5 Reasons Your Car Hesitant When Accelerating
When you step on the gas, instead of instant power, does your engine thump and whine and leave you behind? Don’t assume the worst just yet. Sluggish acceleration may be easy to fix yourself.
Learn the most common causes of hesitation when accelerating before you have a mechanic replace parts unnecessarily. Don’t ignore the problem, because inconsistent and unpredictable acceleration is a bigger danger than you think. 5 Most Common Reasons for Sluggishness When Accelerating
Below are the 5 most common reasons why your car doesn’t accelerate as expected when you step on the accelerator.
1) Faulty Fuel Pump
Your vehicle is equipped with a fuel pump, which is mounted directly inside the fuel tank or just outside the fuel tank. The job of the fuel pump is to supply fuel to the engine when it is needed for combustion. The fuel pump must precisely regulate the amount of fuel it delivers. This means that she needs the right amount of pressure.
However, if the fuel pump is worn, damaged or broken, an incorrect amount of fuel will enter the engine. This will cause the engine to lag, especially when trying to accelerate up a hill. Alternatively, the root cause may be a faulty fuel pump relay that is preventing the fuel pump from turning on.
2) Mass Air Flow Sensor
All vehicles are equipped with a mass air flow sensor (MAF) that can measure the amount of air entering the engine. Once this information is available, it is sent to the vehicle’s main computer. From there, it communicates with the injectors to deliver the right amount of fuel for the ideal air-fuel ratio.
However, if the mass air flow sensor is faulty or worn out, it will no longer detect the correct amount of air, causing problems with the combustion process. As a result, the engine may stall.
3) Faulty Fuel Injectors
The combustion chamber cylinder relies on the injectors to inject fuel, which ensures that the right amount of fuel mixes with the air in the chamber so the spark plug can ignite the mixture. However, if the injector is broken, worn, or simply dirty, it will not inject the correct amount of fuel into the cylinder. If this condition continues, it will gradually cause the engine to misfire.
4) Throttle Position Sensor
The vehicle’s computer uses the throttle position sensor to know how much pressure is on the accelerator pedal and how open the throttle is. Based on this information, the computer will modify the fuel and air mixture so that the correct amount enters the engine.
If the throttle position sensor is damaged or faulty, it will send incorrect information to the computer. When that happens, the engine will be unable to perform various operations such as idling and accelerating.
5) Clogged Fuel Filter
The role of the fuel filter is to prevent rust, dirt and other particles from mixing with the fuel before it enters the combustion chamber. Hesitation when accelerating is a common symptom of a clogged fuel filter.
It is important for car owners to regularly change their fuel filters after driving a certain distance. A clogged filter makes it harder for fuel to pass through, which means your engine won’t get the proper amount of fuel and will stall. Replacing a fuel filter is cheap, so there’s no reason not to do it.