Buick - Century :: 2003 - Hesitation Then Jerks A Bit After Coming To A Stop / Accelerating
Jul 6, 2011
I have 2003 Buick Century. I started having problems with the car after coming to a stop, accelerating - the car starts to go hesitates, then jerks a bit to go. This does not happen every time after a stop but when it does the service engine soon light comes on. Initially I got the P0401 code (I think) and took it in to a mechanic. They could not find anything wrong with the car but did clean out the EGR valve, that didn't work, they worked on my transmission and replaced other parts, still no success.
I took the car to another mechanic who replaced the EGR valve and several other small parts. I still had the problem but this time the error code was P0420. I took it back again and replaced the spark plugs, O/2 sensor, catalytic converter. That hasn't fixed the problem. The mechanic said that they have taken my car for several test drives and the car has not demonstrated the problem. The error message still reads P0420 even after all of the parts have been replaced. The 2nd mechanic has washed his hands of my problem.
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My 1992 Buick Century frequently shuts down when coming to a stop or slowing down to make a sharp corner. I'm always able to restart it. I thought it was a torque converter lockup problem, but my transmission specialist said the transmission is okay. Last month, after the car died completely, I had the crankshaft sensor and harmonic balancer replaced by Firestone. Could it be the same parts that malfunctioned? Or, could it be another issue?
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My 2003 Buick Century heater works fine while accelerating but as soon as I release the gas the air begins to cool, swiftly. I have had the radiator flushed and the coolant topped off but the problem persists.
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I have a 1991 Buick century with 160,000 miles. It wasn't driven for about a year and about 8 months ago I changed the plugs, wires, and oil and it has run great since then...until yesterday. Now, every time I slow down to come to a stop (or below 20mph) the car jumps and jerks and acts like it is wanting to lock up and stalls. It starts back up put every time I put it in drive (just drive) it stalls again. I end up having to put it in neutral, rev the engine, then put it in drive real quick. Talking to my dad, who I got the car from, he told me it used to have this same problem and that is why he quit driving it. We have a couple of theories
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My problem is my 6 CL died going down the road I got to stop light & she quitly died. I got it started after a few tries & made it to BK, kept trying to start sounded like choked for gas. Hour later starts goes 1/2 mil dies call towtrk. Changed fuel pump(not so bad) fired her up, first couple times ran a sec. and died.
3rd time a charm it started & idled (a lttl ruf) for 20 min.& wife takes it to gas station shut off & restarted no problem & back home. 1 hr later I get in to run an errand & it dies I push it hm pop hood seems awfully hot. Is there a way to test the CPS unit?
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I am having some trouble with my 02 Buick recently. The acceleration from a stop is very sluggish and gear changes come slowly, although they still seem to shift smoothly. The first thing I did was check the fluid levels and I can find nothing wrong there. The trans fluid was last changed 3 years ago, but the level, color, and smell are all normal so surely that couldn't be the culprit ?Unfortunately, that about exhausts my diagnostic skill.
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There's been an interesting progression of trouble with my 2001 Buick Century:
My heat/AC had been working fine for years. About a year ago, the dial which controls the force of air (off, low, high, max, etc.) broke. But the 'off' and 'max' portions still worked. I could get full blast, or nothing. I didn't do anything, because I could still get what I wanted.
Just yesterday, I switched my heat to max - and nothing! No air comes out at all now. Obviously this is problematic for the upcoming winter.
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The car died on me the other day at a stoplight but started up again (It resisted for a sec but then caught). Now it's taking a bit to start and sounds very faint when it finally catches and the turn over is slow. I'm no mechanic but I can replace parts. I'm just wondering if it's the fuel pump or injectors, maybe low fuel pressure. I haven't had a chance to do anything to it. Where to start?
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I have a 2000 Buick Century that only has 70000 miles on it. I have an issue that when I drive the car for a while, the transmission will shift hard after stopping at a light or stop sign. It only does it through the first three gears. If I shut the car off and let it sit for a few minutes and start it back up, it shifts fine through all of the gears. I have not had the change to change the fluid and filter yet. The fluid looks clean and is always full. I have read that there has been a common problem with a pressure control solenoid in the transmission needing replaced to correct the hard shifting. I am not getting any kind of error codes from the PCM, so I am not sure.
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When I accelerate from full stop with 3/4 throttle when car gets to 60-70 mph it stops accelerating for 1 or 2 sec, there is is also a little jerk. After that it continues to accelerate normally. The problem is not present if for instance we drive 30 mph and then use 3/4 or full throttle. I talked to dealer and they said there might be a little jerk but nothing more, and it might be solved by software update. In my opinion its definitely not a slightly jerk, car completely stops to accelerate for a moment. Car has about 45 k miles so its almost like new.
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I had my ABS and Traction Control system checked a few times for buzzing sounds and ABS warning light coming on occasionally. My mechanic assured my all the speed sensors and connections were good. I recently noticed there was uneven tire wear on the right front tire. Could a severe misalignment of the front wheels cause the ABS warning light to come on?
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I have a 2003 Buick Century 3.1L. The airbag light goes on randomly. I realize that it is supposed to go on momentarily after I start the engine. Sometimes the light will stay lit for one or more drives and sometimes it will stay off for one or more drives. I have checked the fuse; it is good. I have tried smacking the airbag on the steering and the dash...the light remains lit. I have seen a bundle of wires on the back side of the fuse box and am not sure whether I should try to trace the fuse wire back to both locations or what to do next. Is there some trick of the trade like a reset button and what do you think I should try next?
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I have a 2003 Buick Century in automatic with overdrive. During the past week I experienced a hum and slight vibration at speeds over 20 mph. (The faster I drive the higher the hum.) I checked the transmission fluid. It was brown and pink but did not smell burned. I have not changed the trans fluid in 2 years. I sent it to my transmission guy for an oil change. He said that the 1st gear clutch was having some problem and there was no 4th gear. He suggested another transmission...
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2003 Buick Century draining fully charged battery overnight. Have tried almost everything and cant figure it out. The high blower is not working either and I am wondering if a short in that can cause the battery to drain? Changed fuses, alternator, searched for shorts, an so on. Cannot find location of the blower.
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I have a 2003 Buick century custom, 45,000 miles. I just got it 3 months ago, so don't have any maintenance records. Recently, the steering wheel has started to shake/shimmy while driving. It shakes left-right about 1/4-1/2 inch when I let go of it. The car also pulls to the right quite a bit. The steering wheel doesn't seem to shake at all at stops, only while in motion. My dad and I are going to look under the hood at whatever we can tomorrow, so where to start checking for issues!!! I am have been able to fix things before on my own and my dad has rigged his pickup to run partially on hydrogen from water, so gets 75 mpg city from an old 1990 beater that's falling apart physically, so we should be able to fix this if we can figure out what it is. So somewhere to start is what I'm looking for now.
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Our 2015 es350 with 2,500 miles hesitates when accelerating from a dead stop, such as from a stop light. We are told this is to be expected with this vehicle. The dealership test-drove the car and say there's no problem. But this hesitation is unlike any other car we've experienced.
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I have a 2010 accent 2.0 with 110k. When accelerating from a stop it seems to hesitate or miss in the first 20 ft or so. The service engine light has not come on which indicates to me it's not in the emission sensors. Where to start looking?
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My cady hesitates from stop when accelerating just initially and then runs fine while driving. I have changed plugs, electronic ing, wires cap, rebuilt carb fuel filter. What can be causing this???
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My wife's car, a 2003 Buick Century, has died a couple times on her while driving. Each time has been while she was in the midst of a left turn, so I think that is relevant. Today it is a humid, raining off/on kind of day, but she says that she thinks the last time it did it was a dry day. When it dies, she pulls over, puts it in park, and restarts the car, it runs normal, no problems. She said she has turned the ignition switch off, and then starts the car, and has not tried just turning forward to start, however her daughter said that when it died on her, she could not turn it to start - she had to turn it off then back on and it started fine.
Her daughter said that she had it die once while sitting at a traffic light, so I may be off base thinking that it is related to a left turn. The car has about 155K miles on it, and the only engine work that has been done on it other than maintenance is that the catalytic converter was replaced a few years back, when it was plugged up.
On this same car, I have to spray brake cleaner on the ABS sensors (front) about every 3-4 weeks, when the ABS light and the TRAC Off lights come on. Is there some way to keep them from becoming fouled?
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I have a '99 passat 1.8t Tiptronic. 106,000 miles. Recently I've been getting a bad hesitation when accelerating from a stop. At half throttle the car kinda bogs down and hesitates then as the rpms get higher it seems to clear out and accelerate smoother. At the same time the car doesn't have the same sack it used to. I checked he plugs, found them very fouled. Replaced them and the problem got a little better, but definitely still there. There has to be a reason the plugs fouled. There is no CEL so I don't really know what to check first.
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I have a 2007 LS 460 with about 50,000 miles. Some 18 months ago, at about 35,000 miles,right after a service, I began to experience hesitation/lack of power when accelerating from a stop. Lexus fixed this by doing a software update to the transmission.
All was well till last month, when again right after a service, the car hesitated and totally lacked power , most noticeable from a rolling stop. Revs would very gradually climb to 5,000, with foot flat on accelerator, yet car barely moving. Once speed built up to highway speeds, car reacted normally. Took it back to Park Place Lexus who held the car for 10 days and did a major job changing the cylinder head, I think per L-SB-0033-08.
A month later, the hesitation/lack of power is even worse then before! I suspect the issue is the transmission, and the big surgery on the engine done last month was not required. After nearly being hit trying to merge with traffic today, the vehicle is back at the dealership, and I took their head tech for a drive. He experienced the problem, but did not venture a solution. He told me they take instructions on what to do directly from Lexus.
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