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Mazda Tribute Start Stall Idle Problems

80 messages,  Last post on Mar 04, 2013 at 9:53 AM

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What is this discussion about? Mazda Tribute, SUV

Messages Page 6 of 9

#45 of 80 Idle Problems with Mazda Tribute 2001 V6 Auto by dlovett

Mar 09, 2011 (12:51 am)

My wife bought this car 2nd hand with 270,000 Kms on the speedo. For a while everything went well, but after about 2 months the motor would snuff and die. The only way I could get it to the mechanic was to open the throttle wide (High Revs) and ride the brake at the same time and prayed that the traffic light were going to be kind to me.
 
Anyway our mechanic found that a hose which feeds from somewhere??? was collasping in itself (possibly some vacuum hose) and he said the hose was not the Mazda original. So he replaced it with a more stronger hose and that seemed to have fixed that problem.
 
After about a week later, the motor would start good but some days the motor would misfire and you could see the tacho needle jumping up and down about 300 rpm. On those days the motor had no power and it was astruggle to keep it going.
 
On other days the motor would not miss a beat and performed well all day. But the very next day it went back to the misfire.
 
So I took it back to the mechanic who then changed the lft front coil pack and this seemed to fix the problem.
 
After about another week the misfire returned.
 
The machanic suggested we change all of the spark plugs to the more expensive ones with a longer life which meant the manifold had to come off (Just to change the plugs) DOH.
 
Anyway after a $750.00 AUD bill the car is still misfiring on some days and some days it has lots of grunt.
 
I talked to a Mazda mechanic and he said that he chased his tail for 2 years with no luck and he just gave up. He reckons that it is design fault in the motor from new!!!!!
 
So if anybody out in inernet land can help well I am listening Thanks from Dennis in Australia.

#46 of 80 Re: Idle Problems with Mazda Tribute 2001 V6 Auto [dlovett] by saxybacon

Mar 15, 2011 (6:37 am)

Replying to: dlovett (Mar 09, 2011 12:51 am)
My 2001 Tribute (which I've had since it rolled off the lot) and now has 153K miles (240K km). I have had all the service done on time at the dealership. But I had the same issue starting mid-2010 and got it fixed about 2 months ago. I found that the symptoms dimished after I had been driving for about 15-20 minutes, so I thought my plugs were getting bad and needed a warmer engine to work better (even though Mazda installs plugs rated for 90K miles / 145K km, and I only used 2/3 of their life). I initially tried having the fuel system cleaned. That seemed to work for about a week, but I still had issues of rough idling and occassional stalling at red lights.
 
The dealership ran a diagnostic and told me that I had a crack in my head gasket, which was causing leaks of air into the system (which was worse when the engine was cold). Also, my idle speed sensor (which regulates the fuel/air mixture at different engine temps and RPMs) needed replacing. I hated to spend the money to get everything fixed, but my car runs like a charm now!
 
And since replacing the plugs involved taking the engine apart (which cost about $350US) the dealership replaced them at only the cost of the plugs while they had the head off to replace the gasket.
 
I hate that you already had the plugs replaced, but I would recommend having your mechanic look at your gasket and idle speed sensor. If that's the problem, hopefully your mechanic will realize his oversight and work with you on the repair bill (since he already had the engine apart and should have seen the condition of the gasket).

#47 of 80 Re: Idle Problems with Mazda Tribute 2001 V6 Auto [saxybacon] by deepsky1

Mar 15, 2011 (10:25 am)

Replying to: saxybacon (Mar 15, 2011 6:37 am)
"my car runs like a charm now!" WOW finally some good news.

#48 of 80 Dennis from Australia with Mazda Tribute to Saxybacon by dlovett

Mar 15, 2011 (3:24 pm)

Saxybacon, Many thanks for the time you spent putting together your very informative message. I have printed it out and I will certainly talk to the mechanics about it. I cannot understand why they didn't see the problems(if they were there) when the manifold was off. They have told me already that I am chasing my tail and I agreed due to the ongoing costs. We are pensioners and the wife is none too pleased that after the $750.00 she spent was really a waste of money. She is so dissalousioned about it, that she wants to trade it in and buy something else but I say to her that is also a very expensive exercise. Once again thanks for your support in this mind numbing debacle. Den

#49 of 80 Re: Idle became rough after changing spark plugs in my 2001 mazda tribute [jaiven] by cf21

Apr 23, 2011 (8:40 am)

Replying to: jaiven (Nov 02, 2008 5:14 pm)
I chased the same probllem and have the solution. My Tribute has 153,000 miles. 1. Replace all the intake manifold gaskets. Comes in a kit. Don't cheat. You need to replace the UPPER and LOWER intake runner gaskets and throttle body gasket. Grease the o-rints so they slide into place when tightening (won't bind and pinch) 2. I then replaced the plugs and coils while I was in there. 3. Also replaced the idle air control valve. I got my parts at Rockauto.com and Advance Auto. 4. I got MAF cleaner and spray cleaned the MAF sensor. Runs like a champ.

#50 of 80 Re: Idle became rough after changing spark plugs in my 2001 mazda tribute [jaiven] by cf21

Apr 23, 2011 (8:51 am)

Replying to: jaiven (Nov 02, 2008 5:14 pm)
I replaced ALL the intake manifold gaskets. Especially the UPPER and LOWER intake runnner gaskets. Comes in a kit. I installed new coils from Rockauto.com, new plugs, new idle air control valve and cleaned the MAF. I also replaced some worn vacuum hoses. The key culprit were the gaskets. I used my OBD II reader. When the OBD II reader tell you Lean mixture on both banks, the gaskets are the culprits. My car runs like new. Idles great and runs smoothe.

#51 of 80 Re: engine stall [deepsky1] by tootfoot

Jul 15, 2011 (1:02 pm)

Replying to: deepsky1 (Nov 04, 2009 8:40 pm)
I have a very similar problem with my 2001 Tribute (4 cyl, manual, 86k miles). Very intermittent, and it never happens when the mechanic is open! Mine used to do it only on hot days, but in the last 6 months it has done it on cooler days too. About 750 rpm seems to be my stalling point (which is also my idling point when it's running normally). Every time it stalls it starts right back up, and seems to be running fine.
 
Did you get any resolution from your dealer?

#52 of 80 2001 Mazda Tribute feels like car will stall when idling by jnitt

Aug 12, 2011 (5:37 am)

I have a 2001 Mazda Tribute with about 107k miles. The last time I got an oil change I was told that I need to have a transmission flush. I checked the fluid and it is a brownish color with no flakes. The car has been running perfectly fine, yesterday coming home it has started to feel like it will stall when I am idling, stopped at a light or something, and then once I go its fine. It does feel a little sluggish at first when excelerating. Could this be related to the transmission? I'm also not sure about getting the trans flush. I've read some things that don't suggest it.

#53 of 80 Re: Idle Problems with Mazda Tribute 2001 V6 Auto [saxybacon] by shouldibuy

Aug 31, 2011 (9:40 am)

Replying to: saxybacon (Mar 15, 2011 6:37 am)
Saxybacon, what was the cost of all the repairs? I am thinking of buying one used, but want to have the cost of repairs for negotiation purposes... thanks. Tiphanie

#54 of 80 No power on acceleration by lv2beach247

Sep 01, 2011 (12:47 pm)

I recently changed the valve cover gasket and afterwards the car (which was running fine before that) will not go, it starts fine and idles good, but once I put it into drive and start to go, it looses power, the faster I try to go the worse it gets. I've had so many things checked, spark plugs have been replace, fuel filter replace, hoses checked, catalytic converter checked, MAF sensor checked, etc.... No one seems to know what the problem could be. Any ideas?

Messages Page 6 of 9

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