What causing a car to jerk when you accelerate especially if the engine is cold driving in wet or cold condition. The possible cause of the problem is the distributor cap, vacuum leak, or a bad throttle position sensor.
When the car jerks during acceleration occur when the temperature is cold or the engine is cold, this only indicates a problem with the distributor cap. Moisture is formed inside the distributor cap during the night when the weather is cold or when it’s raining. The moisture that forms will cause the engine to misfire thus engine power becomes not even and the car will jerk when accelerating.
However, if the problem occurs gradually and as the day passes it becomes worst then the possibilities are that there is a problem of a vacuum leak. Vacuum leak starts small then become worst gradually because of the pressure inside the engine, the vacuum is one of the key factors in determining how much fuel is needed by the engine if there is a vacuum leak the air/fuel mixture will not be in the right proportion thus making the car jerks when accelerating.
Another possible cause is a bad throttle position sensor, this will be the cause of the problem occurs at any engine temperature and if you encounter the problem constantly since the time you start noticing it but this is only possible for fuel injected vehicle. The throttle position sensor is a device that measures the distance of the accelerator pedal from its original position when you depressed the pedal. The reading of the throttle position sensor will be transmitted to the car computer system to determine how much fuel is injected by the fuel injection system into the car engine. If the throttle position sensor is bad then the data that it will send to the computer will be wrong and will affect how much fuel will be injected inside the engine thus making the jerk during acceleration.
Possible Cause of Car Trouble why car jerks when you accelerate
1) Problem with the distributor cap
2) Vacuum leak
3) A bad throttle position sensor
What to do?
Moisture forming inside the distributor cap can be avoided by parking your car inside the garage especially when raining or when the weather is cold. As for the vacuum leak, no other option but to bring the car to a reputable auto repair shop and ask the mechanic to check your car for a vacuum leak the parts to be checked are the Exhaust Gas Re-circulation (EGR) and the Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) valves. If the problem is the throttle position sensor, likewise bring the car to the auto repair shop and ask the mechanic to check the throttle position sensor. The solution will depend on which of the three causes mentioned above is the problem car jerks when you accelerate can be fixed.
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