LitlRay

first before I start to spill it all I have a 2002 protege ES... I bought it brand new less than 3 months ago... it now has 5900 miles on it....

okay... tuesday night I was on my way out to madison and I was very low on fuel- my gas light was on.... so I stopped at a Quarles / Shell station and put 6 bux of 87 octane in my tank... about 7 miles or so down the road my car started puttering like I had run out of gas- or like my engine wasnt getting any gas... I came over a hill and began to slow down and it got worse... I rolled into a 7-11 and the car totally shut off... I pulled into a parking spot and tried to start it... it would start but the putter off again.. so I called Roadside Assistance (came with the car) ... Mazda had my car until this afternoon!!! They said that they replaced the Air Flow Meter and it was fixed... At first I thought it was bad gas but when I picked it up friday they said differently that it was just my air flow meter... okay so everything was fine I drove home and then I decided to take a trip to see my grand mother in Colonial Beach... I get half way there and it starts to do the same damn thing!!! so I pull over and it cuts off again.... This time Im stranded on the side of the road!! so I call Road Side Assistance AGAIN and they tell me that they cant get a Tow Truck to me until 3 hours later!!! well I called my dad and he ripped them a new butt hole and told them to get someone out there... Well the guy finally gets there and justin is helping him put the car up on the tow truck and the guy tells him to get in the car and try to start it up to help it get on the tow truck b/c i was in a ditch... well guess what! the car starts!!!! WTF! right? okay so what im thinking is Mazda got the car started it up and was like there aint nothing wrong w/ this car and lied about the whole thing... but I dunno Im just so angry!!

does anyone have any ideas of what could be wrong w/ my poor lil protege??? and mind you i have only had the damn car 3 months or so w/ 5900 miles on it!

Also Im thinking of seeing if they will take they car back b/c I am not trying to pay for a car that shows characteristics of a lemon!!!

Any help is appreciated!! TIA!

dru

I'm not an expert, but it sounds to me like you got yourself some bad gas (and I don't mean the Franks Beans variety... )

Seriously, I wonder if changing out the fuel filter would help?

Maybe the dealership was full of sh*t?


Quick question though, from your sig I take it you're a girl, when you went to pick up your car, did you go alone or with your dad? Sometimes dealerships try and screw women around for extra $$$.

I would look into this a little further before writing your Protege off!

BTW you got my favourite colour! I was soooo close to buying a Protege in exactly that.

protetype

sounds like bad gas to me too.. but knowing from personal experience what the car does when the MAF goes out... sounds like that could be it too. more than likely... they probably got it started... it ran fine, and they didn't touch it. for piece of mind, they blame it on the MAF since it's a known problem with some of the protege's and you think your car is fixed. take a perm marker, make a small mark on the part they claimed to have fixed, take it back to them and see if when they return it, it's the same part. also.. i think the lemon law, it's like three times for the same problem before you can take any action. i could be wrong though, just heard that somewhere.

celticbass

i got some cheap grocery store gas once and after about 5 mins, my "get up and go" was completly gone. it was almost like trying to start going from a standstill in 4th gear... question? what cause mafs to go bad? will a cai have any affect on this?

apache36

this is coming from expierance, and may not be your problem. at one time i owned a '94 ford tempo (see p.o.s.), and every now and then i had the same symptoms your talking about. i too thought it was bad gas. finally in the midle of NOWHERE(burbon missouri to be exact) the car just quit running. i had almost half a tank of go juice, but it wouldn't run, and when it did i had very little power. turns out the fuel pump was going bad. well as lick would have it it finally gave up the ghost in back woods mo. try getting that fixed late in the afternoon on a saturday in a SMALL town. 5 days and 250 bucks later i had the p.o.s. back. lesson learned don't drive a ford. i am by no means an ase certified mechanic, this is just a personal expierance. so take it as just that. but it could be your prob.

josh




'02 pro5
pure white
pure stock(for now)
http://www.cardomain.com/id/apache36

LitlRay

I didnt go alone but when I walked in they just gave me the keys... I signed a paper and then I walked out... I didnt have to pay any money b/c my car is still under warranty thank god

I kinda wish they would take the car back b/c my payment is 358 a month and I wish it was lower!! I had a perfecly fine 94 protege before I bought this and its just chillin outside - so I could use that until I saved up a bit of money till I bought a new car but grr this car agrivates me!

Sir Nuke

this really does sound like bad gas...and what they need to do is drain the tank.....clean/replace the gas filter....and refill the tank...and away you go.

Farsyde

there shouldnt be any reason the MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensor would shut down your car completely. Hesitation, bad gas milage, and sputtering but a complete shutdown is fuel system related.

Oh yeah the lemon law thing, look here and click on the link in my post here
It is very tough to use the lemon law though.

It should be a warrantee repair wether or not they replace anything but I don't think they are under any obligation to bring you the part they changed out if it is a warrantee repair. If you go to Pep Boys or somethin and you have them fix a pump for example then they have to return the broken pump to you from your car to prove they changed it out, but only if you request the broken part. Good luck though, but don't let them push you around; if you aren't happy then it's there job to make things right.

frankd

I hope that everyone is correct and the problem is/was bad gas...but even if it isn't , and is a problem with the car, the dealer is entitled to a few chances to fix it ... cars can fail, and that is why you have a warranty. It's very premature to suspect your car is a 'lemon' because of one problem (especailly when the problem may not even be caused by the car). Not to sound cold, but this issue is totally separate from whether you can afford the payments on the car... since your request for them to 'take the car back' is unrealistic, you might try to renegotiate the financing if it's not affordable for you now....

stocker

[QUOTE]Originally posted by apache36
[B]this is coming from expierance, and may not be your problem. at one time i owned a '94 ford tempo (see p.o.s.), and every now and then i had the same symptoms your talking about. i too thought it was bad gas. finally in the midle of NOWHERE(burbon missouri to be exact) the car just quit running. i had almost half a tank of go juice, but it wouldn't run, and when it did i had very little power. turns out the fuel pump was going bad. [QUOTE]

Just my 2cents as well, my friend here described the exact same problem I had in k-car. The car would run, then slowly putter out, and die completely. If we waited 5-10 min the car would start, run the putter out and die. It was the fuel pump as well. Sounds alot like what yours is doing.

Something to keep in mind if the car keeps misbehaving.
Stocker.

Sporin

Cars occassionally have issues and that's what a waranty is for. Frankly, I think your buyer's remorse is making you overreact. One issue, probably related to bad gas, is hardly cause for crying "lemon."

There was an MP3 owner on the VW Vortex for a while that was really badmouthing his car for silly stuff. Like being mad at Mazda because they didn't specifically warn him that his 17" Racing Hart wheels might get scratched if he took it though an autowash. He also had 1 or 2 SMALL issues with the car that were fixed under warranty. After some diigging, he revealed that he had paid nearly $25k US for the car due to an exhorbinant dealer markup and his own ignorance. He then found out he could have bought a WRX for that money (a much faster car) so he went on a tear trying to get his perfectly fine MP3 declared a lemon, basically trying to make Mazda pay for his own ignorance and buyer's remorse

DON'T BECOME THAT GUY! You are too smart for that Rachel.

Ask your mechanic to check your fuel filter, MAF and other parts that might have been hurt by bad gas. Then enjoy your car! If you can't afford it, it's not Mazda's job to take back the car unless it becomes a certified lemon.. a classification that your a are a million miles from right now.

I say this all with the nicest tone, the best of intensions, and your best interests at heart, not as a dig, or slam, I swear.

PS... If this car agrivates you, imagine if you'd bought a Focus!

kansei

If your car is still acting up pop the hood and in the fuse box there are two bolts holding the main fuse(120 amp I think). disconnect the neg battery terminal and check if they are tight. We had a 02 es with 2500 km on it that had the same problem.

premdrumusr

You know, I'm havin the same problem with my 1999 Protege ES. At 30,000 miles (1,000) more then I bought it with in March 2002) I had to have the catalytic converter changed due to "it being clogged." Hah! My car was bogging down after start and then loss of power which someone else also descirbed as "starting in 4th gear." I also had the problem of it dying. Well anyway, it was replaced in June and again just in August! What is up with that!?! Well, either Mazda technicians don't know how to fix cars or all of our protege's have the same problem which has not been corrected. If we start sending letters to Mazda USA do you think they might look into it? Well my problem has proceded so I have an appointment tomorrow to possibly have it replaced again. I am a big fan of Mazda's but me bein g a 16 year-old kid, I do not recommend any Mazda product at this point in time. I have turned all of my friends and family away and told them to buy something else. Eh, whatever though, (mayne people will dislike me for this comment but,) PR5's may be able to handle well but for 19g's i'll gladly take an SVT Focus and run circles around it. So until Mazda gets some guts to MASS produce a Hot rod or at least more powerful ride with the handling of the PR5 I will not own another Mazda. I know you'll say there's the MP3 and the Mazdaspeed... I said MASS PRODUCE. Hand me the keys to a Sentra SE-R Spec-V for now and then when Mazda fixes some of the minor flaws they have... Hand me back the keys to my classic red baby.

I know many of you are going to say I don't appreciate what I have. I do but if it doesn't run it's no use to me. I love my car, even is it is a 99. They're great little cars with awesome handling but no guts. I'm sure I'll be completely fixed once this thing if fixed

LitlRay

Its not that I cant afford the car- I can... Its just really really tight... Its just alot of things hit me all at once and it sucks...

Im not trying to blame mazda just to get out of the car b/c I do like the car and I can afford it but just imagine:

breaking down on the side of the road twice in one week after having it for only 3 months- when this kinda thing has NEVER happened to me... I just dont like the feeling of my brand new car breaking down on me- just makes me imagine what could happen to me down the road when the car gets older- but then like one of you said thats what a warranty is for... but I really dont have time for my car to be in and out of the shop all the time- Its just been a long rough week and Im just afraid what will happen with my car later on if this is happening now...

oh and by the way- mazda called and said that my car was ready and they replaced the PCM (Power Control Module)

pr5owner

if it is bad gas i say throw like 3 bottles of octane boost in it and some gas line antifreeze

BTW at least your didn't get into a car accedent after only 3? months like i did , i really hate it when people cut me off turning left and im going strait through a green light, it has happened like 50 times
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Volcano Classic