cold hesitation--will not go

#1 12-01-2005, 11:27 AM

I know there have been many threads on hesitation when the car is cold, but this problem is slightly different. I would appreciate any advice given. When the car is cold, it will accelerate to about 1500rpm (~20mph), then not accelerate any more. It will lug along at that slow speed. It has been getting more frequent lately, and a few times the past few days it will cut off when I stop while it is lugging. To get the car restarted I have to pump the gas (the car will not just restart on it's own), and my husband said it was spitting gas out the exhaust when I did that this morning. Once the car is warm, it runs fine. Only when it's cold does it not accelerate, and it is happening more frequently now. What kinds of things should I check? Thanks!

n00b on demand · #2 12-01-2005, 11:29 AM

Any recent work been done on the car? Ever get the spark plugs changed or fuel filter? Does the problem go away when you let the car warm up fully and then drive it?

#3 12-01-2005, 11:31 AM

The problem does go away when the car warms up. The spark plugs and wires have not been replaced in a long time, neither has the fuel filter. I thought about that (and it certainly can't hurt to do), but I didn't know if that would only affect the car when cold.

n00b on demand · #4 12-01-2005, 11:36 AM

I'm certainly no expert but it might be a good idea to keep up on regular maintanence. If your taking the car to a shop then spark plug replacement will be on the expensive side because they are kind of difficult to do. Fuel filters are around 20 bucks and take less than an hr to install. What about your air filter and things like that? Everyone who has an SVX usually has hesitation problems when cold but when the car is warmed up they go away. Thats just the nature of the beast

I don't think anyones car has ever stalled though. Does your car stall when you start it for the first time in the morning? If so then you might need a coolant temp sensor.

#5 12-01-2005, 11:54 AM

It doesn't stall when I first start it up, only when I have stopped after it is hesitating. I can understand some hesitation, but something is obviously wrong. The car will only go ~20mph (1500rpm), and not accelerate any more, no matter how much you push the gas. That is not normal hesitation.

n00b on demand · #6 12-01-2005, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by angmercy

It doesn't stall when I first start it up, only when I have stopped after it is hesitating. I can understand some hesitation, but something is obviously wrong. The car will only go ~20mph (1500rpm), and not accelerate any more, no matter how much you push the gas. That is not normal hesitation.

Hmm I think it is probably fuel related. Someone else with more expertise will definitley chime in.

immortal_suby · #7 12-01-2005, 02:39 PM

What year is your svx? Any stored codes?
Doesn't sound to me like a mechanical fuel delivery problem if it runs fine when warm. Could be sensor related.
Check the how to lockers for how to pull up engine codes and we can go from there.

kuoh · #8 12-01-2005, 08:34 PM

It could be the injector icing problem described in this thread. I had this happen to my SVX a couple times after being outside on really cold winter nights. After a couple of miles of warm up, it was back to normal as if nothing was wrong and the CEL never lit up.

KuoH

dromano · #9 12-02-2005, 05:52 PM

With the price of premium over $3 I have filled up with regular a few times. I noticed a sluggish/hesitation when cold, now that premium is $2.50+ I am filling with it again and the cold running issues have gone away.

Earthworm · #10 12-02-2005, 06:12 PM

There's one station here that, every thursday, sells premium for the price of regular. I get 94 octane for 83.5 cents per liter!

Phast SVX · #11 12-02-2005, 09:20 PM

hesitation when cold that increases to hesitation all the time is often a symptom of a clogged/failing EGR valve.
phil

Landshark · #12 12-02-2005, 09:55 PM

if your car is high mileage (over 100k) it wouldn't hurt to replace the TPS sensor, the O2 sensors, MAF sensor, spark plugs and coil packs. may need to look at the fuel injectors, too.

i subscribe to the preventative maintenance theory - i'll replace sensors and wear items BEFORE they fail (usually around 60k miles), so that way there isn't as much worrying, and problems can be easier isolated.