freetors

Hi guys, I got an '02 about a month and a half ago. It's got about 52k miles on it. I've noticed when I'm making right turns I will sometimes get a sudden, herky jerky power loss. It only happens on right turns, not even in a straight line. It kinda feels like it's stalling or cutting out rapidly. This always happens between 2500-3000 rpm. I know it has the power to accelerate, I'm not lugging it or trying move rapidly, just trying to gently accelerate around the turn. I usually only experience this in third gear, I'm not sure if it's limited to third gear but that's where I almost always feel it. It's been very warm here lately (100+), if that might have anything to do with it. I don't have a CEL but I haven't scanned to see if there are any stored codes.

On a somewhat related note: I'm also having a slow rhythmic power surging in first gear with constant throttle at parking lot speeds. I'm unsure if these issues are related with each other.

Thanks for all the help!

EDIT: I do remember when I was adjusting the valves I dropped two 10mm sockets somewhere in the engine bay (NOT inside the engine!). I never saw them again. Is it possible they are stuck somewhere rolling around and getting picked up by the knock sensor and pulling timing?

whippets2k

Going relatively slowly around a turn in third gear sounds like it may be lugging a bit. See if you can replicate the loss of power in second gear too.

VinceFriday

The parking lot power surge happens in all s2k's ive been in. lol
Mine with a stage 4+ clutch does it, along with my buddies who has a OEM clutch. It seems to just be a S thing.

freetors

Update:

It's gotten worse now. It's now surging accelerating in a straight line. I tried getting on the highway and accelerating in 2,3,4,5 gears shifting at about 4-4.5k and it was cutting out frequently. It's really hard to get up to speed safely when you're losing power. I did a cod scan and I have no stored codes, no CEL. Pulled the sparkplugs. They looked a little white but otherwise fine. They had .040" gap.

I need some ideas to check out to try and fix this. It's ridiculously annoying. A car with 52k miles shouldn't be doing this crap.

rob-2

I suspect you've done something to damage the car. I would get it looked at before the problem isn't an easy fix.

freetors

This car isn't my first rodeo. I've rebuilt motorcycles from the frame up. I don't want to waste my time and money letting a shop try to find an intermittent fault. I just got this car a little while ago so I'm not familiar with their common issues yet. I've just never had a vehicle act like this.

MOST times the car runs perfectly. Really, it's brilliant. But every now and then it just jerks when I'm accelerating. It also seems to happen more often with the AC on.
.
Right now I'm thinking that I have a sensor or something acting up.

freetors

Hey guys I figured I would give you an update on this. I found the problem about a year ago. The jerkiness and cutting out eventually got so bad that the car was becoming seriously unfun to drive. It was just so random I couldn't figure it out. It would cut out on bumps, going around turns, sometimes it seemed like it was heat related.

Well one day as I was driving home I bumped the plastic panel with my foot next to the dead pedal. Sure enough it cut out. So I bumped it again. It cut out again. When I got home I left the car running and pressed my foot against the panel and the engine just died. I pulled out the panel and found that somebody had cut a bunch of the wires going into the ECU and hastily spliced them back together.

I figure they had some kind of piggyback ECU installed some point. I seriously think my car may been FI at one point. I've found things that have been tampered with like exhaust manifold bolts and the ECU wires. Stuff you just wouldn't normally mess with.

I'm just glad I was able to fix the problem relatively easily and with no money spent either. It's really made my car a joy to drive!

AZfury

LOL such an awkward issue, glad you figured it out though.

SheDrivesIt

Why is this thread pinned in the stickies? Edit: Thanks mods for moving it.