(T) Problem - car jumps when cold

Hello,

This is my first post! So be gentle please!!!

I have a problem with my Abarth selespeed. It's a 52 plate and I'm very happy with it other than one reoccurring issue that I get when the car is cold - usually in the morning when I drive to work.

Basically the car's engine seems to jump (kangaroo sometimes!) when I push my foot down on the gas. It only happens when it's cold and once I have been through the gears a few times and warmed the engine up a bit it disappears.

To try and avoid this happening each time I get in it, I have to be very careful and light footed on the accelerator. So much so it's a bit of a pain in the a#se to drive. The car jumps quite badly and I have to slow to an almost stand still to re-correct the problem before continuing to drive. I would understand if I’m trying to go fast when its cold, pushing hard or making sudden movements on the pedal, but I’m not…I’m just driving at a normal pace when it happens.

It feels almost like the engine cannot pump enough fuel into it and it struggles to pick up..something like that anyway.

My girl friend was driving behind me the other day when it happened, she could see the car physically shaking and jumping - quite bad really

Has anyone else seen, heard or experienced this problem before? If so, do you know what I need to tell my Fiat dealer because they are very bad and don't have much of a clue!!

Thanks in advance

I had this with my punto HGT.
After you have started the car it is always better to wait for the oil to get around the engine and wait a few moments for the revs to drop before setting off.
I know this is a pain but it worked every time with the HGT.

Haven't had it yet in the Stilo.

I'm sure other people might have better ideas but it's worth a shot

Thanks for the reply dunx, it usually just first and second gear, so maybe you are right, maybe the oil jusy needs to get around the engine. I don't wait before setting off so I will give it a go...cheers

Welcome to the forum ... If you do a search for Judder or Kangaroo (I think thats how you spell it ) you will see this is a common problem with Stilos, Mine only does it in the dead of winter when its really cold.

Hi, Welcome to the Forum!!

I have the same problem too. I over come it by starting off in manual. That way you can change up a little higher up the rev range (say around 3000-3500). On auto the box tries to change up earlier and boing boing you're a baggies fan!!

Well, there's two potential causes of this with simple and errr, drastic, solutions.

1) Fiat fitted a new ECU to my old Abarth to cure this

2) Water in the cylinders caused by a leaking head gasket. Solution - minimum new head gasket, my solution - new engine (under warranty, thankfully)

Hello, Welcome to the forum.

Just to clarify... is it the engine causing the judder, or the clutch?
Do you get any warning messages in the morning? How cold is it in the mornings where you live?

Cheers,
Slo

Thanks for all your replies; I’ll look at getting the ECU replaced first if it can fix it.
Just to clarify this happens in manual or auto, I have a selespeed (no clutch), there are no warning messages, it doesn't really matter about the temperature as long as the car has been left long enough, usually overnight and the engine is cold - so to speak…

Actually your car does have a clutch... just no clutch pedal From your description it doesn't sound like it is the clutch though

...It does sound like it could be the electronic control unit, or possibly a broken sensor somewhere in the engine.

If the signal from the sensor isn't correct about how much fuel to inject into the engine at that time, is it possible that just replacing the ECU wouldn't actually fix it????

Don't know much about car engines unfortunately, more of a computer engineer than a mechanic..

Hi, I've found this from another post (posted by angela)

"replace the clutch solonoid valve which is situated in the selespeed robot. Then have a clutch degradation carried out on the examiner (diagnostic computer)"

I've heard this solonoid mentioned before at the dealership, however it never actually got replaced - as far as I was told anyway.

Do think this could be the solution? Or could there be more than one fix for this particular problem..?

The problem is that it is quite difficult to diagnose what the actual problem is
It could be a number of things: ECU, a sensor, a gasket, bad fuel, dirty fuel line, bad spark plugs, bad bogi cords, or a number of other things more related to the gearbox or clutch.
The best would be to take the car to your local Fiat workshop and have them check it out. You might have to leave the car there overnight so they can experience the problem first hand the following morning.
Best of luck

Ok, I think I'll do that then, its just I waited 7 months for a parking sensor which, once they got it in, they painted the wrong colour twice!!! This amongst other problems experienced with them.

Just wanted to get a better understanding before I take it down there, cant be dealing with repeat trips to them anymore.

Cheers

I have found this forum a fantastic resourse of wisdom when I comes to dealers, Go in knowing a few facts and tell them what the problem might be.

I got a new clutch out of doing this