I have a 2002 Mazda Protege (2.0) and at low rpm's it is stumbling badly and has stalled recently. In addition, it hesitates on accelerating and has a substantial loss of power. The battery was 5 years old and I had to replace it, but the problems persist. The check engine light also keeps coming on. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks Paul

SOURCE: 1995 mazda protege having problems running during aceleration

change the transmission fluid, replace the oil and oil filter check spark plug cables, check starter coilpak, and make sure there is coolant

ricky horwood

• 128 Answers
• Posted on Dec 27, 2008

SOURCE: Hesitation or stumble during acceleration

take your car for a tune up
if they are carburetor type motors you may need your carbie cleaned and a tune up
if you clean it your self with carbie cleaner it may increase in idle speed this is nothing to worries about it is a simple adjustment
with a carburetor type motor they tend to idle higher when their cold this is the automatic choke kicking in and normally it should happen till the car is a bit warmer and the accelerator has been depresses
although a car should idle at 800 rpm my paddok car dose when it is cold it idles at 1200rpm i like it this way as the car warms up quicker as i will not drive a car while it is cold
hope this helps
ricko

SOURCE: Hesitation and loss of poer at 4000 rpm

It could be an exhaust restriction. Do you have a vacuum/pressure guage? If so you can check this at the DPFE sensor hoses. This will be either a black or a silver sensor at the back of the motor with a 3 wire connector and two rubber hoses hooked to the bottom of it these rubber hoses then hook to metal lines that go down to the exhaust. Unhook one of these hoses at the sensor then hook up the vacuum/pressure guage. It should read less than 1 psi at idle and 3 to 4 psi at wide open throttle. Any thing more is an exhaust restriction.

SOURCE: when i go to crank my mazda it wont turn over it

may have bad gas or you need a tune up
have your timing check
you may need fuel filter or injecters may be clogged

SOURCE: 2002 Mazda Protege acceleration problem

I had the same problem and found that the air admission tube was badly cracked.

Since this let air enter the engine downstream of the mass airflow sensor it is not measured so the engine ECU don't send the proper amount of fuel to provide the right air/fuel mixture. At higher RPM, the vacuum in the tube is enough to close the crack and hide the problem.

I temporarly repaired it with duct tape until I get the part.

Stephane