I noticed that when I'm accelerating up hill at around 40-60mph my car doesn't accelerate smoothly. It runs a little rough like its struggling. Also, at times when I stop the idle is bumpy and almost feels like its going to die out.

Not much of a car person, so I have clue what are the possible problems or repairs. I thought it might be the plugs or something dirty that needed to be cleaned out. Any suggestions before I take it to the shop?

 

1. Plugs?
2. Dirty fuel injector?
3. Water in fuel?
4. Idle is low?

 

accelerate a bit harder, happens to me, like it jerks a bit when i accel slowly, but mash it harder, and it goes smoother.

 

first get a good tune up
plugs-nkg iridium
pcv valve
new air filter
engine flush
200 to 300 should cover it unless u do it yourself
and if this dont help get your o2 sensor checked. diagnostic+parts and labor=appx. 150 to 200
dont be supprised if its your egr valve if u get the diagnostic. dont know what that costs. anyone here know?

 

Year, mileage?

Start with the simple stuff like air filter. Clogged filters will kill engine performance.

 

oxygen sensor , or fuel filter , fuel pump slowly going out -don't think so , but check. bet its the fuel filter. good luck!

 

2000 TL around 67K

Changed the air filter last year. Idles around 700 at a stop.

I figure the plugs, Oxygen sensor would come up when I bring it in to the shop. Just need to educate myself in he mentions things I have no clue about.

Thanks for the info, keep it coming.

 

ever run fuel injector cleaner through the system. I am not mechanical wizard like Pure and a few others, but I do make it a habit to run a bottle of Fuel Injector cleaner through every few months.

Pure:
How difficult is it to change the fuel filter in our cars? I heard that the filter is inside the tank, that alone is enough to scare me to even think about replacing it.

 

Same with me. I used the pro-guard fuel injector cleaner in December some time.

I changed the air filter which was easy enough. But didn't want to some of the other things like that manifold cleaning project I saw on this board.

 

the question is, is what gear is it in while struggling? has it kicked out of 5th into a lower gear or is it staying in 5th? if so thats probably and most likely your problem 5th is a very tall gear and the tl doesnt have enough power to power it at real low rpm

 

Now that you mention it, it is at low RPMs when it shutters ~1-2k. Didn't check the gear this morning, but felt it run rough and glanced at the RPMs. Any way to fix it?

 

i know that this has been beat into the ground a million times but what about the rough idle at startup?