Engine stuttering when accelerating?

cornbb

I dunno if "stuttering" is the right word but I hope ye know what I'm getting at... I drive a 1.3 petrol Corolla, when I put the foot down the engine will occasionally lose power for a fraction of a second and the car sort of lurches. Usually happens in 2nd gear at low revs. Seems to happen whether the engine is hot or cold.

Any thoughts?

seanybiker

my bike was like that a while back. Just changed the plugs and it was grand.

Avns1s

First thing I'd suspect would be plug leads.

Take out the plugs one by one and look for a thin black hairline type mark or marks running lengthways along the white porcelain part of the plug on one or more plugs.

The symptoms you described could be caused by other things but are a classic for plug leads.

Let us know how you get on.

cornbb

Cheers lads. I'll take a look at them over the next few weeks and I'll report back.

cornbb

Big bump.

Had the plugs replaced a while back but no luck any other ideas what could be causing this problem?

Its not bothering me too much but its something I should look into at some stage.

The EGR valve may need cleaning or it could be an over fueling problem and an ECU remap should solve it.

mondeo

I have had this problem before on a few cars, new spark plug leads was the solution. You should really replace your leads every 30k or so to keep everything firing properly. Do your plugs every 5k or so..

Zube

mondeo wrote: »

You should really replace your leads every 30k or so to keep everything firing properly. Do your plugs every 5k or so..

You're mad.

I've never replaced an ignition lead ever, in 20 years of driving, and I didn't have to do plugs every 5 even on an Alfa twin-spark.

Drummerboy08

Neither have I.

I had this problem with a Civic Type R, and it turned out to be a worn Engine mount.

Berty

I have had this problem with my Audi and the same problem with my last car. I just had my car serviced and oddly the problem seems worse than prior to the service.

Any advice?

Around 2000k revs the engine power just vanishes for the fraction of a second. Its very annoying and I fear something worse might be about to happen.

mondeo

Zube wrote: »

You're mad.

I've never replaced an ignition lead ever, in 20 years of driving, and I didn't have to do plugs every 5 even on an Alfa twin-spark.

It's a habbit that stuck to me ever since I had the initial problem with other cars. Leads are cheap enough 20 - 30 euro for a spurious set and you may find your car more trottle responsive afterwards...I'd do them anyway if I had any sort of stuttering, idle problems with a car after I have done the plugs first.

Paulj

hi, i'm not a mechanic so i dont really know what i'm talking about here but i had this exact problem you describe. I got a guy i know who's a mechanic to look at it. He checked the plugs as people earlier said but they were fine. Then he removed the air filter and sprayed some special stuff in there while reving the engine up and down. When he was doing this some 'dirty' exhaust was coming out the back. Not sure exactly what it did but it sorted the problem.

colm_mcm

I'd be looking at the mass airflow sensor or the lambda sensor.

Keith186

cornbb wrote: »

I dunno if "stuttering" is the right word but I hope ye know what I'm getting at... I drive a 1.3 petrol Corolla, when I put the foot down the engine will occasionally lose power for a fraction of a second and the car sort of lurches. Usually happens in 2nd gear at low revs. Seems to happen whether the engine is hot or cold.

Any thoughts?

Happened to me with a 1.4 Ibiza and a €6 air filter sorted thge problem straight away.

Atomic Pineapple

coil pack gone caused me the same symptoms on a 03 focus