# Car loses power when I step on accelerator **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [December 5, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-loses-power-when-i-step-on-accelerator/22970 "2008-12-05T01:50:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![instock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/22d042/32.png) [@instock](https://community.cartalk.com/u/instock)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-loses-power-when-i-step-on-accelerator/22970/1 "2008-12-05T01:50:38Z")
Check this one out. I’ve got an '01 Ford Taurus. It idles fine. If I step on the accelerator pedal very gently, the car starts to go forward a little. But if I press any harder, suddenly I lose all my power. I’m guessing somehow the fuel injection system is not increasing the amount of gas to correspond to the increased amount of air and the mixture is leaning out to nothing. Maybe a throttle positions sensor? I’m sure somebody has heard of this? ---
**Author:** ![BustedKnuckles](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bustedknuckles/32/25_2.png) [@BustedKnuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BustedKnuckles)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-loses-power-when-i-step-on-accelerator/22970/2 "2008-12-05T01:55:30Z")
When was the last time the fuel filter was changed? ---
**Author:** ![instock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/22d042/32.png) [@instock](https://community.cartalk.com/u/instock)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-loses-power-when-i-step-on-accelerator/22970/3 "2008-12-05T02:04:09Z")
2 years. I don’t think that would cause such a sudden malfunction. This seems like a computer problem - especially because it is raining today. ---
**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 2:09am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-loses-power-when-i-step-on-accelerator/22970/4 "2008-12-05T02:09:43Z")
Check the air filter. Tester ---
**Author:** ![instock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/22d042/32.png) [@instock](https://community.cartalk.com/u/instock)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/car-loses-power-when-i-step-on-accelerator/22970/5 "2008-12-05T02:22:38Z")
LOL. Nevermind! After driving all the way home from work with people honking at me because I could barely accelerate… I have found the problem. Several months ago, my EGR backpressure sensor went bad. In the process of diagnosing that problem, I had back-probed that connector with a paperclip. Doh. I took out the paperclip and now it seems to run fine. 🙂