Hey guys ok my wifes 98 protege lx 1.5 automatic is having trouble starting when cold. It takes about 10 mins to start it but to start it we have to push/pump the gas peddle while we turn the ignition to try to start it when it starts it shoots out a lot of white smoke from the exhaust pipe. Once it start it works perfectly without any problem I can turn it off right after I turn it on, on a cold day without letting it warm up and it still turns on perfectly and it keeps turning on perfectly as long as you turn it on every 3 hours but more than that it has a little trouble not as much as when it has been sitting there all night. I have taken it to 2 mechanics 1 said low fuel pressure it was the fuel pump which we replace the fuel pump and it did the same thing other one said that the spark plugs didn't get a enough current to start the engine which he said it was probably the distributor which we replace with the
ignition coil and distributor cap. It still has the same problem I read online maybe it was the o2 sensor which I replace 1 which was the one before the cat converter and still has the same problem. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
10-17-2011, 10:40 AM
98 protege cold start help
