Hesitant acceleration

[joejoegun]

Hey guys. I just bought a 1986 turbo a couple of weeks ago and i am loving it (sure beats a '92 volvo wagon)! Anyway im feel the car hesitates a little when she is pushed. I cant tell if its only in certain gears or not.

There is a performance chip installed (i cant remember what kind) and there appears to be exhaust work done. The previous owner did say he did some work on her and provided some paperwork which i have yet to go through.

Initially my thoughts are bad chip, something wrong with the turbo, or maybe some kind of fuel delivery problem.

This is my first turbo so im still under the learning curve.
Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help!

[white944cup]

Start with the basics and verify that you have good plugs, rotor, cap, etc. Not sure exactly what type of problem you are having, but mine had a surging/ miss during hard accelleration and I changed the plugs to the NGK BPR7ES, and it made a world of difference. NGK's seem to be better than Bosch. Make sure you do not have platinum plugs or any of the other gimmicky plugs that are being marketed. These cars run best on the old style copper single electrode plugs.

[Pete R]

Did the car sit a long time? I had a hesitation when I first purchased my car. Brand new gas fixed it. Worth checking out before you start tearing into stuff

[joejoegun]

Its my daily driver so ive put 2 or 3 new tanks of gas in her.

[joejoegun]

Originally Posted by white944cup

Start with the basics and verify that you have good plugs, rotor, cap, etc. Not sure exactly what type of problem you are having, but mine had a surging/ miss during hard accelleration and I changed the plugs to the NGK BPR7ES, and it made a world of difference. NGK's seem to be better than Bosch. Make sure you do not have platinum plugs or any of the other gimmicky plugs that are being marketed. These cars run best on the old style copper single electrode plugs.

It just doesnt seem to have a smooth acceleration.

[kdjones2000]

Very hard to discern what you mean by that statement.

Any turbocharged car will have some "Lag" when you hit the gas pedal, while the turbocharger spools up. Once the turbo is spooled and the engine is in power band, there is a rush of acceleration. On 951's with their (relatively) larger turbos, lag can be quite pronounced.

I liken it to an elastic band being stretched and released, if that makes any sense.

If you are saying that you are getting chugging or some other lugging while in power band, then it is probably due to other things such as vacuum leaks, fuel delivery issues, A/F ratios, etc.

Keith

[HWgeek]

Having gone through some bad gas recently, there is a difference between hesitation from gas, vacuum issues etc.
As kdjones notes, turbo lag, is that whumph feeling when the turbo spools up and the car launches forward.
Some more questions:
NOT getting on the boost, does the car accelerate smoothly through the gears?
Did you check all the vacuum hoses? They are the bane of this car, and if they weren't changed recently they will be hard and brittle. Not just a thin ones, but the bigger fat ones that come off the intake manifold and route underneath it.

[rick13]

+1. Plugs, wires, rotor, distributor cap!

[Born2bwild1191]

I think I know what you're talking about because mine did that....It was sort of jumpy on boost? Anyhow I tightened every hose clamp I could find under the hood (sooo many were sooo loose) and it fixed it. Always assumed it was a vac leak.