Car jerking/stuttering when driving

[CMF_Gareth]

Hey guys, Hope everyone is well.

When I am driving at a constant speed e.g motorway, the car jerks/stutters.It is not constant but seems to happen in short bursts. It has also stalled a couple of times when my wife was driving while slowing down for a roundabout/junction. I thought maybe it could be a problem with the throttle body and have tried resoldering those points as per Alex B's and Sean's guide, but it does not seemed to have worked.

I might also add that I have been slack with the regular services over the past six months or so, and feel that I may be paying the consequences. I hope not as I plan on enjoying my Micra for at least the next couple of years.

Any other ideas on what my be causing this to happen before I take it off to the mechanics?

Cheers.

 

[CMF_Yom]

Mabye try cleaning the Idle air control valve. Its at the front of the throttle body, big black thing. Be aware you will probably have to purchase a new gasket for it and a new rubber O ring. You'll see if you have a haynes or you pull it apart!

Infact its not uncommon for these things to not work properly as they get older. Mabye its time to replace it. They also seem to be adjustable so mabye investigate that.

I don't have a haynes so I usually attack things by feel.. I can't give you any more info on adjustment/calibration.

It seems that I have rendered both my spare and original IACV useless by fiddling with them to solve a similar issue which was also random in its nature. So I'm going to buy a GA15 throttle body from Pulsar Parts in south australia (or victoria, cant remember which state). May as well get that larger throttle body while I'm stuffing around there.

I was selling the car but I've got no motivation towards selling it anymore - the car I wanted has since been snapped up. Besides it makes much more sense finanically to keep on with the micra and just replace what i break/wear out.

Cheers and GL fixing your issue. Let us know how you go and I'll post up once i've got my new ga15 TB.

 

[CMF_Gareth]

Thanks Yom,

I do have a Haines Manual so I will investigate the Idle air control valve and see how I go. I'll let you know how it goes.

Cheers.

 

[CMF_Brendon]

is there enough oil in the car?? if thers not enough things could be binding in engine?

what about dirty injectors or blocked fuel pump or filter

 

[CMF_Gareth]

Hi Brendon,

Yes there is plenty of oil so hopefully that is not causing the problem, although it has not been changed in a while. Dirty injectors has crossed my mind, maybe I should try some of that injector cleaner stuff that you add to the fuel.

As I mentioned above, I hope I am not paying the consequences for not getting it serviced recently.

Cheers.

 

[CMF_Brendon]

is it at a certain rpm? could be a miss. if so check spark plugs.

that injector cleaner stuff doesnt really work. just run 98 ron fuel for a while and that will do the same thing, other way is to just take it to a mechanic and they should fix it easy. and they can take out the injectors and clean them properly

 

[CMF_olly]

Had a similar problem, turned out that the lead to the oxygen sensor was laying on top of the distributor cap and picking up interference which was transmitted to the ECU,causing it to crash, took me 4 months and a wasted £50.00 diagnostic to find it, re-routed the cable, problem solved.
some of the most annoying things have the simplest solutions!.

 

[CMF_Gareth]

Hi Guys,

We took the car to the mechanics last Friday as it was stuttering/stalling very badly.

It seems that the problem was caused by bad fuel, which had water in it. This was apparantly causing the engine to misfire. He said every time this happened the idle speed would reduce a little and eventually it was so low it was causing the stalling. He fitted new Spark plugs, and adjusted the idle speed to around 750rpm. He then said to fill up on BP Ultimate and then add some Wynns Spitfire to disperse the water. Now the car is running perfectly. For all the service he gave us he only charged $10.

The bad fuel came from Mobil Quix at both Blaxland and Emu Plains in the Lower Blue Mountains, and was the Synergy 98 type. The mechanic said these places have a reputation for having water in their fuel, and asked us never to go there again for petrol. This made sense because now I think about it, it was after going to these places that the problem was at its worse. If we put Vortex 98, or Optimax in it was not be so apparent.

Any way, now the car is running beautifully once more. I spent 4 hours washing and polishing yesterday so it is looking great. Also if anyone wants a good mechanic call Gerald Reid at Springwood Car Care (02) 4751 6036. I could not recommend any one more.

Thanks for all your help fellas.