozone http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us...rInfoPages.htm

A new problem worth mentioning occured today. Its pretty cold out, 6F (-14C), which may be the cause. When the car is turned on and is put into gear for the first time, reverse or drive, and you make a turn, there is a squeaking in what I believe is one of the belts. Could this be related to my above problem?