Acceleration problems...please help me find a solution

[n00b on demand]

Ok guys i'm going to write a thread about my acceleration problems. This maybe long so please bear with me. Ive been having these problems ever since i bought the car back in nov 03. This continued acceleration problem is the only thing wrong with my SVX. Most days I will let the car warm up to its normal operating temperature and then i will go about my day. The car will run fine most of the time. My problems occur when lets say im at a red light...the light turns green and i will hit the gas normally...i dont jam it but i lightly touch the gas. There will be some sort of hesitation like the rpms will go up a tiny bit and stay at a certain point and then this sudden burst of energy from the car occurs and boom im off! Happens when i go uphill too. The hesitation is less if i jam the pedal but i know thats not good to do so i dont do it. When the hesitation occurs it is almost as if the car is choking or something.

If i dont let the car warm up fully, this hesitation stays with the car the entire day like its mad at me lol. Now i know the a/c robs alot of power but geez in my car it robs everything. The hesitation occurs allllll the time with the a/c on to the point where i wont even bother turning it on anymore. The a/c is ice cold but causes more hesitation problems. Even if i have used the a/c once in the day it will cause this hesitaiton all day long even if its off. Its so strange. The car has about 97k on it and the tranny is running strong ( knock on wood). The tranny fluid is pink as can be and all the fluids are ok.

All of you know about how i complain about my exhaust but could this hesitation be caused by an exhaust leak? There is this tick tick tick tick noise when i give it some gas. (Another strange thing.)

In the winter one day the car wouldnt start at all. Must have tried a million times. It was about 3 degrees that day and the windchill made it below 20. The tow truck came and the guy said my gasline was frozen. We let it thaw and it started it right away. For the rest of the winter i ran gas treatment in the car everytime i filled up and i let it warm up fully everyday and the car ran fine with some hesitation but not as bad as now.

You might be wondering why i dont take it to a mechanic....well i wanted to ask all of you wonderful people and see what you had to say first as this isnt an urgent problem or anything. But it is something i would love to get fixed soon and if i can i will do the work myself. Plus i dont wanna get screwed either. You guys always help me out with my probs so thats why i come here first. Someone suggested i do a tune up...change plugs...clean throttle body ect. I tried that free throttle cable mod everyone has done. I noticed something about the throttle wires. The wire was very loose....like i could pull it up and nothing would happen and then finally i heard the change in engine noise. I tightened the wire a little bit but it could be tightened more. I pulled back on the wire enough so i could hear the change in engine noise and i tried to tighten it at the point but as i was tightening the screws the idling speed went back to normal. ...dunno whats wrong here but i dont think its anything majorly wrong. Im going to change the plugs, clean the throttle body, and change the air filter sometime this week or next. Thanks in advance everyone and thanks for taking the time to read this long post.

[n00b on demand]

Interesting observation tonight. As i was going up a hill i hit the gas and it again sounded like it was choking and i heard that loud growl from the intake that you hear when the pedal is pressed firmly ( i have my intake resonator out...hence the growl). It choked and then it flew...just like it always happens. Could something be wrong with the air/ fuel mixture?? ...maybe a vacuum leak? im so baffled. Also i had my exhaust gaskets changed in january and it sounds like they could be bad again. WTF is going on

[n00b on demand]

bump

[dcarrb]

Minor hesitation followed by a "burst of energy" with the AC running seems to be typical. With my car, it happens only before the engine reaches normal operating temperature.

Beyond that...? I doubt an exhaust leak or slack in the throttle linkage is causing your problems.


dcb

[n00b on demand]

thanks dcarrb, with my car it happens even when the engine is warm. Dunno what it could be. Thanks for the reply.

[dcarrb]

Wish I had some ideas for you.

dcb

[n00b on demand]

Yeah its a pretty strange problem. The car runs great when i let it warm up for about 10 minutes or so. Very minimal hesitation. but if i dont its almost like the cars mad at me and acts like POS the rest of the day haha!

[Sonar]

Engine temp. sensor....
Lambda sensor(s)....
Air temp. sensor ....
...
...
...eehh...duuh.... that's about all I can imagine ...



/Sonny

[n00b on demand]

Originally posted by Sonar
Engine temp. sensor....
Lambda sensor(s)....
Air temp. sensor ....
...
...
...eehh...duuh.... that's about all I can imagine ...



/Sonny

Hey sonar do you know the appx cost of replacing these items? Because im willing to do anything at this point. I even got my oil changed today and went full synthetic and paid 60 bucks. I know its not the oil...just wanted to give my car the good stuff.

[Sonar]

The first thing I would do was to check if the ECU has "discovered" this problem you have, and is signalling fault codes.

In rare cases, the ECU does NOT detect a fault, because the parameters of the failing unit/thingy is within limits (the ECU thinks anyway).

To check if the ECU is signalling codes, se the "how-to" section.

I don't know the prices of these things, but I'm pretty sure that don't cost that much.


/Sonny

[Zeppelin]

Well, sounds like a starvation problem to me. Either fuel or air. I would clean the throttle bodies first, and see what happens. Might be fuel pressure related too. You can change your fuel filter and see if that helps. I would run some Toulene in it to clean it out.

[n00b on demand]

i get crappy gas mileage too. Almost 13 or 14 MPG. I get 160 for a full tank of city driving.

[svx_commuter]

I read throught your thread twice. I think you have not cleaned the TB yet. That's the problem if you haven't done it.

[Earthworm]

Do you notice any smoke coming out the exhaust when this happens?

If mileage is also low I would suggest O2 sensors if they've never been changed yet.

[n00b on demand]

Yeah weather permitting im going to clean the throttle body today itself. And no there is no smoke coming out of the exhaust. Only on cold mornings but that happens with every car.