Stuttering car!

Bananaman

Guest
Hi all,

I wonder if someone could drop their advice on this one, please?

I don't know how to best describe it, but when at low revs in first, second and sometimes even third gear, my Leon Cupra has almost stuttered as I've put my foot down. At high revs, or at higher gears, the car feels perfectly smooth, but it's got to the point in the lower gears and revs that I'm hesitant to floor it because I don't know if the power's going to be there... :blink: I'm pulling away from junctions and roundabouts slower and steadier than my Dad! :D

The stutter is almost like the car is accelerating as it should but then you've briefly tapped the brake - and then it accelerates fine again. Is this what a misfire feels like? I bought a fault-reader recently which correctly picked up a faulty coolant temp sensor , but since fixing that, the car has been error-code free. But still the stutter's here.....

I don't know if it's related, but I've also noticed that the car is ticking over slightly erratically when idling. It sits at approx 800rpm, but you can see/hear/feel a very slight surging in the revs with no gear engaged.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what could be causing this and - probably most importantly! - how much it could cost to get fixed..?! :cry:

Cheers guys!
 
Maybe - I don't know how often they're supposed to be changed!

I've still got the same ones in from new. The car's just over 6 years old and I've done 38k miles. Do you reckon they're ready to be swapped?

The car's been Seat serviced every year except the last, where the guy assured me that they were platinum spark-plugs and didn't need replacing until 60k miles. Was he pulling my plonker?

:confused:
 
not sure if this is similar? i get a strange powerloss. part throttle around the 3k rev range. drives fine.. seems to get to a certain power lvl and then stops accelerating. almost a jolt?

it dosnt happy everytime... just occasionly in the first few gears. if its this.. ive lived with it for ages. checked and swopped many things , all in vain.
 
I suffered with exactly the same problem a couple of times every day. Normally when creeping away in traffic. Cured most ofthe problem by a new DV (Forge 007P). I have also fitted a new air filter and its almost completely gone.

Only happens once every few days, but only if I'm being pulling away slowly and not really getting upto speed in normal driving - so its probably something that my LC doesn't like doing.
 
Cheers for the replies guys.

Yes traumapat, that sounds like the same thing - almost a jolt. I'm not sure whether it's actually a jolt, or whether it's a break in the smoothness of the acceleration, almost like a momentary loss of fuel flow - and so it feels like a jolt. If that makes sense!! :blink:

I've also lived with it for a while now, but strangely, it seemed better both after my last service ( where all the guy did was the basic oil and filter changes) and also recently after I had the coolant temp sensor changed?!! Maybe the first time was partly the air filter, but the problem is still here.

I guess my big concern was if it was a misfire, as I'm sure I'd read that driving with misfires wrecks your cat over time = £££££££'s! But at my last MOT in December, the emissions test was perfectly normal and that's after driving with this problem for at least a year.

Funny you should mention the DV, wisejason.... When the coolant temp sensor failed recently and I connected up a fault-reader, one of the 3 codes mentioned a "pressure drop between from the turbo - check the DV", but after replacing the temp sensor and clearing the codes, that error has never reappeared. :confused:

Could this maybe be due to cracks/splits in some of the pipes ( as suggested for the above pressure-drop fault), or would splits also affect the car in higher gears/revs?

:headhurt:
 
it could be dv related... its around the beginning of the turbo range. its almost like the fuels been cut because the cars reached the required power. it rarely bothers me... just tend to drive through it.

i may try to catch it whilst logging with vagcom. theres a definate change in the engine so im hopefull it will show on the logs. if i find anything i`ll post it up as many leons get it.

if you can get hold of vagcom.. a throttle body alignment may help... its something they often do on a service... possibly why yours felt better after.

the trottle body can also get gunked up and a clean may help... although in honesty i think its a leon quirk ...


the check dv code is common. not saying you dont have a leak... but ive had this code on and off without ever finding a problem. but do check pipes ect.
 
Last edited:
Thanks mate.

If I get the chance, I'll do the same and get it checked with vagcom. It's just a bit frustrating - I just don't have the confidence any more to floor it in the lower gears in case it falters. When it's behaving itself, though, the car's as quick as ever and I love driving it!

If it's a common problem and it's just my car being temperamental, then I'll have to learn to live with it. I guess my main concern was that it was either going to be an expensive repair, or if unchecked, would result in an expensive repair. :cry:

Should I put it down to my car being moody, then? Or should I chnage the sparks anyway and see if that helps? I don't know if 6 years and 38k miles on the same set of sparks is excessive.......
 
now with my issue its only part throttle. if i increase the throttle it dosnt happen. its only when the cars not trying. its never a big enough issue to worry my confidence...you sure its the same thing?


to describe...

im driving along at 30mph , the acceleration is climbing slowly . lets say my foot has requested the power required to make 40mph. but very slowly. as it creeps up to that level it suddenly stops producing power. my speed dosnt climb or drop. the revs dont change. but its felt like a jolt, power loss, hesitation.

blip the throttle and away you go.

it never happens if im driving with more throttle.

if the problems worrying you id try logging with vag com ect... see if you can find the problem. investigate. nothing worse than not enjoying your car... at least if you look into it youll feel more confident.

my cars behaved like this for 3 years. when it was mapped i queried the n75 valve. the n75 vavle behaved as expected... but thinking about it the problem wont happen under rr mapping conditions as its a low engine load/part throttle issue.:shrug: not sure if the n75 could even cause the problem but im out of ideas.

im no meccy mate , trying to learn myself.
 
Hmmm - good advice. I think the best thing I can do is get it checked with vagcom.

I've only ever noticed the problem in the first 3 gears - predominantly in 1st and 2nd. It's normally as you're just using the gear, so it's when I'm pulling away from standstill in first or when I move up a gear into second and I'm feeding the throttle in. Once I'm in the gear, if it's not happened in the first second or two of that gear, I'm pretty sure that it's not going to happen on that occasion. It doesn't happen all the time, that's the weird thing!

I'm not sure if it's related to a particular rev range, or whether I drive so cautiously these days that I'm not flooring it enough to drive through it.

I'll have to work the car through the rev range a bit more on the way home tonight and see if I can come up with a more definitive set of conditions under which it happens.

Just out of interest, then... If it's regular misfires that knacker the cat - what does a misfire feel like?!
 
not happened to me.... search coil pack.

apparently they have a big effect when they go. vag com will log misfires and tell you which cylinder is affected.
 
This sounds like something that was happening in my miss' fiesta a few weeks ago. Turns out it was to do with the fuel pressure regulater and the sensor that moniters the air temp/pressure as well. It was nakered and everytime you went to accelerate below 2500 rpm the car couldnt make up its mind whether to go or not!

Took it to the garage and had a diagnostic test on it, changed the sensor, about £50 notes and running perfect now! To be honest i would check the above before this one as the fiesta wasnt turbo charged.
 
Will do lads, thanks.

Having just done a quick search on here, I don't think it's a coil pack, as the effect of one of those going sounds a lot more dramatic than what I'm experiencing. Unless it's just palying up before going properly!!

I think a loose or cracked hose could be the issue from other comments, or maybe the temp sensor suggested above. Either way, I think I need to get hold of a local vagcom centre to find out for sure....!

Will also look at getting the spark plugs replaced, as others have told me that 6 years + 38k miles puts them at the point where they need changing anyway. Would rule one thing out for a start!
 
Mine does this also but only on start up when cold when i try to pull off it stutters and nearly stalls but if i blip the throttle a couple of times or so it goes away, it is intermittent happens maybe 2/3 times a week at the moment.
 
Phillc said:
Mine does this also but only on start up when cold when i try to pull off it stutters and nearly stalls but if i blip the throttle a couple of times or so it goes away, it is intermittent happens maybe 2/3 times a week at the moment.
Click to expand...

that might be a dirty throttle body .. or maybe temp sender?
 
Hmmm Timmyboy - yours is another voice telling me that it could be the MAF....

If I try running with it disconnected as andycupra suggests (cheers andy), and it IS the MAF that's faulty - how much am I looking at to get it replaced?

Mega $$$$$$'s?
 
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