hesitation/loss of power when accelerating?

[cardana24]

My wife has a 96 avalon, and she called me the other day saying that when she pushes her gas pedal the car does not accelerate for a few seconds then it will catch and take off like normal. This is when the car was cold after sitting all day. It did not do it the rest of the way home, but she did say that this happens every once in a while. Does this sound like a common problem that people have here? I was going to drain and fill the tranny fluid this weekend. Anything else to check? Coils? Maf? Thanks for any advice.

[96paseo]

First thing I would suggest is a tune up. New plugs and wires. Do you have the I-4 or V6?

[cardana24]

Originally Posted by 96paseo

First thing I would suggest is a tune up. New plugs and wires. Do you have the I-4 or V6?

Sorry I did not know a 4 cyl was an option in the Avalon. It's the V6. It should not need a tune up, I did the plugs and wires about a year and a half ago.

[artbuc]

Originally Posted by cardana24

My wife has a 96 avalon, and she called me the other day saying that when she pushes her gas pedal the car does not accelerate for a few seconds then it will catch and take off like normal. This is when the car was cold after sitting all day. It did not do it the rest of the way home, but she did say that this happens every once in a while. Does this sound like a common problem that people have here? I was going to drain and fill the tranny fluid this weekend. Anything else to check? Coils? Maf? Thanks for any advice.

Have you ever had the fuel injectors cleaned? I have had great results with Techron. Add two bottles to a full tank and run the tank almost out before adding fresh gas. This is cheap and very often will make a big difference in an older car that has gummy injectors. I have a 99 Avalon with the engine you have.

[skynet1988]

Try some Seafoam, you split it up into thirds, 1/3 in the gas, 1/3 in the oil and 1/3 through the brake booster line. I had a slight delay at full throttle and this fixed it all up. I would also try cleaning your MAF.

[cardana24]

Originally Posted by artbuc

Have you ever had the fuel injectors cleaned? I have had great results with Techron. Add two bottles to a full tank and run the tank almost out before adding fresh gas. This is cheap and very often will make a big difference in an older car that has gummy injectors. I have a 99 Avalon with the engine you have.

I may give this a try. I would like to try to figure out the problem before I just start throwing things at it.

Originally Posted by skynet1988

Try some Seafoam, you split it up into thirds, 1/3 in the gas, 1/3 in the oil and 1/3 through the brake booster line. I had a slight delay at full throttle and this fixed it all up. I would also try cleaning your MAF.

Thanks for the suggestion and I will try cleaning the MAF but I am not a big fan of seafoam other than for the smoke show when you suck it though the intake.