Help reqd with car problem

[ControlG]

I have a 2001 Mazda 626 1.8 which has been a wonderful workhorse of a car until it recently developed a strange problem. I told the garage about it at the last service but, on collecting the car, was told they couldn't find anything wrong. The problem persist and I'm going to have to sort out taking it back to a garage but wondered if anyone may have any idea what could be causing the following problem.

Drive the car (from cold) 20 or more miles.
Park car, turning engine off.
Leave for 10-15 minutes.
The car will start fine but will not idle. As soon as I remove my foot from the accelerator, the revs just drop to 0 and the engine cuts out. On occasions the amber engine warning light will come on.
After the car has been left for an hour or so it starts fine.

There is no problem once the engine has started and running. I can quite happily stop at lights, etc without any worry of it stalling. If I turn the engine off and then start it again straight away, all is fine. It does seem to need this 10-15 minute period before the problem kicks in.

Any ideas anyone?

[Churchill]

Possibly a blockage in one of air pipes. This could mean that your engine is running too rich as it's constantly on the "cold start" air circuit.

But, hey, what do I know? I'm just a dog!

My advice? Sell it and buy a Range Rover - there is a reason why god invented petrol, and that's to run a big supercharged V8!

[DaveB]

My advice? Sell it and buy a Range Rover -

Then take the engine out an put in it a Landrover Series II Soft Top. Bolts right in with a mating plate for the clutch housing. Instant fun

[threaded]

Daft as it sounds have a look at the starter switch, you need to dissasemble the plastic around the steering wheel etc. etc.

The spades on the one originally fitted to the Mazda 626 was in some cases not up to the job and they slowly melt and burn away drying out the contacts in the unit giving all sorts of weird problems.

You should be able to clean it up, or get a replacement from a scrap yard. Don't bother with a new one they cost a fortune and last no longer.

[malvolio]

Google is your friend - for example http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dorothy...bemx/index.htm

However I would suspect the plug leads. If they break down a bit the resistance goes up so when they're hot you don't get enough spark to restart the engine or to allow a cool one to idle. Get a set from Halfords and try that first - might well have some other nice side-effects as well.

[DimPrawn]

Crap in your engine.

[Dundeegeorge]

Crap in your engine

And how often do you have to do that?

[DimPrawn]

Once should be enough. Great feeling. ******* Mazda POS.

[threaded]

Once should be enough. Great feeling. ******* Mazda POS.

Mazda 626 is a fine car, it is second on my list of perfect contractor cars, only being held off the top spot by the Mazda 6 MPS.

[ControlG]

Google is your friend - for example http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dorothy...bemx/index.htm

However I would suspect the plug leads. If they break down a bit the resistance goes up so when they're hot you don't get enough spark to restart the engine or to allow a cool one to idle. Get a set from Halfords and try that first - might well have some other nice side-effects as well.

Thanks, it would be nice if the solution was as simple as changing the plug leads but the problem you describe seems contradictory to mine. Mine starts fine when hot or cold but just will not idle when started from hot. The revs just drop to 0 and the engine cuts out. However, sounds like a quick and cheap job that EVEN I could do myself to see if it has any effect.