Diagnose this problem...95 Protege spits and sputters under any kind of accelleration
 

Hey guys, just picked up a 95 Protege with a 1.5 in it and while driving it home, it started to spit and sputter under any kind of accelleration. If you got to a constant speed, it would run fine, but going up hills or where you needed to accellerate...it was really herky-jerky type behavior...you would have to downshift (yes its a 5 speed) just to keep it moving along. It idles fine, nice and smooth, no misses and you can free rev it without a problem. The guy i bought it from just put on new wires, plugs, and a distributor but it didnt seem to help. Just curious as to what you all think it might be...thanks in advance....

have you checked timing?

yeah...everything looks to be good

ah thats an easy 1.

im working on the same problem on my 95 now.

the the fuel pressure regulator.

you should be able to get that and the fuel rail at a junk yard for $50.
see if it looks wet and if you smell a lil gas.

very easy fix, just make sure you take it off and take it with you on the way to the junk yard, they think its compatible with an escort but mine was diffrent.

the dealers want $175 and parts stores want $90 and on both they need to be special ordered.

im betting this is your problem but i could be wrong as i can tell from my pc. :)

hey there, that kinda sounds like it might make sense....does urs bog in 1st and 2nd gear and then, when it hits like 4500 rpm's...it clears up and takes off with no problems.....thats what mine is doing....bogs low and eventually fights through it slowly...then clears up in the higher rpm's and pulls just fine....weird huh.....let me know...thanks

it did.... but not anymore ;)

look at the fuel rail by the fuel pressure regulator.
if the rail looks wet, or a lil damp (darker colored then the rail a lil further down away from the fuel pressure regulator) then id bet my pocket change thats your problem.

if it is, i just bought 1 from autozone for $75 brand new, but they had to order it.
if you go to a bone yard make sure you take it with you or the will send you home with the wrong setup 9 times outta 10.

the fuel pressure regulator on a 95 1.8L is very rare.
Hmmmm i wonder why?????? maybe cause THEY SUCK!!!

good luck man
lucky

is yours a 1.5 or a 1.8..?......and are the regulators the same for both?...thanks

i gotta 1.8L and i dont believe they are the same, although the 1.5L is a more popular engine.

hmmm...mines a 1.5.....still think its a regulator?

yep, do you know where to look, to see if you have a leak there?

yeah....i found the regulator and it looks dry as a bone...the rails too......what about an ECT sensor......those go bad often?....it seems as it gets worse as the car warms up....

so does mine. mine was dry as a bone on the fuel rail too, but just by looking at it only you could tell it was darker aka wetter in my case.

i would have your fuel lines checked by machine at a shop to be sure if i was in your shoes. but your symptoms are indentical to mine, especially the warming up part.

so if your mechanically enclined or someone whose reading this is.... ask your self what would cause the same symptoms as the regulator eslewhere in the car?

sorry bro, thats all i got. :(

When I read the first post, I thought I had written it. I also just picked up a 95 Protege with the 1.5L engine and does almost the same thing. On another website's forum, a guy remedied the problem by fixing/cleaning the EGR valve. For now, it seems that it's either one of these two problems since the symptoms are so similar. I have the manual and I rented a vacuum measuring tool from AutoZone. Try it on the EGR valve first by reading the Haynes or other manual for the Protege. If the pressure is off, I would work on replacing/cleaning that first since it seems the EGR is easier to work on. It can be cheaper since it just may be a clean up and not a purchase. However, my symptoms are immediate. The car does not need to warm up. The problem occurs immediately. The engine turns on and idles beautifully also. As soon as I step on the gas it struggles and tries to turn off. If I carefully accelerate it eventually gives in and will speed up and not turn off. It will, however, keep sputtering and such but will no longer try to turn off. Maybe yours is more the fuel pressure regulator problem and mine more the EGR. I will try one and then, if no fix, the other. I got a steal since the car only cost me $300 in pretty good shape physically. Well, at least for a 10 year old car. I am super glad to hear how you, rlucky, fixed your problem. It gives me two possibilities for fixing the problem.

mannydingo
have you looked into the distributer?
you can still get spark with a bad distributer and it may just act up under load.
just an idea for you to toss around.
if the distributer isnt all the way bad for some reason your engine light may not pop on.
thats speaking from experiance unfortunatly

The distributor is a much more expensive replacement. I hope it's not that but it's something else to keep in mind. Thanks

see if you can have your wires ohmed out, that will tell you right away

You guys would not believe the mess in wrongly connected and non-connected vacuum lines they have left after replacing the engine. I will try to work on that in a couple of days when I have time. I looked at another guy's car who has the same model but 95 instead of 97. After that, then I can look further so I don't waste money on parts until all else is covered.

rlucky, I had to reconnect a bunch of vacuum hoses that were incorrectly connected and others that weren't connected at all. In the process, I noticed one of the hoses could not be reconnected because the place to connect it to was broken off. The piece where the hose went was on the part called the resonance chamber. It's that black plastic reservoir looking part right before the firewall at the top of the engine. It connects to the intake. Two hoses go into it but only one could be connected due to the break I mentioned. I got a replacement tank from a junk car. When I removed mine, oil poured out of it but it's only supposed to hold air/fumes. I asked a mechanic/neighbor what he thought. He said that oil is probably passing through the piston rings. He asked me to remove the oil cap and if compression was coming out of there then that was proof the engine was in bad shape. He also said I could check for wet spark plugs. I only checked the oil cap but that was all I needed. Compression was coming out of there and the air that came out was spitting sprinkles of oil all over me and the engine. What I thought might be an easy fix may require a whole new engine. I will post this on the "other" forum website too.

UPDATE and I will re-post this everywhere I saw a post with people having similar problems:
Ok, upon turning the car on, my car would sputter, try to stall, sometimes just turn off, etc. It would then get better as the car picked up speed. As soon as I had to stop and go again it would do it again. I had to wave cars on. I put a computer scanner to the connector to see why the Check Engine Light was on and it showed P0100. That code means MAF Circuit Malfunction. If you have that code and those same symptoms, my friend, you have just found the answer. It is the Mass Air Flow sensor. I replaced it and the problem went away 100%. It is a dealer only part and costs over $200 so look for a used one. I know this is not going to help those that don't get the code but it's going to help someone that has the same problem. The little filament ,or whatever it is, was completely missing from the very center of the sensor. It's like a little "feeler" that senses the air and sends the info to the computer. The fact that the computer would not put some default adjustment really annoys me. The car should not become almost undriveable. No more Check Engine Light (CEL).