I have had this problem for a month now.....2003 Outlander....when hold the speed at anywhwere between 30 and 60 km's at a steady pace or going up a hill......the engine starts to rev up and down....the RPM's jump up and down....and the car sort of chuggs........the way i stop it is to let off the gas for 5- 10 seconds and it goes back to normal....

any ideas? or fixes? any thoughts would be appreciated....i would love to try a self fix before going to the shop...

thanks!!

Greg [:-]

 

I was going to replace the air filter to see if there is any effect? I was reading...is it behind the glove box?

 

The air filter behind your glove box is for the air conditiner. The filter in the engine compartment is your air filter and since you dont know where it is theres a chance it really needs to be changed. Also changing the fuel filter is a good idea as well.

When you get your oil changed have they ever changed the air filter? How many miles are on the car?

 

Just bought it off someone so...dont know the details about how they serviced it that much....there is 100k on the car....just give me a heads up on where the engine airfiler is and i will change it...im off to try it now actually....thanks BGN....i will look into this stuff....

 

If you go to one of those auto parts places they will be more than happy to show you where the filter is. they may even be able to show you where the fuel filter is, the Japanese cars Ive owned have had the fuelfilter in a reasonably easy place to change them. The american cars make the fuelfilter a PITA to change.

 

Sounds to me like it may be a misfire under load. Hard to tell from your description though.Since it has 100K, and you just bought it, andyou don't want to bring it to a tech,a good practice would be toreplace the spark plugs and the air filter. There is no servicable fuel filter to worry about. No "check Engine" or "Service Soon" light right?

 

i just replaced the airfilter...and drove around for an hour with no reving or rpm jumps.....i would like to replace the spark plugs as well....im trying to find some documentation on how to do it right....if you guys have some ideas it would be appreciated....ill replace those spark plugs and get to it.....

what do i have to pull off to get to the plugs......????

thanks

greg

 

I would suggest getting a Haynes,chilton or equivalent aftermarket repair manual if your planning on doing things yourself. I would say go for it but its aparent you arent familiar with doing this stuff and could end up costing yourself more than if you just took it somewhere.

You should also change the oil you never know when it was done last.

I dont know the set up on the outie plugs, on my minivan I had to drop the engine to get to the back plugs. Im pretty sure you wont run into that on the outie 4 cyl but you never know.

You want to be careful to install them correctly and dont overtighten them. Hopefully someone thats familiar with your model will chime in as to whether there are any special things to watch out for such as plug brands and such.

Lots of luck, hopefully the air filter took care of the rough running.

 

I will keep researching....i find if you ask enough questions....and do some reading the basic stuff you can get done.....i might not know now...but it can be figured out with a little help....thanks BGN.....your responses helped......

C.O.

 

Yup thats how I got into motorcycle repair. With one of my bikes theres pretty much all the info I need on the internet to do just about anything on it. The other bike there isnt much support so the repair manual is necessary, even though I have one for both.

I wish I could help you more but I have an 07 which is a different engine. Hopefully you get the info you need, Im suprised someone else hasnt chimed in yet. Did you figure out if you have a temp problem yet? Have you checked the coolant levels?