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98 Sidekick 1.6 Hesitation

7K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  Dmonney68 
#1 ·
My 98 sidekick runs fine at idle, but run terrible when accelerating. Very bad power and mpg. I've replaced all egr pieces and given it a tune up. Any ideas?
 
#5 ·
Hi, this is my first day. yes i'm also getting hesitation. before it was really really bad. i gave her a full tune up. i drive a 98' suzuki esteem (GL i think). It turned out to be really out of timing. so i looked for the manuals at the auto stores shocked to find out that NOONE but maybe the dealer has a service manual on this car. NO ONE. anyway. I later changed the spark plug wires and THAT made a HUGE difference. almost completely fixed the problem. well at the time it was fixed. now several months later (about 4 mo.) it has started up again. slight hesitation. and when you have more then five ppl in the car it gets worse. like pretty much starts stallin. I had a problem like this in a civic once. i first changed the fuel filter (about the civic now) and it didn't fix it. i changed the fuel pressure regulator and it totally solved my problem. the fuel pressure regulator for suzuki and the civic look almost the same but suzuki is a bit smaller. only a tad bit. barely noticable. but guess what. that fuel pressure regulator is a DEALER item. that's soo annoying. why can't anyone just sell the parts without going to an outrageously expensive dealer. i mean you go there when you have to but... if i could save a few bucks i would. so i think i'll try the fuel filter next (back to esteem). Maybe that will stop hesitation. if it doesn't work. then try the fuel pressure regulator. especilaly after 150,000 plus miles. typical fuel pressure regulatory problem would be 1. you tried fuel injector cleaner and it didn't do much or didn't work for long at all. 2. u changed the fuel filter and it still didn't stop hesitation. 3. u gave full tune up and it didn't solve a thing. 4. u changed plug wire on top of the plugs and it didn't do a thing. THEN FINALLY after all this you change the regulator. if you have a fuel pressure gauge. USE IT. fastest way to tell. but nobody has one for this car. probably a dealership. but yeah. that's expensive. but if THAT doesn't work then at all last it MUST be timing belt. if that still isnt' solving it then it has to be the high tension coils that produce the spark one of them is late. or the engine's just has too many miles and its dying and its asking you to give it a break. but i hope this helped all of you. i sure learned a thing or two from forums and my experience. it always helps to get and give something back to the community. thanks for the tips to all those who helped me in the past
 
#6 ·
thanks for the info esteemer!

couldn't agree with you more on the insane dealer prices, in the past couple of years i have spent $500 on a/c condensor (incl receiver drier), $1400 on compressor this year, and $460 on starter (two weeks ago). dealer parts for the suzuki are astronomically ridiculous, i don't think even an audi or bmw is more, anyhow, we'll see how long these parts last,

94box.
 
#7 ·
hi, esteemer again,

about the fuel pressure regulator, there are a couple of symptoms that would admonish a fuel pressure regulator problem, this does cause hesitation quite a bit but i doubt that that is your problem. my 98 esteem is still hesitating. i didn't change the pressure regulator though. it must be timing. there are a few things to diagnose. first like i stated before the full tune-up is a must with the spark plug wires. always check the gap because that will also make a difference and with hesitation it can make ALL the difference. now after all my tests i narrowed it down to the ECU, OXY sensor, timing belt, or hightension coil. if its been about 100k since its last change(timing belt) then go ahead and change it. if you still hesitate, then use injector cleaner for about 3 tank fulls of gasoline. if after THREE tanks nothing changes. then you might wanna go to the dealer ship and check out the ECU.....yuck dealerships....ughhh....nastily expenseive.... but unless you can check the ECU in another way.....sadly it must be done... I have no idea how to check the oxygen senor...there is one way....race the car down a long straight away till you hit 60 mph and accelerate fast as you can... then kill the engine at 60 and roll to a stop... then immediately take out a spark plug and look at it.. is it fouled up? maybe oxygen sensor....but i dont' have a long straight away....;) that test is also a way to tell if your plug condition is good or bad, it relates rix/lean mixture problems also. its all about how it looks. it should look well heated at slightly brown. if the plugs are white white then it might be a very LEAN air/fuel mixture.......I just wanna narrow it down. because i'm confused.... i hate this difficulty of troubleshooting sometimes guys...makes my head spin...anyway its most likely ECU/timing belt/plugs and,or wires/hightension coil/clogged fuel system... now for the fuel pressure regulator... it has to be a LATE kick in acceloration or a dip and rise in idle... generally late kicks in accelleration give the fuel pressure regulator away. also check for vaccum leaks. i guess i'm gonna have to try timming belt next. pray i solve my problem. but i doubt it because the timing belt looks almost new condition. i have driven it at least 60k on my own... so we'll see...hope that helped some of you as it helped me with other cars but this esteem is very hard to trouble shoot sometimes... poor indication of exact problem....
 
#9 ·
why add to a thread thats 15 years old and the original poster hasn't logged in since 2006?
 
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