At some point, your car may not accelerate the way you expect it to or is very sluggish. This condition can cause issues when merging into traffic, climbing a steep grade, or keeping up with the traffic flow. These can be dangerous situations, and here are four common reasons for the problems.
1. Dirty And Clogged Fuel Filter
The fuel filter works hard to ensure the engine has clean, combustible fuel. Its job is to remove sludge, dirt, and debris from the fuel line. This trash may eventually impede the fuel flow and can result in the car feeling sluggish. Usually, replacing the fuel filter will remedy the situation, allow fuel to flow correctly, and correct the slow engine performance.
2. Faulty Oxygen or Mass Air Flow Sensor
If the check engine light comes on, the vehicle's performance seems slow, or the car's gas mileage goes up, it could be due to faulty oxygen or airflow sensor. These critical monitors assure the proper fuel-air mixture for the engine, and if one is defective, it can directly affect the engine performance. Typically the airflow sensor can be cleaned by our certified technicians, and if the issue is an Oxygen Sensor usually will need replacement.
3. Clogged Air Filter
It is essential to replace engine air filters according to the manufacturer's service intervals. A dirty and clogged filter can restrict the proper airflow to the engine, thereby affecting engine performance. In addition, the clogged filter can prevent rapid acceleration when needed and is a relatively inexpensive item to replace on the owner's manual recommended schedule to ensure vehicle performance.
4. Faulty Throttle Position Sensor (TPS)
The TPS provides the necessary engine feedback for optimum performance. Monitoring the valve opening angle, the TPS feeds the information required for the engine to adjust and deliver the expected engine performance. However, a faulty module can send corrupt data to the engine resulting in poor performance at a critical time.
If your car is not performing or accelerating the way you expected, make sure and visit Vandergriff Honda and have one of our certified technicians inspect it. Our professional team of service technicians can discover the issue quickly and have your vehicle back to performing up to your expectations.