Whenever my engine is cold it runs like crap. It bucks alot and when I depress the clutch to shift, the rpms drop alot faster than normal. Then after I shift and initially press the gas it hesitates. Once the coolant temp gets to about 100+ it feels a little better. I noticed that this started happening after I installed my Injen intake at 20,000 miles. I now have 78,000 miles and its still the same.

Anyone have any ideas what could be causing this?

 

mass air sensor? It wont throw a CEL unless its not functioning at all... if its misreading it will just run like crap.

 

yea, that's normal lol. takes a few miles for your tranny to warm up. Try shifting a little higher, but don't accelerate very fast. Will help with the bogging. Will be more noticeable especially now that it's getting cold. Shifting higher and faster will take care of that if you don't want to warm the car up for a few.

 

Maybe I'll try cleaning the maf sensor. Which will be hard because the screws wont come out . After that maybe a fuel filter which I doubt is the problem but It couldnt hurt.

Thanks!

 

Changed my fuel filter at 21,000 miles.. You'd be surprised, it was pretty clogged.

 

Wow. Then mine must have a TON of garbage in it. Did it seem to run any better?

 

meh, you really shouldn't be driving the car when its cold.

1. Its hard on the engine, the oil is to thick and isn't moving around correctly yet to cool.. or move.
2. The tranny fluid isn't warmed up and is likely to grind/notch into gears.
3. I'm sure there are other reasons. 5 minutes isn't long to wait for a nice running vehicle.

My talon and evo both act kinda funny when I drive them when not warmed up, pretty much the way you are explaining.

Last and only other thing, you might have a leak in a valve stem seal fouling a spark plug. Would smoke a little bit though. Also would cause bucking until warm up. not likely, but hey, there it is.

 

It feels like I got power back, better MPG, easier start up, smoother idle.

 

I usually give it about 30 seconds or so and then start driving slowly. But if the car was stock It wouldnt be so crappy I guess. It feels like the engine is "choking" almost.

I'm planning on doing this myself. I went to the dealer today just for ***** and giggles to see how much it would cost for them to do it. They said about 400-500. I was like W T F. He said they had to drop the gas tank to do it. Which is stupid because there is a member here who just did a how-to thread and it looked wicked easy. I told them they needed a filter for stupid people at the dealership.

 

I picked up a quick disconnect set for about 7 dollars, and I think the filter was about 30 or so. It's super easy. Take out the big fuse, start the car till it dies (which drains the pressure in the lines. the car will shut off because it's no longer getting gas) Use your quick disconnect to take off the lines, (some gas will leak out, so have a bucket handy and keep your mouth shut lol) there's 1 bolt holding the filte to the car after you disconnect the lines. To use the quick disconnect, you basically slide it over the line, and push it in. It will disconnect the tabs, and you can pull the line out. It will make sense once you're under there. Bolt the new filter in, attach the lines, and that's about it!! Put the fuse back (make sure it's in the right spot). Put the key to accessory, which will pressurize the fuel lines, you'll hear it. Then start the bitch up and make sure there's no leaks. May take a while for it to start, have to give it a second to get the gas moving again. Literally, it's easier to do than an oil change. No need to drop the gas tank, sounds like either a dumb tech, or they were trying to take advantage.

 

Thanks man! The service guy actually said to me that if the filter hasnt failed then there is no reason to change it. So at least he wasnt trying to sell it to me. If I was a woman it probably would have been different.

 

yes i learned the hard way lmao

 

yea, i'd never go back there again lol

 

This is also the dealer that gets confused when I bring in 6 quarts of oil and they scratch their heads when they only put in 5 and its a quart low...

Lol your car gave you a golden shower.

 

Your car needs to be tuned specifically for the Injen CAI. That is the issue. I have been spending a lot of time with Vince and fixing the MAF curve for the Injen specificially.

 

I would love to get a tune but i'm thinking about selling the car. I already took alot of the parts off for winter. Just stage 2 and intake are on it now. She's getting old and tired at 78,000 and I think its time to just have a fairly quick DD. I drive ALOT for work. Your car is ******* awesome btw. You interested in some intense tranny mounts?

 

Thanks for the compliment. It was a lot of work. It appears at 8,000 miles I'm going to need a clutch because it cannot handle this power any longer. I've tried to drive it nicely but it is just too much power. After I get the clutch fixed I will be looking for mounts.

 

Shift into 2nd at 10mph so that you can just let the clutch out and not have to give the car any gas seeing as the rpms will only need to be at or around idle for a perfect rev match.

3rd at 20, 4th at 30, 5th at 40.

Try it.

I have the stock airbox still, haha.

 

I should have just turbo'd my old 06 2.4 SS =( The link to the FS thread is in my sig. They are already pressed into the stock mounts. Good luck with the clutch!

 

30 seconds? You have to be kidding me? No wonder it runs like ****.

 

I start my car up and drive within 30 seconds as well and it runs just fine.

What plugs do you have? When I changed my stock ones out for the BKR7e's it ran SO much better and got rid of the bucking when the car was cold and in open loop.

Seriously though, when I went from the airbox mod to putting the bottom of the airbox back on the car ran much smoother.

Take the intake off, they don't really do much for you anyway aside from cause problems. The 5hp gain, if that, isn't worth it.

Plus bombing through puddles is fun.

 

At low rpms is when its really bad! It bucks and sputters like crazy. It can shift the car very smoothly when its warm. Its not a driver mod issue its a fuel or air issue.

30 seconds is more than enough time. When you first start the car it idles around 1100 and after a little while it drops to 8-900. I proceed to drive after that. My car acts like this even in the summer time.

 

Be easy on the gas after you shift, especially when its cold.

 

I just changed the spark plugs again. Went from 1 step colder NGKs to like oem Autolites. Drives the same. I might sell it to a local member who is garaging his car for the winter. My stock airbox has the airbox mod. It bought the car used like that

Yeah it looks like i'll just have to put up with it =\ Oh well stock shittyness here I come

 

My car is bone stock and does the same thing, so I don't think it's your intake. I'm looking for a solution to this problem as well.