Mazda Protege stops after 35 minutes until cool

MALCOLMGREY

MEMBER
1935 MAZDA PROTEGE

My 99 Mazda Protege (1.6L with manual transmission) stops running after 30 to 40 minutes driving. She just splutters then stops. It will only restart after about 20 minutes cool down period. The car has 139,000 miles. Had new catalytic converter last summer. Engine light is on but cat shop says that was related to the stopping issue. If I drive just less than 30 minutes and switch off for 4 or five minutes it will not restart.
30 minutes later it is fine. When it is running it is running great, right up until it splutters to a stop. I am thinking Fuel pump which has integral filter. Awkward job though, since I will have to remove the fuel tank. Car has new clutch, plugs and recent injectors and C.O.P's. Could it be vapor lock? I added injector cleaner in last fill- :| up but no change.
I am pretty good mechanic and would like to fix this myself. Any ideas? HELP!

2 Replies

MALCOLMGREY

MEMBER
3 POSTS

This turns out to be the cam position sensor. Very easily located on the left hand side top of engine. Very easy to replace just diconnect the wires, take out two screws Part is about $80 to $150 and 5 minutes labor!

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Thursday, July 12th, 2007 AT 5:42 PM

LIFEISRICH

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1 POST

I had a similar problem in my '91 Protege LX DOHC - it would run for 10-15 minutes, die, then start after 5 or ten minutes and run fine thereafter. Would stop, start and run fine until it sat all night and then the same thing would happen the next day. Turned out to be the distributor. Dealership wanted $500 to replace it - I bought one from a local parts store for under $200. Installation was a snap - just mark the old distributor relative to the block before removal and install the new one in an identical position - in so doing the timing actually stayed the same. Hope this helps,
Rich

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Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 AT 2:58 AM