Mazda - Tribute :: 2002 V6 Engine Would Sputter Or Misfire
Jun 17, 2011
I have a 2002 Mazda Tribute V6 with 151K. My check engine light has come off and on for quite a while now, mostly it would come on when it rained and then go off when the weather cleared. When it was on, the engine would sputter or misfire. I first had Auto Zone hook it up and they said it needed its plugs and wires changed. No problem. I took it in to a repair place and was informed that I don't have plugs and wires, but something with coils and that since it was impossible to determine which coil was bad, all would have to be replaced at a cost of $1500. I then took it to another repair place and they said the same thing. Now I have seen some discussions regarding this same thing and apparently some people have been able to identify a specific coil. At this point my check engine light is now on all the time and I'm really worried about doing terrible damage.
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We've owned this 2002 Mazda Tribute v6 for six years. Recently, the car has become somewhat dangerous to drive. While driving down the road at any speed, releasing the throttle does not result in the engine decelerating or returning to idle. Instead, it continues to hold the speed steady for 3-5 seconds before the RPMs drop. At lower speeds (~5mph or so) the car will even accelerate a bit, which can be a problem in tight parking situations. At higher speeds (e.g. on the freeway) releasing the throttle has no effect for a few seconds (ie it does not decelerate), which can be very surprising if you're responding to suddenly slowing traffic. The brakes can, of course, overpower the engine, but you do have to push harder to get the same braking effect as if you were not fighting against the engine. Releasing the throttle and shifting into neutral while driving causes the engine to rev quite high (3,000rpm) for the same 3-5 seconds before dropping to a steady idle, but it does allow you to brake normally. Shifting back into Drive while in motion but not touching the throttle causes the engine to decelerate the car normally. Touch the gas even briefly, though, and the engine will once again surge.
Oh, and turning the steering wheel from side to side, as you might do while parking, also causes the engine to surge, though not as much as it does when I touch the gas pedal. Also, I've disconnected the throttle and cruise control cables and worked the throttle plate by hand. Doing so causes the RPM to rise, as you expect, but it does not immediately return to idle when the throttle plate snaps shut. Instead, the RPMs stay around 12~1500 for 3-5 seconds before it drops to idle.
Over the years, I've replaced the throttle position sensor, idle air control valve, and other normal maintenance items. I used a meter to troubleshoot the IAC and TPS and used propane to look for vacuum leaks, but everything is within spec. There are recall notices related to unintended acceleration for these vehicles, but those are reportedly caused by interference between the engine cover and cruise control. I do my own maintenance and don't like engine covers, so I removed the cover from this car shortly after buying it; the engine cover cannot be causing this problem. I have disconnected the battery for an hour to reset the computer, but that has no effect. There are no trouble codes that show up on a OBD-II scanner, and the CEL is not illuminated. There are many internet reports of this problem, but thus far I've found none that indicate a solution.
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I'll be driving the car fine, but after driving for maybe 10+ minutes and then stopping for 20-30 minutes, my manual 2002 Mazda Tribute DX (about 126K miles) won't start. It doesn't act flooded at all, all I hear is a click. The lights and radio and air conditioning and everything come on perfectly, but it won't start. About half of the time, it won't work at all with repeated attempts but after about 5 min. it'll just start normally. I've towed it to a shop 3 times now, on the first the alternator was replaced, and after about a week the same problem occurred, etc.
My mechanic then thought I might not be pressing the clutch all the way down since it worked right after towing but after about a week (I removed the floor mat and even made a video of me, a relatively large male, pressing as hard as safely possible on the clutch) but it still wouldn't start. It was towed, and now the car is at the shop again but the mechanic can't reproduce the problem yet again. Its battery and clutch were just replaced about a year ago, the connections don't look corroded, and my mechanic's tests on the alternator seem fine. Steering wheel isn't locked, and (supposedly) the shop's tried looking at the starter.
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The engine in my 2006 Mazda Tribute seems to have developed a knocking noise. I am not sure what causes it or how to determine where it is coming from.
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I have a Mazda Tribute with a manual transmission. About two years ago a sporadic issue started occurring. I would drive somewhere with no problems. Stop the car and park. Then when I would go to drive off the car would stall. It stalls and stalls and stalls. Start up the engine, it cuts out. Weird thing is that I can limp home. I give it gas and I back up. Then when I stop it stalls. I shift into 1st and drive, I can get up to highway speeds no problem, then drive (the most I have had to go is 45 miles) on the highway, but when I get off and get to a stop or a light, the car stalls. Start it up and keep this going all the way home.
Two hours later, get in the car... like NOTHING happened. I have brought it to my mechanic, the dealership and asked countless friends to no avail. They always say "bring the car to me when its doing that." The one time I had a shot at that, I got it to the dealer, and then it didn't stall. It stalled the whole way to the dealer, but not when I got there.
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When I am slowing to a stop, my engine idle gets really low (like 500rpm or less) and sometime stalls. At the same time, the oil light comes on. It does this all the time, and yes I've had my oil changed recently and actually I just checked it the other day and it was fine (along with all other fluids).
I've had the mechanic take a look at this three times and every time something gets fixed but this problem remains. They now say it's a ghost. It is not the air intake (I've had all of the hoses checked and a bad one replaced). It's not the electrical (I've had the spark plugs and cables replaced about a year and a half ago).
I've pretty much had everything that a car of a certain age needs done fixed/replaced in the past year or so, and I still can't figure out what could be causing this. A recent show had a similar problem, but the gal didn't mention the low idle/stalling. In that show they mentioned that she should have the oil pressure gauge checked or replaced, but would that cause the low idle/stalling? I don't know what to do and I'm very reluctant to go to a dealer.
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The problem that causes the check engine light to come on cannot be traced. The diagnosis is multi engine misfire. The dealer has checked and recheckedbut problem still exists. The last time my mechanic changed spark plugs he noticed oil on one of the plugs he removed in the rear side of the engine. He replaced the plug with the rest of them. Could it be that one or more of the spark plugs are sucking oil and causes the misfire? If so what could be the cause of that. Do I need a full tuneup? My dealer recommends replacing the cam shaft pulley because it's loose and this may or may not solve the problem. I'm not a mechanic but it appears as if the problem has something to do with the spark plugs sucking oil since the check engine light might go ou for a week or so and then come back on for a while. Lastly is it dangerous to keep driving the car especially on long trips?
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I have a 2001 Mazda Tribute with 141,000 miles. Recently, I've burned up both O2 sensors causing the check engine light to come on. My mechanic has replaced each and they've burned out again. The head gasket was replaced after that, to no avail. The check engine light continues to come on after being cleared in the computer. I have also noticed that on humid days, the car misfires on at least one cylinder., but any other time, it seems fine. What to check next? My mechanic is at a loss.
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My Mazda tribute 2003 (manual) has developed a habit of 'pretending' to be overheated. If I do more than 2 or 3 stops as I run Saturday errands on a warm day - the care refuses to start and' continue' to run. I can start the car but have to rev the engine and restart at every stop sign and red light- If I pop the hood and wait about 40 minutes the car seems to 'cool' down and will run. The engine does not redline - water and coolant are fine - Is this just a faulty thermostat or is it some insidious vapor lock....
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My 2003 Tribute has started squeaking. Seems to come from the main belt on the left side of the engine. Faint at idle, but gets somewhat louder as the rpms go up. What is the accepted protocol for dealing with this? How do I understand if the belt needs replacing, or if something is out of alignment? BTW, as best as I can see/feel it, the belt itself is in OK shape. Is there some kind of lube? (Though it's a smooth belt, so that might not be smart ...)
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I drive a 1992 Mazda Protege. Recently had an oil change and put in new air filter. Recently the check engine light has been coming on. Sometimes it will run rough and sputter a bit when the light flips on and then runs normal after the light flips off, sometimes it seems to run fine when the light comes on, but the light does go off and the car runs fine after it has been running for a few minutes. Shortly before I had my air filter and oil changed I did have an incident at a stop light where the car died and did not restart for a full five minutes, at which point it sputtered for a bit and then got me home.
I took into the local mazda service center and dealer (they were the only ones who had the right kind of connector to pull the error of a car this old), and they said the only code coming up was a p69 which indicated a bad thermoswitch. I have already paid for it but the parts won't be in until Saturday. I have until then to cancel the repair and just pay restock and the original diagnostic fees. Should I go through with this repair, or do the symptoms described indicate something else?
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So, my check engine light has been on for months. I knew that I needed a new oxygen sensor (block 1-pre-cat), so I replaced it today after the car began to sputter and misfire. Well, I thought that would fix the problem, but it hasn't. Some of the hesitation is gone, but the sputtering is still very bad. I'm going to replace the spark plugs tomorrow and see if that works. I was also told to clean out the catalytic converter, but I don't know how to take it off. It wouldn't hurt to just bang out all the debris. Any DIY on taking off a catalytic converter for a 2000 VW Golf GTI 1.8T?
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2000 GTI GLS 2.0L ... I understand I need to replace the Ignition Coil Pack on my car. I have looked on ECS Tuning to find the coil pack, but from all the pictures I see of other people coil packs they look nothing like what mine do. So I'm wondering if they are different for my specific car? So the issue that I have is my engine sputters sometimes, but more so when is wet outside. Its only cylinder 2 misfiring currently, and I replaced my Fuel Filter and Fuel Pump already in the past 4 or 5 months. Also a local shop had done some work recently and I know they had replaced the spark plugs. So I'm just wondering what coil packs I need for my car, and how I would go about replacing them. From what I saw online with other 2.0L (They weren't GTIs tho) was that the coild pack was behind the SIA pump or something like that, and they are a small black box. It looks to me that my coil packs are inline above the spark plugs and cylinders?
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I am a proud owner of a 06 Mazda tribute 3.0, 6 cylinder, 2 wheel drive, automatic. That is not the problem. The problem is on long drive 100 miles or more when we take a pit stop, to stretch our legs, we exit and when we come to a stop the suv stalls out. Its like we are driving a manual and forgot to push in the clutch. We can start it right back up and when we put it in drive it does it again. If we start it in neutral it will ideal but as we shift to drive it stalls out. We are not seeing any other problems. The MPG are the same and haven't gotten any worse. What should I look into fixing?
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I have a 2008 Mazda Tribute with 93k miles on it. These last few years have been a nightmare. The car is constantly in the shop. I’ve been trying to diagnose and repair front end problems. Recently, I had my tires rotated and balanced. New sound: Now I’m having loose play in my steering wheel and a loud clicking/creaking sound when I turn the wheel at low speeds or attempting to parallel park. Ongoing sound: the car makes a tight creaking noise when I stop at low speeds. This sounds like something is tightening or screechy brakes. Here’s all of the repairs that I’ve done to the vehicle:
46,000 (11/16/12) Replaced entire right-front CV axle.
52,201 (3/10/13) Replaced front brake pads and rotors. Replaced both front sway bar links.
58,602 (7/10/13) Replaced both front control arms, serpentine belt, and tensioner/pulley for belt.
66,257 (3/23/14) Transmission fluid changed, leaking value seals replaced, spark plugs + wires changed.
81,258 (8/16/15) All four tires replaced with new ones.
84,797 (9/12/15) New front brake pads (ceramic), rotors serviced.
86,391 (10/5/15) Both front struts replaced, both outer tie-rods replaced, wheel alignment performed.
91,308 (1/12/16) Both front ball joints replaced. Both front wheel bearings replaced.
93,744 (3/5/16) Tires rotated and balanced.
I’m running out of things to fix on the front suspension of this vehicle it’s extremely frustrating. I’m nervous to drive on freeways at high speeds because the steering is wobbly but I don’t know how to fix it.
Here's a youtube video where you can hear the noise. Note the "play" in the wobbly steering wheel when the video first starts. [URL] ....
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I was backing out of the driveway a day ago and my gear got stuck in neutral,can not move the gear shifter and just don't know what to to do. This has never happened before.
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i have a 2005 mazda tribute v6. it has been knocking for about a year slowly geting worse. no check engine lite on, so i think it may be the egr valve. just wonder how to check it.
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I have an 08 mazda tribute 2.3litre 5 speed. The truck started losing power and bucking really bad about 2 months ago. If I shut the truck off and let it sit for a few minutes, then start it back up, it runs fine for maybe 10 minutes or maybe a week then it eventually starts missing and bucking again. It throws the code p0191 which is the fuel rail pressure sensor. I have replaced the sensor twice and put new plugs, wires, coil packs, fuel filter and even replaced the pcm. The truck is still doing the same thing and throwing the same code. My Mechanic and myself are stumped.
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both wiper fluid jets on my 2003 Mazda Tribute have been weak, I'm guessing they're not BOTH blocked or obstructed, so would the community surmise that it's time for me to replace the wiper pump? And if so, is this a difficult repair?
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I have a 2003 Mazda Tribute that seems to have a bit of an idling issue. When my heat on my car is off, everything is fine as far as the idle speed. When I have the heat on, even when it is low, and I am stopped, the rpm's rise a bit, then go back down to normal idling speed. The car also gives a little jump when I come to a stop. I think all of this is related to turning the heat on and off, as it doesn't happen when the heat is on.
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I was on my way home suddenly the acceleration of the trib went sluggish.... low idle especially when you put it on drive and with the a/c on. It can rev but it feels like you are revving a 1.1L engine.
What could be the cause? I already had the sensors etc cleaned 6 months ago.....It has NO check engine light.
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