Hesitation while driving

2007 SATURN AURA
97,192 MILES • 0.5L • 3 CYL • 2WD • AUTOMATIC
Avatar
VERONICAZ
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
Hello,

My car has been hesitating to drive and reverse. The other day I was driving and it was hesitating and ultimately my check engine light turned on but also it told me my traction control was off. I went to get a diagnostic and they told me it was a misfire in cylinder 3 (P0303). I got my spark plugs changed in my tune up last year; which was one of the first things on the list that could fix it.
I ended up having a friend mechanic look into and they thought that I might have water in my gas tank so we put dry gas in it early this morning. A few hours later I drove and it drove fine but my check engine light was still on so that was concerning. I later drove as well and my car was fine and the check engine light ended up turning off but when I put it into reverse up my driveway, it started hesitating and almost chugging in a way and my service traction light turned on as well. I usually can go up my driveway pretty slow but today it felt like it needed a little more gas. What could be causing it to hesitant/chug when going up my tiny driveway or even on flat road.
May 30, 2021 at 3:50 PM
Advertisement
Avatar
KASEKENNY
  • CERTIFIED EXPERT
  • 18,907 POSTS
There are a number of things that could cause this. here is a guide that will cover most of them:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/engine-hesitates

However, the fact that putting dry gas in it seems to make a difference, I suspect it is fuel related. I would suggest doing two things. First get a sample of the fuel from the fuel rail and see if there is water in it.

Next we need to test the fuel pressure. Here is a guide that will show how to do this:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-fuel-system-pressure-and-regulator

Let's run through this info first and see what turns up and we can go from there. Thanks
May 30, 2021 at 6:51 PM