Ok. So, I have a 91 protege Dx 1.8dohc. i just purchased it with 250k miles on it. shoots 180 across all four cylinders, holds 16psi for 45 min on the coolant system and leak down test is within spec. i have literally searched through 34 pages of this forum and have seen my problem written over and over again. i'm beginning to wonder if there was a recall or something.

in mid cruise, the car would studder spontaneously. did that for a few days then after the studdering, it would stall. Immediately it would start up and i could drive it again. a few days of this goes on until my car decides it didnt want to restart. fortunately, i am a mobile mechanic and had all my tools in the back of my car. At first i was under the impression that it was starving for fuel. pulled the line from the outlet of the fuel filter and primed the fuel pump. plenty of pressure there. so then i pulled the plugs and diagnosed a spark problem. replaced the wires and it worked for about 80 miles with no problems. then the symptoms repeated identically. replaced the plugs, wires, and cap and now i have spark but it is very hesitant. on a side note, the only way i could get it to start is by changing the firing order to 1,2,3,4 coutnerclockwise. my tech manual says 1,3,4,2 counterclockwise but when i have them situated like that, the car wont even start. with it 1,2,3,4 it starts but runs like i have a serious timing problem. boggs down rapidly, rough idle, slow jumpy revs, etc. i checked for spark from the coil and it shines a nice blue arc. so i know i have spark and i know i have fuel and yet it still runs like this.

after searching the forums, i found that i could have a bad fpr or busted diaphragm in the fpr, possibly need a new AFM, or even the distributor itself. this seems to be a common problem with the 91-94 protege. i really need some help as this is my way to work every day. i need the problem fixed NOW. any help would be greatly appreciated.