2002 mazda tribute, manual 4 cylinder surging after car start & while sitting at idle.

Asked by Brandon Aug 27, 2014 at 08:49 AM about the 2002 Mazda Tribute DX

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Right after I start the car (start up
seems like it's hard for car to start
sometimes) I release the clutch and
the car surges very noticeably for 5
seconds or so. After that it surges
very smally sporadically.

When I'm driving if I get to a cry low
speed in 1st gear there is small but
noticeably vibration and surging.

Any ideas? The entire clutch and
flywheel was replaced about 10
months ago and I haven't had any
problems with this. Could it be the
battery? When I start the car with
lights on, the lights will dim when I hit
ignition key.

Thanks for any help! This has only
started happening a couple of days
ago.

1 Answer

FordNut answered 10 years ago

Is the CEL (Check Engine Light) on or any other warning lights? It's normal for the headlights to dim a bit while cranking, the battery is working hard. But if they come back to normal brightness after it starts all is well. But if your battery is 5+ years old it's about the life-span of a battery anyway, especially if you do a lot of short trips and not a lot of highway driving. Batteries have only so many start/re-charge cycles

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