My 1999 Protege ES with the 1.8 DOHC engine has about 70k miles on it. The other day, while driving on the highway, the car lost power almost completely and the check engine light came on. The engine kept running, but could only give enough power to go about 5 MPH, and the car jerked like a kid first learning stickshift was driving it (it's an automatic).
After about 5 minutes the problem went away, and the car ran more or less normally. We drove across town to our mechanic who pulled the code. The code was "cam positioning sensor malfunction," which the mechainc said was inconclusive. Their advice was to drive it around for a while and see if it fails again, which it hasn't.
Ever since, the idle has been very rough and the engine sounds like crap (like a diesel truck) up to just under 3000 rpm, at which point it purrs like its old self. The engine light has stayed off, however.
Not quite sure what to suspect; I changed the plugs (which needed it badly, but which didn't solve the problem), and discovered a recall replacment of the ignition coil that needs to happen. Also planning to change the fuel filter in case it's clogged, but am waiting for the Haynes manual I never bothered to get before anything was wrong.
Is this a known problem? Did the cam position sensor code mean my timing is and continues to be screwed? Just bad gas? Fuel pump problem?
Any help appreciated.
After about 5 minutes the problem went away, and the car ran more or less normally. We drove across town to our mechanic who pulled the code. The code was "cam positioning sensor malfunction," which the mechainc said was inconclusive. Their advice was to drive it around for a while and see if it fails again, which it hasn't.
Ever since, the idle has been very rough and the engine sounds like crap (like a diesel truck) up to just under 3000 rpm, at which point it purrs like its old self. The engine light has stayed off, however.
Not quite sure what to suspect; I changed the plugs (which needed it badly, but which didn't solve the problem), and discovered a recall replacment of the ignition coil that needs to happen. Also planning to change the fuel filter in case it's clogged, but am waiting for the Haynes manual I never bothered to get before anything was wrong.
Is this a known problem? Did the cam position sensor code mean my timing is and continues to be screwed? Just bad gas? Fuel pump problem?
Any help appreciated.
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