Missing, sputtering.

Dantanman

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Car is missing, sputtering, 99% of the time it is when going up a hill, even a small incline. Runs fine under hard acceleration and flat roads. Seems to be more prevalent around 25 to 3500 RPM. No engine lights on, fluids all good, temp normal. Guess I better get it into the shop!
 
Makes one think you are getting some kind of fuel starvation on an incline. Maybe sucking air. The car doesn't know if it is uphill or down hill so I would guess some physical/mechanical problem. What is the fuel level when this happens? Try it with a full tank and see if it still happens.
Ran in to this on a camper that had caught a rock that pucked the fuel tank. The fuel sensor gauge could not go to empty so when they were below 1/2 ( gauge read higher) then they would get fuel starvation.
Check the gas filter. Doubtful, but start with the simple things first. then go to the fuel pump & pressure, fuel lines, etc. The old KISS formula
 
Makes one think you are getting some kind of fuel starvation on an incline. Maybe sucking air. The car doesn't know if it is uphill or down hill so I would guess some physical/mechanical problem. What is the fuel level when this happens? Try it with a full tank and see if it still happens.
Ran in to this on a camper that had caught a rock that pucked the fuel tank. The fuel sensor gauge could not go to empty so when they were below 1/2 ( gauge read higher) then they would get fuel starvation.
Check the gas filter. Doubtful, but start with the simple things first. then go to the fuel pump & pressure, fuel lines, etc. The old KISS formula
Yes i suspected fuel starvation too. Was doing it at over half full. Will check fuel filter as well. Does it on 91 and 94 so octane doesn't seem to matter. Thanks for your input.
 
Take it to a shop with a dyno, to check the tune and see were the air fuel ratio is at.
Yes nearest dyno is 300 kms but probably the thing to do. Going to scan it in our shop and see if that reveals anything. Our technician said with custom tune some sensors might be disabled. Car runs great at WOT
 
Yes nearest dyno is 300 kms but probably the thing to do. Going to scan it in our shop and see if that reveals anything. Our technician said with custom tune some sensors might be disabled. Car runs great at WOT
It is the problems at an incline that peak my interest. In principle the car's electronics don't know up from down. So why the problem on an incline? Will be interesting to find out.
 
Doing it on level roads now too. Getting worse. It seems to be much worse in track mode. Not sure if just seems that way because I can hear it more. Does seem better in Eco mode. Strange
 
Go for the simple stuff first.
Check for Water in tank or tank up with super duper gas and maybe put in octane booster.
Are spark plugs getting fouled. Doubtful but eliminate it.
Still sounds like a mechanical problem to me unless the electronics are crapping out.
Is it possible to put a clear plastic line in the feed to the engine with a high loop in it? You could see if you are sucking air or if the fuel looks crappy.
Check the fuel filter.
Better to eliminate the simple stiff before you play (and pay) to fiddle with the electronics
 
Good suggestions, been through a few tanks of gas, no change. I will check the basics and if nothing obvious then it goes into the shop.
 
Are you refueling at the same station? What brand of gas are you using? Perhaps try a Shell or Esso fuel (non-ethanol) and see if it makes any difference.

Did you indicate that a tune has been done to the car already? Like, you have modifications that required a custom tune to change the way the ECU talks to the engine? If this is the case, you probably need some adjustments made for partial throttle applications. I've been through this as well, where it idles okay, and WOT (wide open throttle) is fine, but regular driveability needs adjustment. This is not uncommon with a dyno tune because the load is consistent, and the real world is not. It likely needs a laptop and a road tune to see what's going on, but it's probably a bit lean on the partial throttle. How do your exhaust tips look? Black carbon that comes off on your finger would indicate that its running fat (rich on the throttle), but typically these cars would surge instead of sputter. Lean would leave the exhaust pipes pretty clean, just the aforementioned sputter, like it is short of fuel.
 
Yes heavily modified and i think you are correct, dyno tune would be the answer. Have used Chevron 94 and Petro can 91 mostly. Exhaust tip are slighly black, not terrible. Idle and WOT fine. Backfires lot when i get off the throttle.
 
Is Chevron ethanol-based? I haven't used Petro-Can in a performance car ever. I had an issue with water in my fuel in a daily many years ago and have never gone back to Petro as a result.

I suggest using Shell or Esso, and I'm sure I'm not the only one on this forum that would say the same thing. Get the gas for your performance car from a station that has a consistent supply of quality (their own) product, as opposed to a station that gets their product from the cheapest supplier. However, I don't think that the fuel is really your issue.

It sounds to me like your fuel curves are too lean, which could happen on a conservative tune done at a much lower elevation than where you are operating the car. Where was the car tuned (elevation) compared to where you live?

It's really difficult to troubleshoot over a forum. I mean, it really could be any number of things. It could be something as simple as too much spark plug gap or a blockage in your air intake (dirty filter even), or it could be something more. I would suggest getting it in somewhere that can hook up a laptop and HPTuners to do some logging while driving to recreate the situations where you notice the issue.
 
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I've used Chevron 94 in all my other performance cars with no issues. I thought elevation wasn't a big factor with modern cars. Only 130 meters difference between here and Edmonton where it was tuned but you're right, impossible to diagnose online. Will book it in with a tuner in Calgary. Car is there now getting the wrap repaired. Check engine light came on on the drive in as well.
 

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