My tribute (LX V6 frontwheel) started to have a shaky idling and the engine light is looping between flashing and solid. Driving is normal, but the idling at a stoplight and/or parking resembles of a possible misfire but it stops while driving.

Note: Very cold and snowy driving condition and icy. Maybe the reason?

Any ideas?

 

With Mazda the first thought is vacuum leak. Check the air intake hose at the rippled area. Bend it to see if it is cracked.

 

I'll check it out today. It's weird, because the shaking (minimal but noticeable) is only when idling. The driving is fine, and started yesterday after about 3 months from purchase.

 

You don't tell how old your vehicle is and how many miles it has.
I kind of assume that it has 75000+ miles. In addition to fixing vacuum leaks you may also look into new spark plugs, wires, coil pack. Cleaning the MAF sensor, replacing the air filter and running a tank full with techtron or GUM OUT fuel sytem cleaner. Make sure it has tha PEA (Poly Ether Amine) in it. It removes deposits from the valves and cumbustion chamber. A clogged EGR system could also be involved.

 

That seems like a lot of money to put in. However, weird enough everything was back to normal the following day. Engine light gone, and the rough idling gone too. Moody car. Maybe it got angry about my pulling the e-brake during curbs on snowy roads...

However, I will take your notes down and start doing those replacements as slowly. (Spark plugs seem fine since the car starts really nice at -20C).

Note1: The odometer reads 160K

 

A whole lot of money?
I used duct tape to fix a cracked intake hose. CRC MAF cleaner is about $5 in a can and you can clean a few MAF sensors with that.
Plugs, wires and coils are regular wear items. Even though it starts in the cold, if the plugs are old I would look at them for a nice tan coloration and I would measure the gaps.
Wires burn out and that will increase the resistance. You can measure that with a multimeter. Or in the dark, idle the engine and spray some water all over it and the wires. You may see some sparks flying which indicates the need to change parts.

All together I spent about $150 for that on my Ford Windstar with 150000 miles on it. I suspect that is about 100 British Pounds for a footballer. That is not too bad, is it?

 

Get a ODB reading, if P0171 and P0174, suspect upper and lower intake gasket. I got the same problem and replacing gaskets, engine runs like new. I got the clue form a Ford dealer saying that the silicon gaskets become brittle after time which turn out to be true, removing the lower ones they were just crumbling in small pieces.


Good luck