Hello! I am new to this site and to Mazda's. I am primarily a VW driver but I haven't gotten my wife to convert yet She has a 2002 Tribute, V6, auto, FWD. She was having this problem where sometimes when she would put it in reverse, it would just shut off. No sputtering or anything like that, it would just die. It would crank back up just fine, and run just fine after that. It only happened randomly, but recently it had started to occur more often, so we took it into the local stealership. They informed us that it needed new plugs and a MAF sensor to the tune of around $940.. needless to say, I politely told them where they could stick it, and bought the parts myself for around $140. I replaced the MAF sensor one day, the next day there was no change, it would still shut off in reverse. So the day after that, I replaced the spark plugs, all the while finding out why they charge so much.. who designs a motor to where you have to remove the intake manifold to change some freaking spark plugs?? so anyways, after about an hour and a half of noodling with it, I was able to change the plugs out, got everything put back together, and started it back up. It cranked just fine but now it idles REALLY roughly. I drove it down the street, and it ran just fine, it will crank up just fine, but it still idles rough, and shuts off when thrown into reverse. Does anyone have any idea what's going on?

I have an idea that the stealership doesn't exactly know what they're doing, we've always had this problem (the shutting off in reverse thing) and one time I replaced the fuel filter, another time, the starter was replaced, and another time some valve or another.. everytime this repair or that was done, it would fix the problem for a little while, but it always comes back.. is it just a chronic issue with these vehicles? I'm about fed up with it.. any help would be appreciated, thanks everyone!

thanks again,
Zach

 

no one has any idea?

 

I have the same model as yours and just did the plugs this weekend. I have about 82,000 miles and was impressed that the plugs still had plenty of life on them. Platinum does hold up. I did not have any symptoms, I have replaced the plugs on two Grand Cherokees within the past 2 months so was in the mood to tackle this one.

Concerning the rougher idle, have you ever replaced the Idle Air Controller valve?

Concerning the shut off when switching to Reverse, I would suspect an electrical issue related to the steering column or the gear position sensor as a starting point.

 

I'd need to get a service manual to even know what an Idle Air Controller Valve is, haha.. The fact that it's happening immediately after changing spark plugs leads me to believe that it may just be a coilpack.. I was just hoping someone had experience with this particular issue, every make and model of car/truck has their own specific quirks.. was hoping that I stumbled upon one that was easily recognized and fixable.

 

Alright guys, for the good of the group, I'll go ahead and state the problem and how it was fixed, for those who find themselves in the same boat in the future.

Turns out my symptoms were a combination of two problems. I was hearing an air leak, because I failed to plug a hose back in that I didn't even know about. It is on the diver's side of the intake manifold, underneath near the throttle body. The other end of the hose is not secured to the male piece it attaches to by anything other than friction, so when I removed the intake manifold in the first place, it simply popped off and I never knew about it. Lesson learned.

The second problem is that for whatever reason, two of the coilpacks were kind of loose, which was causing the rough idle, the were firing irregularly, if at all. I guess I forgot to tighten them all of the way. I don't know if I was anxious to complete it, or just tired, or what.

So, having secured all of the coilpacks, and reassembling everything (after replacing a fuel injector with a bad seal) it is now running again like a champ. Better than it was before, in fact. None of this changes the fact that I intend to trade it for a VW wagon, because at least when something breaks on them, I know what it is, and how to fix it. I'm not a huge fan of exploratory diagnostics on unfamiliar vehicles obviously designed by someone with an uncontrollable urge to lick every window he sees. Thanks to the one guy who responded, that was very nice of you sir.

Take care, all.

-Zach

 

I have the same problem too:

Stuttering idle, stuttering acceleration, engine light on, and sometimes between 1.5-2k rpms it stutters again. Finally, at exactly 4k rpms (rev'ing up) it stutters big time.

I'll bring it to my mechanic tomorrow since I don't have time to play 'under'

Note: After warming the engine up during a 100km/hr highway cruise, it stops stuttering during acceleration and it becomes smoother.

Update to follow after mechanic inspection.

Edit: My mechanics were fooled =(. The stuttering stopped and they couldn't get it back on. The engine light was a misfire, but even that was 'history'. However, following day, everything came back up. I swear, this car is trying to mess with my head! It could be the manifold they said, but I still suspect a misfire/coil problem. Gotta take it back to them ASAP =(

 

Misfire on Cylinders 3 and 4. Rough idling could be in due to cylinder (or their wiring)

 

I have a mazda tribute 2002 and when gearing down from third gear to second gear it would just shut down but it starts right back up. any one has any idea what it can possibly be.

 

In my experience with my Tribute, its involving quite many things. Starting from Catalytic. In my case since the internal part of the catalytic is not functioning again and i cannot found any direct fit catalytic for my car in my country so I perforate the catalytic internal part so that the gas can flow smothly to exhaust. Also I need to clean the O2 Sensor tip. Another issue is I found that my IAC or Idle Air Controller Valve need to be replace and as well my PVC Hose. Then I also need to replace from spark, spark cable, coils, EGR Feedback Pressure Sensor. Now everything almost OK, to make my idle back to really normal and smooth, i also want to change either my EGR Valve or EGR Selenoid.

Sometimes when you had problem with Idle or Engine shutdown instantly because it doesnt have enough power or RPM for idling, i also remove the MAF sensor cable and suddenly idle become normal. But I found out that its not a MAF problem which need to be replace. I try to clean my manifolds, intake, air filter and recalibrate my injection.

So basicaly you need to check everything of you keep having repeated ussie with idling the engine.

Hope this help...

 

Nice job reviving a 4 year old zombie thread.