If your vehicle jerks when you accelerate, this is a problem that you should always pay attention to. Your automobile may jerk more frequently if you don’t handle this problem. You can even lose control of your car if a jerk comes out of nowhere and gets you off guard. It’s essential to understand the probable causes of your automobile jerking while accelerating and how to resolve these issues.

High-speed surges or jerks can be dangerous, especially in congested areas or inclement weather. You should stop driving your car and have a mechanic look it over if it jerks while moving quickly. We have listed a few typical reasons and solutions for this problem below.

Damaged Spark Plugs

 

Your spark plugs may be old or damaged and need help igniting the piston’s fuel quickly. As a result, your car may accelerate slower. Thankfully, spark plug repairs and replacements are not very expensive.

Clogged Fuel Injectors

 

The common cause of jerky acceleration is dirty fuel injectors. As you try to accelerate from a stop and when you try to maintain a constant speed, your car loses power because of the dirty injector. The cause of this is engine failure.

Acceleration Cable Damage

If your acceleration cable is damaged, you might feel a jerking motion. A braided metal cable between the accelerator pedal and the engine throttle plate exists. The throttle opens when you depress the gas pedal, which pulls a cable. These wires can break and get weaker over time as they get older. When this cable is damaged, your automobile will jerk and take longer to accelerate.

Unclean Air Filters

 

Air filters keep the pollutants away from your engine. But with time, these impurities may pile up and affect your car’s acceleration. Installing new air filters is also an option. Or remove the air filters, clean them, and replace them.

Moisture Buildup

 

When you accelerate, your car will jolt if moisture builds up in the distributor cap, leading to an engine malfunction. When you are parked outside in the cold, this may happen. The most straightforward approach to avoid this is to park in a warm, dry area on days when it’s chilly and rainy.

Catalytic Converter Blockage

 

Your catalytic converter is in charge of controlling the emissions your car produces. When you press the gas pedal, your car may jerk or stutter because the rich fuel and air combinations that pass through the catalytic converter can clog.

Transmitter Problems

 

An accelerating jerk could indicate transmission issues if your car is automatic. Possible causes include low transmission fluid or a broken transmission control module.

Ignition System Issue

 

The ignition system, including the wires and coils, may not be able to supply the engine with adequate spark if it is damaged or defective, which can cause the engine to jerk or stop.

Carburetors With Defects

Before entering the engine, the carburetor regulates the amount of mixed fuel and air. Your car will jerk while accelerating if the carburetor is destroyed and will not perform well overall.

Broken Gas Lines

 

Gas lines carry gas throughout your engine. But, if there is a problem with a gas line, it may result in a loss of pressure in your car, which can cause it to jolt forward. An issue with your gasoline line could sometimes even result in a fire starting in your engine. To ensure no holes in the gasoline line, inspect it.

The Best Way To Figure Out The Jerks While Accelerating

 

The simplest way to determine whether your car jerks when accelerating is to use a mechanic or other expert trained to do the necessary tests. It is possible to test the car in a variety of methods, such as:

Test of Acceleration

 

To do this, you must get on the highway and maintain a constant speed until you can accelerate fully.

 

The Car Pull Test

 

This means gradually opening up the throttle until the engine begins to miss and then shutting it off sharply with the brakes.

 

Test With No Acceleration

 

To do this, turn on the idle speed and gradually increase the pedal pressure until it hits zero. At this point, you should experience no jerking of your car.

 

Throttle Condition Monitoring Test

This can show the condition of your spark plugs and indicate that they were altered before being installed on the engine if you drive a more recent vehicle model.

Winding A Motor

 

The engine winding can also cause the car to jerk. The strongly strained engine, such as that produced by rapid acceleration, is most likely to be the culprit behind winding wear. The following are indications of this:

• A damaged winding or several windings will cause the automobile to jerk.
• The car won’t start with only one winding.
• Contact a mechanic if you don’t have an Ohm meter to verify whether the motor winding is to blame for your car’s jerking.

Things To Avoid Doing To Your Vehicle If You Want It To Be Jerk-Free

 

Avoid Racing

 

If you have jerky acceleration, check whether your tire pressure is at the recommended level to prevent damage while regularly driving.  Mostly during high-speed acceleration sessions. Knowing how your car’s transmission is doing is also helpful.

 

Don’t Accelerate Quickly

 

Higher revs during some circumstances, mainly at high speeds, will decrease the efficacy of acceleration, which has a major effect on performance. Maintaining adequate air pressure while reducing speed and having lower gear ratios can readily fix this, allowing the engine to operate at its peak efficiency at reduced speeds.

Keep Cylinder Heads the Same

 

You should change the cylinder head if you’re an automotive engineer. Please don’t touch the cylinder head, as its compression ratio will decrease gradually after cleaning or refilling due to movement in tunnels or cracks inside chambers.

Is It Safe For Me To Drive A Car That Jerks When Accelerating?

 

You can, but better not to. Relying on the problem’s severity, you can still operate the car with few hiccups. It would be wise to figure out the problem and resolve it quickly.

As previously said the issue can affect your driving ability and put you in danger. Most of the problems that arise will activate the check engine light anyhow, so you should fix your car.

Conclusion

 

It might be annoying when a car jerks when you accelerate, but you do not have to put up with it. If you need the technical knowledge to examine and resolve the problem, your car’s acceleration jerks could indicate many existing or future issues. To minimize future financial hardship, we advise speaking with an expert right away in that situation.

These are the causes and fixes for a car jerks when accelerating. Keep the engine’s components clean and give them frequent oiling. As a car owner, you should know all this important maintenance advice. Also, if your car’s engine isn’t running well, it will jerk as you accelerate, so using the right amount of petrol will help it run better.

It’s better to do routine maintenance as most parts that cause misfires are serviced and replaced. As a result, regular maintenance might assist you in preventing acceleration jerking issues. We suggest you solve these problems as they can become problematic, whether because the parts are getting close to expiration or a different issue is creating early damage.