Engine Hesitation

[dmoore7654]

I pull out and the engine almost stalls and then takes off.
Only happens once in a while
I have tried different brands of gas. Doesn't seem to matter!
Anyone have this problem?

 

[cane2025]

i have almost the same issue except for the "almost stall' part. My car hesiates when i try to make a quick get away from one lane to the other. Its almost as if once i floor it, the car just sits there thinking about what to do and then has to react. i wonder is the 8 speed transmission has anything to do with it. Sometimes i see the RPM go up in stages and i'm thinking that the transmission has to downshit and thats why the hesitation comes from. I'm no mechanic so i'm just throwing sh*t out there

 

[chris41]

http://genesisowners.com/hyundai-genesis-forum/showthread.php?t=19028

 

[Jaeger]

It's deja vu all over again.

 

[PatrickStern]

The TCU learns your driving habits, right? Like someone mentioned in the other post.

 

[cane2025]

The TCU learns your driving habits, right? Like someone mentioned in the other post.

so we have to drive our cars like we stole them to get good throttle response? Which brings me to another point, i rent cars every three months and each one does not have hesitation. i drive the heck out of those cars so maybe there is something to the learning computer.

 

[reddogva99]

AWD? could it be traction control kicking in?

 

[amkorp]

The TCU learns your driving habits, right? Like someone mentioned in the other post.

I'm fairly certain that's not true.

 

[jsmit86]

I'm fairly certain that's not true.

Actually, this has been pretty common on many cars for years.

 

[Mark_888]

Actually, this has been pretty common on many cars for years.

You are absolutely correct. However, that does not always mean the transmission drives better once it learns your habits.

These days, they adjust the throttle response for driving habits, but also for fuel economy, because CAFE ratings are so important. It's a very tricky balance, and they don't always get it right.

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[jsmit86]

You are absolutely correct. However, that does not always mean the transmission drives better once it learns your habits.

These days, they adjust the throttle response for driving habits, but also for fuel economy, because CAFE ratings are so important. It's a very tricky balance, and they don't always get it right.

Agreed. I have heard cases of "Resetting" the trans to un-learn wonky behavior.

 

[Rick5086]

Agreed. I have heard cases of "Resetting" the trans to un-learn wonky behavior.

I brought my 5.0 in for the first oil change on Monday. I had experienced a number of hard downshifts during normal deceleration. The solution from the service advisor was to "Reset the trans" and allow it to relearn my driving habits. There is also a hard reset for the audio and nav system. They did that to try to solve another quirk.

 

[chris41]

Resetting the tranny is nothing more than disconnecting the battery for 30 mins. The car always drives like a bat out of hell afterwards until it begins to adapt to your driving habit. I've had this with my other cars, but my Genesis is too brand new with no reason to disconnect the battery.

Several years ago, my wife had a Mazda CX-7 that was very quick with a sensitive throttle response. I loved the car and bought the same car but a year newer. My car drove completely different with the same hesitation described here. Apparently the TCM had different software to improve the fuel economy on the newer model year.

And finally, my Chrysler 300 had a way to recalibrate the drive by wire gas pedal. It happened to be the exact way to reset the oil change due reminder you get when you first started the car. I always thought this was no coincidence by Chrysler and ensured the car owner was recalibrating the gas pedal about every 5-10k miles. Anytime I thought my car was having some hesitation, I would quickly recalibrate the gas pedal. The difference was subtle but very obvious to me. However, this technique was very controversial and generated strong opinions about whether it actually existed or not.

 

[MikeyTG]

I notice a definite hesitation when stopped, making a right turn while stomping on it. I think it is the traction control getting overzealous. I find that if I don't quite completely floor it everything goes much smoother.

 

[xsolara]

I notice a definite hesitation when stopped, making a right turn while stomping on it. I think it is the traction control getting overzealous. I find that if I don't quite completely floor it everything goes much smoother.

Is your car AWD ??? If it is your trac control is not likely causing it.

 

[MikeyTG]

Is your car AWD ??? If it is your trac control is not likely causing it.

Yes, it is AWD. The thing is it does not hesitate when stomped going straight.

 

[SuperKing]

Do you also get a check engine light when this happens? Happened to me twice midway through a left turn. Both times, it was wet out so I don't know if it was the traction control but I had no acceleration on the second half of the turn. Check engine light goes out a few seconds later and there was no code when I tried to pull it.

 

[StarPower]

I've noticed three causes of what might be considered hesitation:

• Delay in downshifting after you press the gas pedal. This is mostly solved by switching to sport mode. Sport mode tends to hold a lower gear, minimizing the need to downshift.
  
• Traction control, especially when turning. This car seems exceptionally sensitive, and I believe it's responding to slight wheel spin that may not be noticeable to the driver. The light doesn't stay on for long, and it can be hard to notice since I rarely look at the gages (I use the HUD). I don't have AWD, but I suspect that if any one of the four wheels on an AWD car hit an area with reduced traction (e.g. a small patch of sand or oil) and started to spin, it would trip the traction control.
  
• Multiple misfires (similar to what SuperKing described above). The flashing CEL indicates a misfire has been detected, but it doesn't always save a code. I've had misfires severe enough to save a code twice, and it may have happened at other times when I didn't see the CEL flashing (so I don't know if it was traction control or misfires). Dealership was unable to diagnose it both times, and suggested bad gas.

 

[amkorp]

You are absolutely correct. However, that does not always mean the transmission drives better once it learns your habits.

These days, they adjust the throttle response for driving habits, but also for fuel economy, because CAFE ratings are so important. It's a very tricky balance, and they don't always get it right.

Can you please post where you saw that the transmission learns driving habits? I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere in the car's specs or features list.

 

[chris41]

Pretty much standard in tranny's these days and you won't find it listed as a car feature. The car always drives quicker after a battery disconnect/reconnect as it clears the TCM computer, and then it starts to mellow. I personally don't think it makes a huge difference or not based on driving habits, but others might disagree.