Wierd acceleration when started cold

#1 07-25-2004, 05:51 PM

Hello all. I am new to the board and have a question about what may be going wrong with my car.

When i start it cold it will not accelerate at all. Putting the "pedal to the metal" results in the car slowly accelerating as though I am barely depressing the pedal. It will eventually kick in and begin accelerating quickly after a few seconds. After driving for a while this problem pretty much dissappears.

As a side note that may be related: My E-Brake light on the dash comes on when i use the foot brake and will not turn off after that except occasionally while I am accelerating. The car does not drive like the E-break is engaged. When the light is not on engaging and disengaging the ebrake makes it turn on and off as normal.

any advice/help would be great.

Chiketkd · #2 07-25-2004, 06:03 PM

Ren,

Check out the following thread: Inconsistent acceleration when cold

What you're experiencing could be nothing more than a little quirk of our cars...

-Chike

Chiketkd · #3 07-25-2004, 06:05 PM

Oh, btw... Welcome to the site!

-Chike

#4 07-25-2004, 07:04 PM

Thanks for the quick reply.

I did notice that thread, and it doesnt seem to be exactly the same, although these issues may be related. I have had it for about 3 years and the acceleration was always very smooth and fast. What I am experiencing is definitely something being wrong with the car.

Just to reiterate: I can floor the gas pedal and my car does not take off at all. It will accelerate up to about 7-10 mph and then kind of hang out there, accelerating slowly up to about 20 mph. By this time it usually kicks in and (if the pedal is floored) it will "gallop" a little and kick into "power" mode or whatever. It will then accelerate fine until I come to a stop.

Locking it down into 1st gear manually does not help either, in case that information helps.

Chiketkd · #5 07-25-2004, 08:43 PM

So this weird acceleration only happens when your car is cold? If you start the car while it's still warm will it drive normally?

Also, once your engine is warmed up, at what rpms does it shift at wide-open-throttle?

-Chike

n00b on demand · #6 07-25-2004, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ren the Unclean
Hello all. I am new to the board and have a question about what may be going wrong with my car.

When i start it cold it will not accelerate at all. Putting the "pedal to the metal" results in the car slowly accelerating as though I am barely depressing the pedal. It will eventually kick in and begin accelerating quickly after a few seconds. After driving for a while this problem pretty much dissappears.

any advice/help would be great.

This is exactly my problem too. It goes away when the car is warm but that acceleration problem happens with my air conditioner...defrost on as well. I have no clue whats wrong...car accelerates quick and great when nothing is on ( climate control settings). pretty weird and rather annoying at that.

#7 07-25-2004, 09:01 PM

I am really not that term savvy when it comes to cars, but i will try to answer your questions.

I have not really tried starting when warm. I do not believe it would act the same way, but it might.

By wide open throttle do you mean depressing the gas pedal all the way? If so, i will test this tonight or tomorrow and see what i can find out. I will also try starting it up warm tonight or tomorrow to see if it works under those conditions.

Alycone · #8 07-25-2004, 09:02 PM

Interesting name there Ren!

#9 07-26-2004, 08:20 AM

OK, i tested out the shifting.

It seems to shift at:
1st-2nd: 2500-3200 rpms
2nd-3rd: 2900-3100 rpms

I was not able to drive it on the highway, so i did not get up to 4th gear. It usually shifts smoothly and accelerates well above 20mph though.

Also, this may not be an issue when the car is cold as i originally thought, because when i started it this morning it was working alright, though it had been sitting all night.

Chiketkd · #10 07-26-2004, 08:33 AM

Ren,

Yes, wide-open-throttle is depressing the gas pedal all the way to the floor. So when you floor it, your car shifts at ~3100 rpms?!!!

Can you ever get your car to shift at redline? (6500rpms)

-Chike

n00b on demand · #11 07-26-2004, 09:25 AM

Chike....when i floor it mine shifts at redline....but isnt the power light supposed to come on? because if it is supposed to come on mine doesnt.

Chiketkd · #12 07-26-2004, 09:28 AM

Tom,

You have a '93 SVX, so the power light should come on when you floor it. Have you ever seen your power light come on at all since owning your car?

Also, by redline, does it shift at 6000+ rpms or 6500rpms?

-Chike

Quote:

Originally posted by soobiesvx93
Chike....when i floor it mine shifts at redline....but isnt the power light supposed to come on? because if it is supposed to come on mine doesnt.

#13 07-26-2004, 09:49 AM

I have a '92 svx.
I have seen the power light come on. The shifting I mentioned is during regular city driving. accelerating normally. Flooring it will make it shift at higher rpms, but I dont think it actually redlines. If i drop it into manual mode and put it in '1' it will redline, but that is to be expected i thought.

edit: I am currently at work for the next 2 hrs, but i will try flooring it on the way home and find out if the pwer light comes on and if I can get it to redline.

n00b on demand · #14 07-26-2004, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Chiketkd
Tom,

You have a '93 SVX, so the power light should come on when you floor it. Have you ever seen your power light come on at all since owning your car?

Also, by redline, does it shift at 6000+ rpms or 6500rpms?

-Chike

only time i have seen the power light is when i start the car it blinks a couple times like its supposed too. Ill go out today and floor it on my street and see what happens. But if i get no power light im gonna be worried.

Chiketkd · #15 07-26-2004, 10:14 AM

Tom and Ren,

Have either of you done this mod to your car yet?

Throttle Cable Tightening

If not, do it. If your cars aren't hitting redline when you normally floor the gas (or engaging power mode) it is possible that your throttle cables are extremely slack. Deruvian who did this mod, commented that his car was only previously hitting 5500rpms and was never at full WOT until doing this mod.

Really slack throttle cables can also explain the 'laziness' of your cars in the low rpm range. Our cars are kinda quirky when the engine is cold, but I suspect that your issues may be different than this quirk...

Doing this mod is quite simple and straight-forward and there are two pics of the wires to tighten on the first page of the above trhead. All you'll need is a 12mm wrench and a little patience.

Good luck!

-Chike