[TaintMisbehavin]

My 2019 3.6 started to sorta jump, or feel like it's choking on it's food at lower speeds. The first time it happened, I was on 285 expressway and in traffic, had slowed to a low speed. When I pushed the gas, the acceleration was a tad jumpy. It's subtle.

I'm still noticing it every so slightly, but it's there. Hubby said he felt it wasn't charging forward like normal.

About 45K miles.

Here's the rub. We are up in the mountains away from any serious car shops. I could go to marietta or Kennesaw dealers.

Any ideas on what this might be? Any recalls or bulletins?

 

[walker]

Did you ever get the fuel pump replaced for the fuel pump recall?

If there is an auto parts store near you, many will scan for any error codes for free - make sure to write down the code number(s). That would be a good place to start.

also - is there any recent work done to the car… replacing the engine air cleaner for example.

 

[TaintMisbehavin]

We did do something maybe last year at the dealer just before the warranty ran out as it was chuggy sometimes and after they did whatever they did, it stopped and yes, I think it was the fuel filter recall.

 

[TaintMisbehavin]

We just had the oil changed mid May and replaced the air filter ourselves at home.

 

[Toad442]

Clean throttle body and do an idle relearn.

 

[Cotts]

Could be the cvt figuring out where to be. I noticed mine doing weird stuff when slowing down on a really hot day.

 

[blkprlz]

Don’t know your fuel choices but I’d throw in some premium gas from Shell or Chevron for a couple of tankfuls to see if things clear up. House gas never does justice.

 

[walker]

Also double check any air intake duct connections - just twist and make sure any connections/joints are tight.

 

[TaintMisbehavin]

Clean throttle body and do an idle relearn.

These are all great suggestions. We aren't sure what this one means. Hubby is good with a car and learns easily. Happy for some teaching here.

 

[Toad442]

The throttle bodies on the 6 models snap closed when off the gas. Carbon builds around the edges and can cause a jerk/surge from idle. If it's doing it from a stop light, I'd start there first.

 

[Nathan0416]

A few months ago I had a similar experience with my 15' Outback (albeit the 2.5L 4cyl model). When under VERY LIGHT acceleration (from stationary or very low speeds), it felt like the car was surging its power in short, jumpy little bursts, up until about 35kmh (this didn't happen if I applied more throttle). There was no check engine light or any other signs to speak of. At first I thought there was an issue with the CVT, took it in for a service to get checked out. Wasn't the CVT but turned out one of the coils was misfiring, so replaced the coil and the issue is now fixed, back to smooth power delivery again. May or may not be the issue with your car but perhaps one to keep in mind.

 

[AvidHiker]

Yeah, your description is sort of like what I experienced when my plugs started to go around 115k miles, very brief (fraction of a second), subtle losses of power with throttle input. "Choking" or slightly "jumpy" would apply. I'd usually get no more than a few "blips" of this sensation on a typical drive, and sometimes it would go away completely for a while, and I never got a CEL (nor were there ever any codes stored). As it turned out, if I had just spent some time digging into the menu of my OBD tool's app, I would have known right away what the problem was.

While it would be unusual on a 2019 with such low mileage, if at all possible, it would be worth a check to see if the system has logged any misfires. I'm not sure if all modern scan tools have this capability, I can only confirm that the OBDLink LX does (either through the factory app or Torque). You will be able to view misfire counts for each cylinder for the past drive cycle (plus some sort of running average which doesn't seem to be very useful unless you have a LOT of misfires).

 

[donglow2]

Clean the mass air flow sensor too with the special spray for it.

 

[TaintMisbehavin]

So I took the easiest advice and when it was time to get gas, I put in half a tank to top off but with premium. It was almost an instantaneious change! The jumping stopped and hasn't' returned. What the heck??

 

[AvidHiker]

So I took the easiest advice and when it was time to get gas, I put in half a tank to top off but with premium. It was almost an instantaneious change! The jumping stopped and hasn't' returned. What the heck??

Easily explained if it happens to be misfires (did you read my post above?). Like I said, you don't need a high end scan tool to check for them (but the lowest end stuff might not be up to the task), and you'll be FAR better off actually fixing the cause rather than just feeding it higher octane.

 

[blkprlz]

So I took the easiest advice and when it was time to get gas, I put in half a tank to top off but with premium. It was almost an instantaneious change! The jumping stopped and hasn't' returned. What the heck??

To clean things up a bit, I’d run a couple of tankfuls of Premium.

 

[donglow2]

I bought a case of AMSOIL Upper Cylinder Lubricant and after 2 bottles I believe I feel a positive difference in power and smoothness.