Right when I get in my car for the first time, acceleration is great. I'm assuming cold engine = cooler air. But later in the day, I get horrible acceleration. I have to nearly put the peddle to the floor to get anything at all out of it. Is this common? I'm assuming a CAI is the next step? I'm not looking for racing or anything like that, but I like to have acceleration consistent and decently strong.

 

Shouldnt this be in problems or fix?

Anyway, would say heat soak but um we are still in January. Honestly it can be a numuber of things: air and/or fuel filter, bad plugs, exhaust leak, etc...........need more info

 

Google TL ECU reset and try that first. If not, how many miles on the car? Also since you're in FL I figure heat soak could be an issue.

 

+1 ^^^ what he said

 

Bad O2 sensors ? Plugged Cats ? more info is always helpful

 

I had that problem for years, i changed a lot of stuff and some helped but none of them gave me that low end torque and response. The car always felt like i had four, five people in it. Finally about a month ago, I was driving back home to jersey from charlotte and the check engine light came on for the first time ever... Right away i noticed how easily the car was accelerating and had no problems on hilly roads, just beautiful. My gas milage dropped some... So when arrived home, had the code scanned and it was the oxygen sensor. One thing i never touched. I still havent replaced the 02's but the car is still running like a champ...it doesnt think twice about down shifting and it really pulls strong... I am hoping once i replace them i will be finally done with the sluggish performance....

 

battery

 

I didn't realized I went back to the modification section...Ooops

Anyway, it's an 08' TL with 55,000 Miles. I honestly don't know if the plugs have ever been changed, but I want to change them. Otherwise, the engine runs strong and such. Resetting the ECU - what's involved?

 

well your plugs dont need to be changed until 105k service.. unless your using a lot of fuel additives or bad gas in general. and removing the negitive cable on ur battery for 5 mins should reset your ecu! and then drive the piss out of it so your car will "learn" your driving habbits.

 

Lol, wut?

 

theres a thread on azine from IHC that said a battery may be to blame for the loss of torque

 

If leave my hazards on for 3 minutes, my battery gets so weak that it's like almost dead.

I replaced it,
didn't feel any difference at torque.
It was pulling nice with a bad battery too.

Isn't 50k too early for plugs, sensors etc?

Do the ECU reset, but never worked on my car.
Removing the negative cable will work better.

If you don't have a SRI, it wouldn't be about a stock intake during winter.
Oh...Florida
ehh still...no humid

 

Cool, thanks guys. I'll try resetting the ECU. Does the car really "learn" my driving habits? Probably drives like a baby since my mom owned the car for the first 53k..

 

yes the ECU picks up on your driving habbits and adapts to the way you drive.. after a while it needs to be redone.

 

Reset the ECU. The car performs the way it should now! Thanks!

 

Welcome to the club of owners with this issue.

It didn't do anything for me. The battery in my car was original (four years old). I've had this issue down to as low as 50* ambient. Took it to the dealer once already and they couldn't find anything. When I have this sever power loss, the engine also surges/hesitates. It's all over the board. Honestly, it's the only thing keeping me from truly enjoying the car.

 

did you accidently open the throttle body plate by hand with the engine off..?

 

bump. I have this exact problem currently. My guess is 02 sensors or battery. Ive had this car for three years, and it was never like this before.

 

Did you do as the thread suggests and reset your ECU? If that didn't work, then check your battery.

 

i did^. I am gonna trade car batteries with someone soon and see what happens. because it happens almost 50% of the time im driving. and its not heatsoak, im positive.

 

Sucks not knowing doesn't it? Are you using premium fuel?

 

Always have used premium. It seems like im definately not the only one. it will drive amazing, and then all of a sudden it feels like torque decreases by like 50% It seems that the high end power will stay, its just acceleration in the lower rpms will be very slow and power surges. It seems like it has something to do with ecu.

Definately not heatsoak because of the odd times it happens.

Definately not VSA kicking in for traction

Resetting ECU makes no difference.

Ill try to video it the next time it happens. which should be tomorrow or the next day or maybe even tonight, who knows. I will try switching the battery out for a few days and see if that makes a difference.

 

It must be an ECU Issue because everything else i already replaced and no help. I experience the same thing you describe...

 

Actually the more i think about it I believe it has to do with the traction control mulfunctioning for whatever reason... You can try turning off the VSA before you even start driving, i bet you will notice a difference.

 

ive read many of your posts, and i know for a fact we're experiencing the same problem. For example, yesterday my car was driving absolutely amazing, and then out of no where it will happen again. Just doesnt make sense. This only started happening in the past few months and ive had the car for 4 years.

 

All these people that say there car gets sluggish, are your cars stock performance wise? or have any cooling mods.

 

It's true. Regardless if it's mental or not, I noticed a difference when I ran this procedure last night.

 

Not sure about BukvaMan, but im not. CAI and full exhaust

 

I mean after the car gets to temp its going to heatsoak, and you will lose power. When my car was bone stock the heatsoak was ridiculous. After CAI,TB bypass,jpipe, its much better than what it was. But its still annoying that the car picks up so much faster at a cold start.

 

I've had similar issues with my 08 base and its heat soak. I removed th plastic covers under the hood and it was noticeable but at times when its warmer outside it still gets sluggish. The cowl plastic where your windshield washers reside needs to be altered removed as there's no way for the under hood heat to escape. I started a thread a few months ago for the same issue and narrowed it down to heat soak.