Hesitation during light acceleration

Question

Hi how's it going? I have a 2011 Toyota Corolla S. With about 82,000 mi. So the issue that I am running into is simply when I'm driving through the city with light acceleration. Generally from the speeds of 30 to 45 mph, I notice what feels like a hesitation or kind of a jerky situation going on but it only happens with light acceleration. If I really put my foot into the pedal there's no issue and it goes. I figured it needed new plugs so I went ahead and changed them. No change in the problem. I had someone ask me if they were gapped correctly so I pulled them back out and they are gapped correctly for my vehicle. I have always watched your videos and been a fan of them so I figured since I have the opportunity I would just reach out to you and see what your thoughts are.

Thank you for your time

Doc · Accepted Answer

Start with the easy stuff.  Air filter, clean MAF sensor, run a bottle of injector cleaner through your fuel, change your PCV valve.  Get the vehicle scanned for codes.  Let us know how it goes.

InThrustWeTrust · Answer

Also check for a clogged fuel filter and pressure test the fuel pump. For further diagnosis, see here - https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/misfire-4/

willrev · Answer

It needs two bottles of Lucas fuel cleaner and some no ethanol gas with the cleaner. Pull the air filter tube and spray the butterfly plate. The back of the plate toward the intake gets filthy. They make a throttle body cleaner in a spray can with a u shaped thin nozzle. You insert it in that air cleaner hose before the butterfly plate. Have another person start the car and give it gas as you spray in bursts. It will choke off the engine if you don't keep a foot on the pedal. It might smoke like hell out the exhaust as it cleans the intake. That's good. The dealer calls this an induction system cleaning. They so exactly this procedure and also add fuel cleaner to the gas tank. They hook a machine to the injection rail and spray it in that way. Change the plugs. It needs Denso plugs. Might use iridium, but get oem plugs. You are due.