What could be causing this? juddering / spluttering?

Jamesyboyjim

Jamesyboyjim

Jamesyboyjim

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Hi all, my 2010 Seat Ibiza 1.4 seems to have developed this issue where, if the revs are a bit lower than optimum and I put my foot down a bit ( not loads), the car will judder and struggle to get going. This may sound normal for a car in too high a gear for the speed but I'm not talking about 5th gear at 20 mph or silly low revs like 900rpm or something. The thing is, the car never used to behave like this and it really judders and shakes, i can recreate it often, even if I was going 30mph in 4th and I put my foot down.

If ever I was in too high a gear, it would just take a long time to get going until I dropped a gear so I am just a bit worried that it could be the start of a problem.
 
Could be the early signs of a failing coil pack.

I've had hesitation issues like this previously, left longer and when flooring it the EMU dash light will flash and car bog down because the cylinder is now misfiring.
 
Firestar_3x said:
Could be the early signs of a failing coil pack.

I've had hesitation issues like this previously, left longer and when flooring it the EMU dash light will flash and car bog down because the cylinder is now misfiring.
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Thank you. I've popped it into the local garage near my work, they will try and have a look today if they get time.

The guy I spoke to agreed it could be the coils, asked if I'd let the car run down low with fuel recently too which a few weeks ago I did.
 
Just popped in to the garage. They tested the car for misfiring etc. No problems found but they did say I may just have some crap in the fuel system so they put a bottle of cleaner in the fuel tank. Do those cleaners work? I'm hoping its not going to cause more problems!
 
I was going to say that sounds fuel related. I have a bottle of that stuff at home but never tried it in the end. Won't cause any problems (unless it has something silly in it) although might not solve your problem either. Once it's finished the spluttering, does it accelerate as normal? Not down on power or anything? And does it idle/cruise at steady RPM okay?
 
Ryan-3 said:
I was going to say that sounds fuel related. I have a bottle of that stuff at home but never tried it in the end. Won't cause any problems (unless it has something silly in it) although might not solve your problem either. Once it's finished the spluttering, does it accelerate as normal? Not down on power or anything? And does it idle/cruise at steady RPM okay?
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Hi Ryan, Yes it'll splutter a bit but get going again fine, usually as the revs rise. But usually when it starts I'll just ease off the throttle a bit or drop a gear.

It still feels its usual slow self (85bhp) and it idles and cruises just fine yes. No issues there. The garage also said it was making power fine.
 
I wonder if there are any codes showing via the OBD. Could also possibly monitor a few things via it either.
 
Thanks guys, I'll run the car for a few days so the additive has time to work through, or will it sit on top of the petrol? Failing that I'll ask for the fuel filter / injectors to be checked.
 
Car seemed fine this morning. Hard to believe that stuff could make such a big difference instantly though so I'll reserve judgement for now but so far so good!
 
Are you putting 'normal' fuel in try something like V Power if the problem comes back and see if it makes a difference,

I get this from time to time, put foot down and change gear usually results in a loud backfire that scares people :D
 
Glanza said:
Are you putting 'normal' fuel in try something like V Power if the problem comes back and see if it makes a difference,

I get this from time to time, put foot down and change gear usually results in a loud backfire that scares people :D
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I usually just put regular Esso in as I seem to get more miles out of Esso fuel. Last week though I filled up at a Shell. I tend to avoid the supermarket fuels.

If it comes back I'll try some V power but I expect the car will then become too powerful for me! :p
 
Argh! Queuing to get onto the m25 this evening I notice my battery light is on. Traffic comes to a stop and I can't pull away, engine running but car won't move.

Hazards on and attempt to restart car. It starts straight away but sounds like it barely did. I drive home with aircon etc off and the car is fine, no more light and when I get home I restart it fine several times whilst parked. Now could the original loss of power have been caused by a faulty alternator or battery? Perhaps the heat just screwed things up? There were loads of broken down cars all the way home.
 
Jamesyboyjim said:
Argh! Queuing to get onto the m25 this evening I notice my battery light is on. Traffic comes to a stop and I can't pull away, engine running but car won't move.

Hazards on and attempt to restart car. It starts straight away but sounds like it barely did. I drive home with aircon etc off and the car is fine, no more light and when I get home I restart it fine several times whilst parked. Now could the original loss of power have been caused by a faulty alternator or battery? Perhaps the heat just screwed things up? There were loads of broken down cars all the way home.
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Yes it could have been. How old's the battery?
 
When you turn the ignition on does the battery light come on before starting the engine ? If it doesn't it is likely a damaged cable from the alternator, it is a load signal for the alternator to start charging. If this cable is damaged the alternator will automatically start charging around 2500 revs, if you keep the revs below this the battery won't be charged and can go flat causing all kind of running problems. Common problem on the Ibiza due to a mount the cable goes through cuts into it, easy to fix.

https://forums.seatcupra.net/index....ken-load-signal-cable-from-alternator.209472/
 
Admittedly the battery is probably as old as the car as I've never changed it so at most 8 years old so admittedly it's old.

When I put the key in the battery light comes on still as normal and goes out when I start the engine.
 
Driving to work today the car had one or two slight blips, one particular instance I was in 2nd at around 2000rpm and put my foot down a bit more, the car jolted for a split second as it got going. I'm definitely thinking as a few of you have mentioned this is a fueling issue and the issue Thursday night was probably a stall. I believe a filter change is a cheap and easy job, is the injector an expensive jobby? If it comes to it.
 
I would say it's probably the beginning of a coil pack failure. If not this then a fuel pump/fuel pressure sensor. Injectors would be wayyy down on my list of things to check.

Have you had it in to a proper garage to scan the codes? Surely these instances will have generated a code.
 
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