After ignition my car will start to sputter. This does not happen all the time, but maybe a couple times a month at most. This has been going on for about two years now. In the past it has sputtered while my car is idling right after ignition, and I can get it to go away by pressing on the accelerator. When I push on the accelerator nothing happens for a second, but then the car jumps forward (as if the engine finally got going). From then on the engine no longer sputters. It may then do the same thing a week later, or as my case is now, several months later. This past time was more serious. When I pressed down on the accelerator the sputtering never went away. My car made it about 70 yards and then died. I tried restarting it, but the car barely got started before sputtering and dying again. No amount of pushing on the accelerator helped. Two more attempts had the same result. About 30 minutes later I tried it one last time, but this time the engine finally revved normally after about 15 seconds of sputtering. What could the problem be? Thanks for your help.
One must start at the basics, how many miles? What maintenance as far as plugs air and gas filter?
oh sorry, 120,000 miles, air filter is new, not sure how old the plugs (may be a bit old, but not 100% sure) and gas filter are. I will have to check and get back to you on that.
If you’re not sure how old the plugs/wires & fuel filter are you should just replace them. After that, see what is going on with the car & report back.
Two items need to be checked, or do you want to just jump in and change some parts? The two items are: the throttle position sensor (tps), and the idle air control valve(iac). The tps senses when you press the gas pedal and tells the engine computer. The engine computer then orders more fuel and more air. The iac valve gets the message from the engine computer for more air, and it opens an air passage. The fuel injectors are controlled by the engine computer to stay open a little long to allow more fuel to be sprayed into the engine. When either doesn’t work right, you have stumble, and hesitation, during acceleration.
If you decide to test the sensors and the control valves, the instructions are in repair manuals,like Haynes, or Chilton’s.
I should have time this week to check in to all this stuff. I will let you know what I find out when I find out. Thanks!