My 01 GTI VW 1.8T is not accelerating properly

[amandamoody228]

Hi!
For about a week or so now...my car is acting a little sluggish. When I go to accelerate it starts off normal, then when it starts to go into the 2nd gear it goes really slow, then it will start to pick up when trying to switch gears. This car is automatic, so I guess I'm referring to when I'm reading the RPM. I'm hoping that the cause of this is bad gas. My car started acting this way after I filled up my tank halfway one day...then a few days later I filled it up all the way...seemed to get a little better. Yesterday I went and got a fuel system cleaner and oil change done on my car..helped a little more. Today I'm going to try and pour Fuel Injection Fluid in my gas tank to see if this helps any. My current mileage is almost at 85,000 miles, I've never changed my spark plugs...could this be the reason maybe?...Also I was looking through my owner's manual today and it showed that I was supposed to be using Premium Unleaded gas for my 1.8T 150HP engine....I've always used low grade.....Any ideas or suggestions???

[hermanpj]

check your fuel filter as well. your car's 7 years old may have some crap fuel sediments in tank. did you ever maybe let it run down a little too close for comfort, or maybe even did it run out of gas? this can ingest crap into the fuel system, which the filter should catch. however filter can get clogged.

using wrong grade of gas can cause pinging as wrong octane level affects fuel ignition timing. engine managment system can handle timing adjustment to an extent so it doesnt always cause problem. i'm not an expert on turbos, but if your car has a turbo, i do understand that using a lower grade gasoline than recommended (with less octane) will result in harm to the turbocharger as exhaust gasses do not match what the engineers have designed into the turbo. that being said, what you are describing sounds to me more like either a problem with fuel delivery (injectors or filter) or spark.

what happens when you bury your foot in the pedal? does it just do nothing/sputter/jerk? do you ever get a 'check engine' light on the dash?

[golfzex]

Go get the car looked at, you have prob messed up something in your system buy running crap fuel. Thats kind of an important thing to know about your car.

[amandamoody228]

HermanPJ,
When I go to accelerate it kind of starts off normal, then it slows down, kind of has a jerking movement to the car, then it will then start to kick in, and the car will go. This mostly happens right after I begin to accelerate 5-25mph. Every now and then, say if I'm up to 45mph and push down the pedal to go faster it will do a slight jerk, then kick in.

[badluckbandit]

my guess u need a good tuneup plugs, wires, fuelfilter, air filter the works fairly cheap and does a car a lot of good maby try some gas treatment too