Hesitation while accelerating in cold weather

[HydroponiK]

I am having an issue where the engine is hesitating badly while trying to accelerate, where it sort of feels like the engine is choking and stuttering. It seems much more pronounced when the engine is still cold and when going uphill, however after 20 or so minutes of driving, these problems for the most part go away. A few days ago however, the CEL was blinking for like 10 seconds while the stuttering was going on, but it has not come back since then.

What could be causing these issues? I don't want to sink more money as I will be getting a new car next spring, but obviously I will if necessary.

[HydroponiK]

Forgot to mention, I have a 2001 V6 Auto with about 142k miles.

[supraguy17]

Mine does the same thing, I got a 99. Its simply due to the cold weather and us not warming it up a decent amount before driving, hell my drivers side door wont close until the car has been running for a good 10 minutes. Gas sucks in these too :'[

[solara90]

If the CEL flashes it is because of a misfire, and when the engine is cold its hard for it to be able to atomise the fuel. My car doesnt run the best for the first few minutes i drive it until it warms up. I dont blame it i wont want to move in 12degree weather.

[amabsolute]

Yeah, my solara doesnt like the cold....

[HydroponiK]

Well I remember this started last winter, but it only happened occasionally. This winter however, it's stuttering ALL the time when it's cold. Would new spark plugs help fix the issue? I also heard something about the coil packs going bad? Where are they located?

[solara90]

have the plugs been changed at all? With 142k if they havent id say change plugs/wires.

[DSM_Lara]

Here's link for plugs
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=10551&start=45

[dug320]

I have to drive at -30C and with my '99 V6 and have yet to experience any of the described issues. At lower temperatures a lot of time it is not the car but the fuel. Start with an additive that addresses water in the line.

In case it is the car seafoam goes far to remove any carbon deposits.

[HydroponiK]

have the plugs been changed at all? With 142k if they havent id say change plugs/wires.

I want to say yes, but when I go back thru my records, it seems only the wires were changed. This is probably the issue, hope I didn't damage my engine...

[HydroponiK]

Here's link for plugs
http://solaraguy.com/viewtopic.php?f=20 ... 1&start=45

Awesome, thanks!

It's too damn cold outside to try this myself tho, well the rear ones at least. How much labor time does the book say this job would be?

[supraguy17]

try putting ISO HEET in your gas tank as well.. it helps with the fuel lines.

[HydroponiK]

So to follow up, I have some good news and bad news...

On the day I went to go get the plugs changed, the CEL started flashing again but this time it stayed on. After getting all 6 plugs replaced with NGK Iridium Ix, the hesitation and sputtering while accelerating problem was definitely fixed. In fact, it seems I even regained some power as the engine feels so much more powerful than before.

Unfortunately the CEL never went away after changing the plugs. I did notice random "hiccups" while I am in drive but stopped so I went to autozone to pull the codes. It only pulled one code: P0304.

According to the interwebs, this could means cylinder 4 is misfiring. Why would only one cylinder be an issue? What else could be wrong here?

[solara90]

did the change the plug wires too? if not a simple test is switch the wire from cyl. 4 to another cylinder ans see if it moves to that cylinder. If it doesnt then you may have a dirty or intermittently nonworking injector or something.

[stringbean]

the coil that sits on top of the plug could be faulty causing a misfire, this was the case with my parents LHS, replaced the coil on top of plug and issue was fixed! may be the same in your situation. I really need to do this as well. maybe this spring when i change the oil and trans fluids.