07 manual tran, 1.8L, Herky Jerky in 2nd gear

[gorgecat]

I'm having trouble just cruising steady at 20 mph without the car lurching forward and then decelerating about 5-10 seconds later. My foot is steady on the throttle, the car is sometimes not completely warmed up. Weather is 30's deg F. I've tried holding speed in 1st gear, 12 mph, or 3rd gear and generally get the same problem around 20 mph.Also the car is suffering from poor gas mileage. 80,000 miles.Car is new to me. 5 speed man, 1.8L.Any suggestions? It's kinda hard on the neck.

[star_deceiver]

That's the DBW! It does that at certain speeds when it's cold and searching between low throttle and high idle. Use a lower gear or drive a little faster.You could try cleaning the MAF sensor and throttle body, air filter, ect. City driving combined with cold weater, winter gas and winter tires will cause poor mileage!Welcome to GenVibe BTW!!!!

[borquezmike]

Are the revs bouncing when your holding the accelerator at an even pace. My thoughts are your clutch is slipping given your mileage, the oem clutch sucks. If you feel backfiring or the some kind of uneveness in the revs the engine it maybe the issue, but you would likely get a code. The other issue with these cars is oxygen sensors and cats going bad, which is also a possibility. Given the gas mileage issue I would look at these two options if cleaning the MAF doesn't work.

[Maoule]

Two things: Do the throttle reset trick( posted elsewhere in the forum). It worked nicely for my 06 but I had to redo it every cupla days. 2nd thing, when I put new tires on, it was a completely different vehicle. I guess the electronics on this are sensitive enough that the difference in tire diameter affects performance.

[gorgecat]

Thanks, I'll give some of these a try.On the MPG, I just recently got 27 mpg, 75% freeway driving, but I've been driving 70-75mph. I'll have to try 65 and see if I can find the sweet spot.