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So i got my car out of winter storage - ran fine on the way home. A day later, i changed the intake manifold and valve cover gaskets and reinstalled everything checking over many times to ensure correct installation. I took it for a run - ran fine. Later on that evening I took it for a longer drive - i didn't even get two blocks away and i pushed in the clutch and the idle was rough - idling around 500 rpm and does not fluctuate.

In the morning on a cold stat, it runs fine, but once it reaches operating temperature i idles rough. There is plenty of power, a little black smoke when i come on to it. Does not miss when i accelerate. When i go to start it up it will sluggishly and slowly fire up.

I took it to a garage to get it looked at but they couldn't put it on a scanner, not the right tools i guess.

Any help on the situation would be much appreciated!

UPDATE::::::

Today i started up the car in the morning and decided to just let it run and idle and not drive it. It was idling at about 2200 rpm. Once the temperature gauge read operating temperature, the car was idling at 1000rpm and was going up and down from 1000 to 1500 and down and up and down and up every second. It ran like this for about a period of time until i gave it some gas and the idle dropped to 500rpm and was rough again.

Any ideas?

sounds like vacuum leak

check for vacumme leak and check your codes. It could be your TPS sensor 2.

ill check again for vacuum leaks but i know after looking it over 5 times and also having 2 other people, one being a licensed mechanic, look over it, there isn't any leaks. i cant check for codes because ten and ground wont make the CEL flash, and i went to 4 different garages and none of them could put it on a scanner, so id have to go to Mazda. By the way, its burning rich (very rich) smells strong and puffs out a small puff of black smoke when i crack on it. I figure its either a MAF sensor, or a o2 sensor, but i have to figure out which one.

ok seems how your cel isn't flashing you have to go get a LED diode, 1000 Ohm resisor (=1K resistor): you can use that to pull codes.

i tried that just now using a led in ten to ground and it just lit solid - noo flash. i must be doing it wrong....

FEN ----|<|----|1000 Ohm|---- +B
this is how it should be hooked up if I remember correctly sry I dont have a resistor to double check right now but try it like that it should work

V8KOMX3 wrote:FEN ----|<|----|1000 Ohm|---- +B
this is how it should be hooked up if I remember correctly sry I dont have a resistor to double check right now but try it like that it should work

His car is a '96 and thus OBD-II like mine. These methods using the diagnostic connector will not work. I have given him a link to the ISO 9141-2 Protocol OBD-II scantool that he needs to check his codes.

Refer to the following thread if interested.
Click Here

i went and bought the leds and 1000 ohm resistors and made one up and it didnt even light up. i also noticed that in the FEN hole, there is not metal clip like the rest have.

I'm tellin' you man, your car is OBD-II.

have you checked the h2o? mine will seek like you are describing when the water is low. the computer uses this to determine fuel mix (along with a bunch of other stuff...)