In the past couple of weeks I've noticed that my Tribute idles VERY rough when the engine is cold. Once I drive a few miles the idle returns to normal. And if I start it back up withing a few hours of last driving it, I dont have a problem. But when the engine is totally cold the idle jumps, anyone have a clue where I shoudl even start looking. I don't have any warning or check engine lights at all.

 

I'm haveing this same problem. Did you ever find out what fixed it?

 

maybe you need new battery

 

remove the engine cover (3.0 v-6 correct??) before starting when COLD, have some carb cleaner spray ready.
start the engine and spray into the lower areas of the intake manifold. if the engine stalls or smoothes out
replace the intake manifold seals (upper and lower)

 

I am having a similar problem except my tribute started loping at idle today after a 3 hr drive. It had been glass smooth before. I drive a 2002 V-6. Any suggestions?

 

is the check engine light on??
if so have the codes checked and post them.

 

Squeaky, I have an 2002 Tribute ES and had your exact symptoms as the cold weather set in. I was living with it when the Check Engine light appeared. I googled and found Mazda Forum and found a number of posts that suggested that the DPFE sensor is usually the cause of many Check Engine lights.

I decided to get some of the recall work completed at the dealer and mentioned the Check Engine light. The dealer indicated it would be $95 to just perform the diagnostic. If the repair was covered under the extended warranty or recall then the diagnostic charge would also be covered. I called a new Tuffy Auto Service Center and they indicated they could perform the diagnostic for $50 and if it was the DPFE Sensor, it would be about $80-$90 dollars for the repair.

I took the Tribute to Tuffy. They called back and indicated that the codes showed misfires in two or three cylinders and that all that was needed was new plugs. My tribute was at 64K and the scheduled tune up should have happened at 60K. I asked how much the plugs were and their cost was reasonable, I asked about the labor and evidently there is about 2-3 hours of labor involved. The total cost including the diagnostic, oil change, tune up was $394.

After Tuffy completed the tune up, I noticed a vibration/flutter/misfire at around 2K RPM and took it back to Tuffy. The tech had left early for the holiday and the manager and I both thought I should watch the condition and bring it back if it got worse. The condition worsened until I barely had any power to climb a small hill close to the house. I did manage to get it back to Tuffy and on Friday they found that one of the Catalytic Converters was damaged and needed to be replaced. It was restricting the airflow and starving the engine of O2. Fortunately, the Catalytic Converters have a warranty of 8 years/80K and should be covered by the dealer. It is scheduled for the recall and warranty work on Tuesday.

BTW, I found out (Mazda Forum) that some auto parts stores will scan the codes for free and may have some ideas on how to fix the problem. Additionally, you can purchase an OBD II Code scanner for $50-$350 dollars. My brother found one for $40 via a FatWallet (www.fatwallet.com) deal.

Since you had my original symptoms, I thought I would use your post as a core dump of my recent experience. Hope the information helps. I will try to update after the dealer has completed the recall/warranty work.

opus