proto5handler

I have noticed that when im standing at a light idling, twice has the car in the last month or so has dropped RPM to LOW levels where you can feel the car is choking but doesnt stall completely. I think i might have seen other people speak of this before. One observation i have made is that it did that only when my heat/ac were all off. Everything in my car is stock and its a 5speed 2003 if that matters. I am using MOBILE 1 Syn oil. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appriciated. THANKS.

protege563028

Warranty

I would take it back to the shop.
That's what you pay all that money for.

proto5handler

Yeah, i will definetely visit my dealer. But i thought maybe someone knew exactly what is going on based on experience. These dealer shops are tricky as sh*t and would most likely blow me off when i first visit caliming there isnt anything wrong. I figured if i come in with some information concerning which parts are malfunctioning, if any, then i would be able to make them look at parts of the car that matter. Thanks for your replies.

bozi

It happened to me once too. Granted it's around -20celcius outside, but it's still strange. I think more people had this problem before. Hopefully someone with some technical knowledge will answer and maybe we can get some clarifications. In the meantime if you do go to your dealer fill us in. I would appreciate hearing what they have to say.

Thanks!

proto5handler

Yeah, the temps here in Washington DC area have been quite cold for our region. I guess with other people complaining about idle issues in cold weather, i guess this problem could be connected to teh general idle issues with our cars.

nate0123

The RPMs in my car occasionally drop slightly at idle for a moment and return to normal.

A possible explanation: the cooling fan turning on steals some power from the already-low revs. Revs return to normal as fan gets up to speed.

That's kinda what it seems like is happening, when it happens in my car.

proto5handler

I think in my case it isnt the fan causing the RPM drop. When i experience the fan turning on, there is a slight RPM drop but the car isnt chokin and there is no concern about that. This RPM drop is very different from the fan one. In my case, it drops real low and you can hear a few slight knocks and the car is chokin and is about to stall but the rpm go back up with car not stalling. I would say it does that for a duration of about a second or so. Other then that, the car performs perfectly without any hicups.

camss69

I had this problem as well, we were on the freeway and got off to get someting to eat. As we pulled up to a red light the RPM's dropped way off, so far the car was shaking, every light until we got to where we were going it did this. I got back on the freeway and continued on my way after we were done eating, and when we got to our destination it was fine. I never did take it in to the dealer it has not done it again. I'm thinking it was more of a problem with the computer, I don't live in extremely cold weather, and it was not raining, possibly it was reading a sensor wrong? My car is also completely stock. I've been watching for it ever since, and it just doesn't do it. How many miles are on your car, this happend to me with about 5k on the clock. Let me know if you take it in I would like to know what the dealer says.

proto5handler

I have about 7K on the counter right now. So this car is fairly new. I will be making an appt with the dealer tomorrow for them to have a look. Will post to this thread if the dealer actually finds anything. For now, if anyone else has any comments suggestions bout this, please feel free. Thanks for all your replies so far.

proto5handler

Bump for those who want to add anything to our discussion on this topic. Im interested in hearing from other P5 owners as well.

PhatMatt

What kind of octane gas do you throw in. I'm 93 all the way
Are you running close to empty gas tank as well?
Possible slight H2O in gas...
just my .02$

tttP5

it has happened to me a few times like during idle it would choke for maybe 1 sec then everything will be fine again....
it only happens after driving it very very hard for a long time.... like constanly 3rd and 2nd gear corners at about 4000-5000rpm...
but it never does that when street driving or going on 2 hour road trips.
dunno what its supposed to be....
but I received a PM, this guy (forgot his name) is in a lawsuit with mazda about it and wanted me to write an email to say that the same thing has happened to me....

tttP5

i think when it happened AC was off.... so it probably doesn't have anything to do with AC

P5RUNNER

in concerns to your idling problem.........i have a '02 p5 and my car has done the same thing a few times now as well.....i have taken it to the dealership numerous time...they say they cant find anything wrong....you know the whole bullshit in a can story..."we can't get it to replicate"...whata crock of **** that is...thats always the case, isnt it....anyways i took it to a friend that works on performance imports and had him look at it...he suggested that it was probably just some bad gas....and he also noticed that the o2 sensor(the one on by the heat shield, since our cars have 2 you know) looked like it could be changed....he said there was some buildup....i have put in numerous calls to mazda usa and finally got a response on it last week....they say that they are aware of similar problems with the idling and that they are trying to correct the fault and that they will be in contact when they have the remedy......i changed my o2 sensor and all i run is 89 octane shell gas now......seems to run clean and a lot better....no problems since then and im always on the pedals...hitting the pavement hard if you know what i mean....anyways try the sensor hopefully that will work for yall...let me know.......

im in houston,tx any one still want to get together for a meeting or a club, shout back at me....oh and p.s......if anyone in houston needs cheap insurance....let me know i can write it cheap....till then...look in front of you ....yep thats me...always in front of you .............................'02 silver p5...........l8r

1st MP3 in NH

I have been spear heading a simialr problem through dealerships up here but becuase my car is turboed I get more **** then you can imagine.

Heres a test for everyone.

When on the highway, going about 70 push and hold in the clutch or **** to nuetral and see how low the RPMs fall.

mine hits 0 RPM as do amny peoples protege.

So far I have tried the IAC valve and other tactics, the dealer said the ECU was missing the ground for the IAC and replaced the ECU but this did not help.

I also had a code of bad readings from the O2 so that may be the culprit. Also I found an exhuast leak before the o2 sensor and once closed up the idle was better for a day then began to worsen again.