I HAVE A 99 PROTEGE WITH THE 1.6LENGINE IN IT AND ITS AUTOMATIC.ITHAS ABOUT 92KMILES ON IT.I HAVE BEEN HAVING HESITATION PROBLEMS WITH THE CAR ESPECIALLY AT LOWER RPMS. THE ENGINE SEEMS TO BOG DOWN. ONCE THE RPMS GET HIGHER (NO TACH ON THE CAR SO ITS HARD TO TELL AT WHAT RPM), THE ENGINE ACCELERATES SMOTHELY. THE CAR SOMETIMES BUCKS WHEN I GIVE IT SOME GAS. ALSO, EVEN WHEN I WANT TO ACCELERATE ONLY A LITTLE BIT, SAY FOR INSTANCE HALF OPEN THROTTLE, THE TRANS DOWNSHIFTS HARD AND SURGES THE CAR FOWARD. IT DOES THIS WHEN TRYING TO MAINTAIN SPEED ON AN INCLINED ROAD TOO.I DID REMOVE THE INTAKE RESONATOR AND THE INTAKE TUBING THAT COMES FROM THE AIR FILTER BOX TO THE FRONT OF THE CAR AND ASLO INSTALLED A DROP IN K&N FILTER. COULD THIS BE THE CAUSE? MAYBE A BAD MAF READING DUE TO THE MODIFICATIONS? I ALSO CLEANED THE MAF WITH MAF CLEANER, BUT IT ONLY HELPED A LITTLE. I KNOWMAZDA HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE MAFS ON THIS PERTICULAR CAR. I HAVE NO CEL COMING UP, BUT I HAVE NOT BROUGHT THE CAR TO AUTOZONE YET TO CHECK FOR CODES, WHICH I WILL DO TODAY. I DID CHANGE THE PLUGS ON IT RECENTLY, AND I DID MY BEST TO "READ" THEM, BUT THEY SEEMED OK. I HAVE NEVER CHANGED THE WIRES THOUGH. I KNOW I PROBABLY SHOULD. ALSO AT 92K MILES SHOULD I BE LOOKING INTO REPLACING THE TIMING BELT SOON? ONE MORE QUESTION(SORRY). THIS HAPPENS WHEN THE CAR HAS BEEN SITTING FOR A FEW HOURS. WHEN I START IT UP, PUT IT IN REVERSE TO PULL OUT OF A PARKING SPOT OR DRIVEWAY, WHEN I PUT THE CAR INTO DRIVE IT TAKES A FEW SECONDS AND THEN BANGS INTO GEAR. OR SOMETIMES THE TRANS SLIPS FOR A SECONED OR TWO AND THEN CATCHES. IF THIS CAR HAS A FORD TRANS, I ALREADY KNOW THEY SUCK. BUT I DID BRING IT TO A TRANS PLACE AFTER THE OVERDRIVE BUTTON WAS BLINKING AND IT WAS SLIPPING, AND AFTER THEY DID A FULL FLUSH THEY SAID THE TRANS WAS FINE. I UNDERSTAND YOU ARE VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE AND I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE ANY HELP!!!!

 

Anybody?

 

babyhuey hasn't been around in quite some time.

Spark plugs should have a light brown color on the electrode if it is working correctly. Black build-up means it's running rich (too much fuel), white means running lean (too little fuel). Try swapping the parts back to see if your symptoms go away.

If your car isn't displaying the CEL, then you haven't tripped any codes.

O/D button blinking is an indicator of transmission trouble. Is it blinking with any kind of pattern? Unfortunately, flushing the fluids doesn't do anything to tell you what is going on inside your trans.