2003 Mazda Protege: misfire or rough idle

Filed Mar 2, 2020 · Engine · 130,280 miles · CA

Rough idle causing to stall while driving, check engine light on for cylinder misfire, found cylinder 4 with a bent spark plug with the gap closed. Replaced all 4 plugs car ran fine for a few months only to have the same issue cylinder misfire with cylinder 4 with another bent plug gap closed. Possible something loose inside cylinder 4 causing the misfire issues to the plug. Mileage 130,280

Filed Apr 17, 2013 · Engine · 102,778 miles · MN

On at least 3-5 occasions this 2.0l engine has suffered the exact same fate as the federal safety agency id# 10422484. Check engine light on, misfiring, associated noise sounding like a bolt / screw bouncing around in the engine for maybe 15 seconds, then would return to normal. Each time there has been a different cylinder misfire, upon spark plug removal it was found the gap was closed causing no spark. Each time, a new plug was installed and corrected the immediate problem. After seeing these complaints and a recall regarding this issue I realized I've had the same issue. Don't know if my VIN # is in the effected range or not. Car now has 123105 miles. Would hope that mazda would cover any vehicle with this problem.

Filed Aug 29, 2011 · Engine · 56,197 miles · CA

The tightening torque of the screws used for mounting the intake manifold shutter valve loosened and fell out (1 into the spark plugs and caused damage to plugs and coils).caused misfiring, affecting the exhaust emissions. There was a recall in 2006 but not for my car's VIN - but my car had the exact problem from that recall. Waiting to see if mazda will honor this recall and pay for repairs/parts.

Filed Oct 7, 2009 · Engine · 79,000 miles · KY

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mazda protege 5. While idling the engine, it misfired and two of the cylinders did not make a connection. An authorized technician removed a screw from the cylinder within the engine at his own expense. The technician also stated that the intake manifold was losing screws and affecting the cylinders. The manufacturer offered no assistance. The current mileage was 83,000 and the failure mileage was approximately 79,000.

Filed Jan 15, 2008 · Engine · 129,000 miles · CA

While driving to work my car began to shudder and hiccup. Then the engine light cam on so I pulled off the highway. I started it back up and the car had a more serious shudder. I got it to a local service station and they ran a computer diagnostic and said it was a misfire in the #4 cylinder. The sparkplug was smashed. Nothing was found in the cylinder so the sparkplug was replaced and temporarily fixed the problem. Two weeks later the same shudder problem and again the engine light came on. This time the #1 cylinder was the problem and again with the same smashed sparkplug. My mechanic thought it was a very odd occurrence and checked and found the recall #3005c. My local mazda dealer then said my VIN# did not fall within the range of the recall and yet there seems to be many people with this problem. It looks like mazda is trying to avoid this problem.

Filed Dec 27, 2007 · Engine · 80,000 miles · DE

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mazda protg. The contact stated that the check engine light illuminated. The mechanic checked the codes and stated that the engine misfired. The current mileage was 84,000 and failure mileage was 80,000.

Filed Nov 16, 2007 · Engine · CA

2003 mazda protege 5 with rough idling and other engine issues. Consumer states the vehicle had a rough idle and that it would have trouble starting. *kb when the mechanic inspected the engine, he found the screws had passed through the engine and were found in the catalytic converter. The consumer discovered there was an intake manifold shutter and variable tumble control valve emission recall for mazda protege's, however the consumers vehicle identification number did not fall within the range.

Filed May 15, 2007 · Engine · 61,000 miles · MI

While driving normally to my home after work the car stalled at a stop light. )when restarted there was a loud clanking/hammering noise from the engine for about 15 seconds then the sound went away, the cell lit up and the engine started shaking. When checked for codes a misfire on cylinder -4 was found. (the spark plug on cylinder 4 had been smashed flat by a foreign object that caused the hammering noise, nothing was found inside the cylinder , using a magnet. The spark plug was replaced and the car worked as normal. Upon investigation on the internet I found recall 3005c for the vehicle that describes my problem and if not fixed can cause engine failure. When contacting mazda customer assistance they said my VIN was not in range for this recall and that I would have to pay for any repairs because my car has 61000 miles and even though the emissions warranty is still active, the regular warranty is over.

Filed Apr 12, 2007 · Engine · 100,000 miles · OH

I purchased vehicle new in jan 04. While exiting the freeway, I felt a "hiccup" in the engine at which time it ran very poorly and check engine light came. The serpentine belt had also jumped about 25% off drive pulleys. I was traveling out of town at this time and took it to a local service station. Technician identified problem as an engine misfire and installed a new belt. I decided not to have service station perform any additional diagnosis preferring take vehicle to dealership instead. Dealership determined that a spark plug had failed and came apart. Dealership then replaced all spark plugs. Vehicle ran fine. Appx 1 month later, exact symptoms occurred - engine hiccup, rough idle, check engine light. Again I took to dealership. Master tech was assigned to my vehicle this time and determined cause to be shutter valve screws had come loose from the intake manifold and entered engine causing damage to spark plug. Technician informed me of recall # 3005c that had been issued and that he would contact his regional service manager to request the repair be covered by mazda. Regional svc mgr declined to cover costs stating my specific VIN was not in the effected range and that my mileage was too high. I looked up the recall and determined the recall issue date to be 6/1/05. At that time my mileage would have been 40,000 to 50,000 miles. I then contacted mazda USA customer assistance - reference number 112751060. I was told that mazda would not cover the expense because my VIN # was not in the range of effected vehicles. I was also told that VIN range was determined by the federal safety agency and not by mazda and that it was illegal for mazda to pay for the repair expense. I believe this to be a lie on the part of mazda. I believe mazda is not accepting its' responsibility to the consumer because this would be admitting the problem is larger than the original scope and will cost the company a substantial amount of money.

Filed Feb 16, 2007 · Engine · 26,131 miles · CA

For over two and a half yrs, my car has had a rough idling noise and the engine often hesitates and wants to turn off. On several occasions the engine has hesitated and shut the car off. Very recently a loud noise was coming from my engine. (you could hear a rattling noise) it sounded like a piece of metal rattling around in the engine. A year ago I took my car into the dealership because of a recall (recall 3005c) to get it checked out (this is what the letter from mazda asked me to do) my car was there only two hours and only looked at maybe about thirty minutes. I received an oil change and then they were to inspect it due to the recall. When I retrieved my car they gave me a certificate of correction, but informed me that nothing had been fixed and that they were only authorized to inspect. That if the part broke that I would be responsible for it even though it was a recall. Here I am one year later and I had my car looked at and it appears that two of the screws must have come loose due to the recall. (they were found in my exhaust) I got no help from the dealer. I found the recall instructions online from mazda to the dealer which instructs the dealer to replace the parts if they have not been replaced on any previous occasion (which was procedure b). And if it has been previously worked on they are to proceed with procedure a which instructs them to do an air compression inspection for internal damage and give a certificate of correction. They did the wrong procedure on my car and never actually did what needed to be replaced for my car to be legal and ok to drive. They are now avoiding my calls and not returning numerous e-mails or voice mails. I have been trying the dealer and mazda themselves. On tues .I received nothing but rude mocking from each place telling me that it was my problem. I have been trying everyday since and I have received no response. *nm updated 2/23/2007 - intake manifold shutter and variable tumble control valves.

Filed Sep 25, 2006 · Engine · 67,000 miles · CA

Dt*: the contact stated the check engine light illuminated and the vehicle began hesitating. The vehicle was taken to an independent repair shop, who determined the computer gave a code stating a misfire in the first cylinder. The spark plug was taken off and the gap was closed. The air intake manifold was then taken off and the screw had come off, this closed the gap on the spark plug. The intake manifold was being replaced.

Filed Jul 31, 2005 · Fuel system · 32,000 miles · MS

I have had two occurrences of screws from the butterfly valves on the vtcs system from the intake of my 2003 mazda protege 5 coming loose and being sucked into the combustion chamber of the vehicle. Each instance has caused the piston to knock the screw into the spark plug, thereby causing failure of a spark plug, which causes the engine to misfire to the point where it is undrivable, thereby leaving me stranded on the side of the road. The first incident was misdiagnosed (spark plug replaced). The second was diagnosed correctly and the intake manifold assembly was replaced. This is a widespread problem with the 2.0l fs-ze mazda engine. Many other owners have had the problem. For more information to demonstrate the prevalence of the problem, please visit http://www.msprotege.com and search using the keywords "vcts" and "screw". You will see many threads where people are discussing this problem.