Unpleasant problems frequently appear when you are operating the car. One of these is when the car jerks when accelerating.

Sometimes the causes of issues of the vehicle can be found without expensive diagnostics and computer testing of all components.

Some symptoms can clearly and accurately tell which module of your car is not in order. However, there are such manifestations of problems that may indicate several variants of breakdowns.

It is worth remembering that even small twitches talk about some issues and it is necessary to immediately respond to such a manifestation because the reasons can be quite dangerous.

There are several typical types of irregularities in the set of revolutions for different cars. Jerking will occur individually in each car with different types of engines.

It is necessary to identify the symptoms to understand the possible cause of a breakdown, and from this to draw some conclusions.

When the car is warmed up to operating temperature when you press the gas pedal, it starts to “blunt” or twitch slightly, and then, at a certain speed, this problem disappears, and the car works in normal mode.

If this problem occurs only during acceleration, and not, for example, when starting from a stop, then there will be one reason.

If the car jerks when starting from a stop, it may be a problem with the clutch.

If the vibration is felt while driving and not only while speeding up, it may indicate a failure of the motor mounts.

Let’s take a look at the main possible causes of such manifestations:

1. Car Jerks, But The Engine Runs Smoothly

If the problem of twitching of the car is not related to the engine, then you should immediately stop the movement, check the backlash of each wheel.

This can be done with a jack. After putting the stops or bricks under the wheels lift each side of the car, and check the presence or absence of backlash manually.

Then look at the following points:

engine mount – swing the unit in different directions to make sure that the mounts are working correctly;
integrity of the racks – to check you need to shake the car, the racks should make a faint hissing sound;
whether the wheels are bolted properly.

If the jerking of the car, not dependent on the engine operation, is periodic, but not constant, you can slowly and carefully drive to the service station and carry out a full diagnosis.

Otherwise, it is better not to risk and stop the movement on the roads. Call a tow truck and take the vehicle to the workshop for troubleshooting.

2. Engine Hesitates During Acceleration

Often drivers are faced with such a problem as the failure of the increase of revolutions and the almost cessation of the engine in the acceleration process.

Such manifestation is especially noticeable with a sharp push on the gas pedal.

If, however, to gain momentum smoothly, the car goes obediently and does not present any inconvenience for the driver.

Behind this manifestation lies a reasonably large number of problems:

in the injector gasoline engine nozzles are almost guaranteed clogged;
in a diesel car, there may also be a problem with nozzles or poor fuel flow;
sometimes bad fuel can be the cause of such a jerkiness;
often on older cars, this symptom occurs when the ambient temperature is too high.

The symptom is not fatal, so it makes sense to wait for the next refueling, and also change the fuel and air filters.

If after these actions the failure does not disappear, it is better to turn to the service station to find out the reasons for such behavior of the car.

Potentially, a more serious repair of the fuel supply system may be needed.

It is worth considering one thing – to drive for a long time with a failure in the set of revolutions is not only uncomfortable, but also very expensive.

The engine consumes much more fuel with this behavior than in normal operating mode.

3. Сar Jerks During Acceleration And Stalls

This is a serious symptom that requires an urgent solution because the operation of such vehicle is impossible.

You lose the safety of driving a car, because after the start, for example, from traffic light all drivers will accelerate and do not anticipate the non-standard behavior of your vehicle.

When the car stalls at speed, sudden braking takes place, which can cause an accident.

Therefore it is better to immediately send the car to the service station and do the following procedures:

run a full diagnostic on the fuel system;
replace filters for the fuel supply;
check the operation of the fuel pump;
remove the nozzles and test or simply clean them;
change the spark plugs;
check the operation of the engine start system;
test the electrical module responsible for the ignition operation.

Often in such situations, more time would be required to sort things out than in a simple twitching of the car on the move. But the reason is still easy to find.

Such behavior of the car is caused either by a shortage of fuel during acceleration or by inadequate operation of electrical.

Therefore, it is necessary to check all the modules that are responsible for these functions of your car operation.

In new cars, it is much more difficult to identify a malfunction than in older vehicles without the latest technology.

4. Malfunctions In The Ignition System Of The Engine

If the ignition failed, then it will be strongly felt during acceleration.

This happens because when you press on the gas pedal, the fuel is injected into the cylinders, and a detonation should take place there.

If the ignition is set incorrectly or has broken down, the fuel arrives, and the spark shocks at the wrong time.

In other words, some of the fuel is not ignited or fires up not at the right moment. In some cylinders, detonation may not occur at all.

This all leads to unbalanced work and, therefore, jerks.

Also, the cause may be defective spark plugs or armored wires. You should change the spark plugs from time to time.

Spark plugs are checked on specialized equipment, where at the same pressure as in the engine it is tested whether the plug gives a spark.

Even when the plugs look functional and have no defects, this does not mean that they are excellent at work. It is recommended to buy plugs not from the cheapest manufacturer, since even new ones may not pass the test.

Armored wires are checked with an ohmmeter for the presence of the desired resistance. You can also check the quality of the connections of wires with plugs.

The procedure should be carried out when the engine is warmed up. Water should be poured into the bottle and distributed with the help of a sprayer while the engine is running on the armored wires and connections with plugs.

If the engine revolutions will start to decrease and the car will jerk, then the wires should be replaced.

If you have no understanding of how the ignition is set, then it is better to contact a specialist. This process is quite accurate, and no mistakes should be allowed.

5. Faults In The Power System

The most common cause when the car jerks during acceleration is a malfunction in the power supply and fuel supply system.

Due to contaminated fuel system elements, there is not enough fuel to accelerate when pressing the gas pedal. That is why there are jerks during acceleration.

The problem may lie in:

Filters. The air and fuel filter should be changed regularly. It is a consumable item that quickly gets out of order.
Contamination of the fuel supply system.
Fuel pump. If it fails or partially begins to show lower performance, namely is late to pump the desired fuel pressure into the system, this deficit will be visible during acceleration.

There are various aerosols and additives for cleaning of fuel systems. If you choose a remedy from a trusted manufacturer, they work very well.

But not in all cases this may be enough. There are cases that require mechanical cleaning or repair of individual parts. A valve or some other part of the mechanism may break down.

Summing Up

As you can see, some problems can be easily identified and fixed by yourself.

Such as, for example, if jerks were caused by contamination of the filters, you can use an aerosol cleaner. It is sprayed into the air filter hole.

Also, additives in the fuel tank quite well show themselves. These additives clean the fuel line pipes and all other elements.

However, the correct setting of ignition, adjustment of the injector – this is something that is better to entrust to a knowledgeable person.

To protect yourself from this kind of breakdowns and malfunctions, you should monitor the condition of consumables, regularly visit the service station and replace them, including filters.

You can start a car maintenance repair log and record all the replacement parts and the mileage at which it was made in order not to be confused, when and what has been changed.

This will make it possible to replace consumables, not when jerks have already started to occur during acceleration, but prematurely.

But if any problems appear, which are manifested by jerks when accelerating, you should immediately contact the experts and find out the real reason for this behavior.