Most Common Reasons for Jerky Acceleration in Cars

Haider Ali Khan
3 min readJul 17, 2022

69M vehicles breakdowns on the freeways or city roads in the U.S. each year.

Ford SUV | Photo Taken by Sven D on Unsplash

A sluggish or jerky acceleration is a common indication of an intricate problem lying under the car’s hood. Every mechanic would give you a different notion about poor accelerations. But, you will end up feeling stranded.

You might think that acceleration issues can occur in newer model automobiles. Yes, regardless of manufacturing year or fuel type, they can occur in any vehicle type. Even modern diesel engines can have very similar issues alike gasoline ones. The poor acceleration issues might cause you headaches. But, the topic itself is more lucid than you think.

Einstein once said, “ For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

Not periodically getting your car properly can cause trouble and pull you over on the highway, which may ruin your vacation plans. The sooner you identify the problem, the less damage to your vehicle and the lesser the repair expenses will be.

Always take your automobile to repair as soon as you notice anything wrong with it. Here’s everything you need to check if your car is accelerating pretty badly:

Worn Out Spark Plugs

Spark Plugs | Photo Taken by motomoto sc on Unsplash

The engine will misfire if the spark plugs are worn out. As a result, your vehicle will jitter about as it accelerates because your spark plugs aren’t properly electrically igniting the fuel mixtures in the combustion chamber. If worn out, you should change your spark plugs as soon as possible since they can cause poor fuel mileage and lead to other engine problems.

Dirty Fuel Injectors

Exhaust Manifold | Photo Taken by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

In modern engines, fuel injectors spray fuel into the intake manifold at a specific angle and pressure. After that, fuel mixes with air and goes to the combustion chamber.

When your fuel injectors get dirty, the fuel stream will not be continuous, causing misfires in your engine, and as a result, your car jerks as you accelerate. Your fuel injectors should be cleaned occasionally to avoid this problem and more costly repairs down the line.

Blocked Catalytic Converters

Exhaust | Photo Taken by Petr Urbanek on Unsplash

A clogged catalytic converter can also cause jerky accelerations. A blockage in your catalytic converter might occur if the air-fuel combination passes through it becomes too rich.

This may cause an automobile to jolt when the driver hits the gas pedal. A decent catalytic converter cleaning can get you rid of sluggish or jerky acceleration.

Blocked Fuel or Air Intakes

Air Intake | Photo Taken by Rahul Bhogal on Unsplash

A blockage air intake might cause a stutter or jerk in your car’s acceleration in the lines that let gasoline or air into your engine. A check engine light will often come on if one of these intakes is obstructed. Car engines run on air and gasoline.

A combination of air, gasoline and spark plugs creates an explosion in the combustion chamber that drives the pistons inside your engine. Your automobile moves as a result of this cycle. Never ignore your check engine light; get it checked out as soon as possible.

In a nutshell:

Automobile experts discovered most cases of jerky accelerations have resulted from dirty fuel injectors. The other possible reason could be worn-out spark plugs. Try replacing these engine parts to see if your car stops jerky accelerations.

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Haider Ali Khan

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