Hi, I was on the way to get my oil changed a few days ago when my car started hesitating and almost stalling when accelerating. If I was going from a stopped position at a light it would almost stall out before I got moving. I brought it in to the shop, they got no codes at all from the computer to diagnose the problem, they cleaned the fuel injectors, and put a cleaner in the fuel tank and said to drive it overnight and if the problem persisted to bring it back. So, it didn;t go away and I brought it back the next day. They still aren't sure what's wrong but they say the distributor is faulty and that it should be replaced and they'll then try to figure out the hesitation problem. The distributor was replaced in August after having similar problems back then, so before spending a lot more money getting that replaced I'd like to figure out what's causing the hesitaion.

Once it's moving it's fine with a few exceptions. It did seem like it was going to stall a couple times when I was going around 45-50 mph. I was trying to find info on the net and I found a couple similar problems that may have been the throttle Position Sensor, but no one posted whether or not it solved the problem.

In august I ended up getting a new computer, new plugs and wires, and a new distributor, the distributor is said to be faulty but not causing the problem. Oh, the mechanic said it's misfiring a lot as well, I'm not a mechanic so I'm not sure if that was in referecen to the distributor or the hesitation problem.

2 probably unrelated things that I've recently noticed as well:

1st: for the past couple weeks the temperature has been a little higher than normal, it seems to be in the middle now whereas it used to always be halfway between cold and the middle. No idea if that has anything to do with the problem or even if being halfway means I should replace the thermostat.

2nd: The fuel meter went from a quarter tank to half a tank when I stopped at a light and later went from half back down to a quarter, I was on a level surface the entire time. I've never seen that happen before, and that was a couple days ago after it started the hesitation problem. I have no idea if that was just a strange coincidence or if it is related to the hesitation or not, just mentioning what I've noticed.

Any help will be reatly appreciated. I've only had the car since May and have already put over 3000.00 into it and would rather not have to put much more into it if possible.


I should have mentioned if I hit the gas quick the RPMs drop and it almost stalls if I keep the gas applied, I let off the gas when it happens so I don't know what would happen if I keep the gas applied, just trying to give all the info I can so hopefully someone will be able to figure out what the problem is.

Thanks,
Joe

 

A few years back I had the same problem. Every six months I was putting new wires in it. At first the problem would go away but it came back like clock work. Even though it kills me to bring the car to the dealer I had to and I asked them to check the coil. They tested it and it was fine. They put a set of Mopar wires and stock Champion plugs in it. It's been two years and no problem. I was running aftermarket plugs and wires. They said that some of the new style plugs draw too much current and it burns out the wire. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the info. It's the 2nd time I had the same problem, back in July/August it did the same thing but actually died and wouldn't start. After being checked out by the mechanics they said I needed a new computer, so I had to buy it, and it wasn't the problem, lol. Then they did a lot more testing and said I needed new wires, plugs, and a distributor. I was a little worried that the problem still wouldn't be fixed since he said he wasn't positive but that would be more likely than the fuel ump or fuel filter. So I OKed that and after putting it all in, the problem was fixed. A few days ago it seemed like the exact same thing was going on, it started while accelerating just like last time, but didn't actually die. I figured the original problem was still there but just went away for a couple months. Anyways, after checking the car, cleaning and cleaning the fuel injectors and charging me 172.00 the mechanics this time had no idea what was wrong. The next day I brought it back and they said the Distributor was faulty and needed to be replaced but that it was not causing the problems. I got the Alternator at Advance Auto Parts so it was still under warranty so I at least didn't have to put out another 244.00 plus tax for that and after a coupe days I brought it back to them to do it even though I was worried about putting more money into it when the problem still wasn't even known. So, they put in the new alternator and charged me 181.90 for labor (which I hear was a big rip off from my mechanic friend who was unfortunately 2000 miles away) and it now runs fine. So the problem was apparently just the faulty distributor even though they said it was not causing the problem. The strangest part is that this time and the last time the computer didn't give any problem codes, that's why the mechanic in July/August said it must be the computer. Anyone else have similiar problems with thier computer saying nothing's wrong when obviosly there is something wrong? I now have 2 computers that gave no error codes, lol.

One more thing, should pictures be taken of the car before bringing it in to service shops? Every time I bring it in and get it back there are more scratches on my car and it really pisses me off to pay these people to damage my car. This time I got my car back the Dodge emblem on the front of my car was cracked and broken. It's the first time I didn't notice more scratches too, lol. I got it in May and it was a beautiful car, now it has scrathes all over it. The best one is on the truck where a mechanic must have placed his tool box and slide it off leaving a wide trail of long scrathes on the trunk. It makes me sick to think about.

Later,
Joe