I have a 98 Mazda B2500 pickup that I inherited from my mom. She bought it in 98 with 800 miles on it. It now has 87,000. It's an automatic with a 2.5L engine. It recently started being hard to start. It sounds like it is trying to jump time. We checked the timing belt, it's good and we changed the serp belt on it. It only does it occasionally. Maybe once every 20 times it's started. At the same time, it started dying whenever you hit the gas too hard. This happens no matter what gear it's in. It doesn't matter if the engine is cold or if it has been running for an hour. Other than that, there is no loss in power, as long as I accelerate evenly, I get good pick up out of her. I just took her through emissions with no problems. My husband is at a loss as to what could be doing it. Any ideas, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It's not my week for vehicles....

 

It sounds like a weak fuel pump or clogged fuel filter? Have you changed this filter at all?

 

When was the last time the truck was tuned up? How old is the battery, oil changes?

 

It was tuned up about a month ago, new plugs, wires, etc. Oil change done at the same time, same with fuel filter. Battery is about 6 months old.