I have a significant hesitation / bucking / cutout problem when the air is cold. First encountered it in a snowstorm in southern Pa several years ago. Now its happening with air temp in the 60's even when the engine is warm. At low rpm and light load. Idle is ok and no starting problem. Changed plugs and the pass side coils (V6, manual), fuel and air filters - didn't fix. My hope is its something mechanical or a sensor and not the engine computer. My searches here haven't helped. Anyone fixed a similar problem?
cold weather hesitation
- Thread starter TerryinNC
- Start date
Looks like I made a bad decision. When I was changing plugs I had a new pcv valve, but I had misinterpreted the warnings about the hose and bought the wrong one. So besides not being able to get at it I was afraid to risk making a real problem I was not prepared to fix. So the car's back together and the new pcv is on my bench.
What exactly is causing the hesitation? Is the computer sensing a back pressure in the crankcase and making an emissions adjustment? Or is a sticking valve upsetting the airflow to the maf? I'm tempted to do a test of disconnecting the pcv line at the throttle body and see if the problem changes. Any comments?
What exactly is causing the hesitation? Is the computer sensing a back pressure in the crankcase and making an emissions adjustment? Or is a sticking valve upsetting the airflow to the maf? I'm tempted to do a test of disconnecting the pcv line at the throttle body and see if the problem changes. Any comments?
joegr
Dedicated LVC Member
No. The issue with the PCV is that the plumbing gets old and cracks and collapses under some conditions. It can let unmetered air in. This causes the mixture to go too lean and can cause cold hesitation. Of course, your problem could be something else.
Nope.
Nuts.
Got away with it last time. Didn't break a single 10 year old connector or wire (that I know of) and all the hoses seemed to re seat ok. I called that a success. A second pass is tempting the Fates. Besides taking forever. Really should replace the valve cover gaskets too. Aargh. But this is my first time under the hood in 105K miles - guess I shouldn't complain.
Got away with it last time. Didn't break a single 10 year old connector or wire (that I know of) and all the hoses seemed to re seat ok. I called that a success. A second pass is tempting the Fates. Besides taking forever. Really should replace the valve cover gaskets too. Aargh. But this is my first time under the hood in 105K miles - guess I shouldn't complain.
OK Changed the pcv valve and the $27 piece of molded hose. The old valve was gummy but not plugged, and the old hose was actually ok. 7 hours, but no broken connectors or bolts. Simply could not get at the bottom bolt on pipe bracket - had to manhandle the hoses off and on. I appreciate the engine was designed for transverse mounting, but this PCV adaptation is a really ****ty effort.
Test drive not encouraging. Less serious but still extant low rpm bucking, although now only at heavy throttle - like lugging on steroids. Have to wait for a cooler morning to see if any improvement in my original complaint.
Thanks for the help, and particularly the Tech page with the detailed procedure. I don't know what problems I may have induced monkeying around under the hood but I'm planning on staying out of there for the rest of this car's life. So far the work I've done and the money I spent wasn't needed. This was a good car.
There is a story that Henry Ford sent his engineers out to the junk yards early on to find out which parts were overdesigned and which were failing. Their education has been with Ford cars since - bulletproof drive trains and bodies held together with bailing wire. Yep, mine's a Ford. All this Baldridge quality stuff and the Japanese competition have made tremendous improvements in our cars, but Ford's engines are still way better than their power windows. I'm expecting the weak link in mine to be the German transmission. And I'm probably going to keep it long enough to find out.
Test drive not encouraging. Less serious but still extant low rpm bucking, although now only at heavy throttle - like lugging on steroids. Have to wait for a cooler morning to see if any improvement in my original complaint.
Thanks for the help, and particularly the Tech page with the detailed procedure. I don't know what problems I may have induced monkeying around under the hood but I'm planning on staying out of there for the rest of this car's life. So far the work I've done and the money I spent wasn't needed. This was a good car.
There is a story that Henry Ford sent his engineers out to the junk yards early on to find out which parts were overdesigned and which were failing. Their education has been with Ford cars since - bulletproof drive trains and bodies held together with bailing wire. Yep, mine's a Ford. All this Baldridge quality stuff and the Japanese competition have made tremendous improvements in our cars, but Ford's engines are still way better than their power windows. I'm expecting the weak link in mine to be the German transmission. And I'm probably going to keep it long enough to find out.