Problem Pulling Away

Tom B · January 27, 2008

For around 3/4 months sometimes my car jerks when it pulls away and you either have to put the clutch down to ease it or speed up. I at first thought it could be down to the timing belts etc as they needed replacing but Ive had the all three belts replaced last weekend and I felt a massive different in the way the car feels the jerk as slow started to reappear. It normally happens on wet or slight hills which make me think it could be the tensioner??? Anyone else have this? Do I need to take the car back to the garage?

atce4 · January 27, 2008

There is only one timing belt, the others are belts that drive the alternator, power steering pump, etc.

As for the jerking when you start off I can't see how it could be the belts that are causing it or the tensioner for that matter

If you say it happens in the wet or on hills then perhaps it is the traction control operating, does an orange light illuminate on the dashboard when the problem occurs?

Try driving the car with the traction control off for a while and see if the problem is still there...

KevLex · January 27, 2008

It sounds as though it could be that the engine control unit is not sensing the additional load when pulling away so that either the ignition is not being advanced or the injected fuel quantity is not being increased. Or it could be the electronic throttle control simply not opening the throttle when you press the accelerator pedal.

I would start by connecting a fault code reader just to see if there are any stored faults. Failing that you will need some diagnostic equipment and see what is going on.

In the absence of such equipment you could make a careful visual inspection around the engine bay.