hesitation problems!

[sydbar81]

i can't figure this out, one day while driving on the expressway i noticed a hesitation, it came from out of nowhere. it occurs when i give it part throttle at around the 2500-3500 range,also i notice it on heavy acceleration in drop down to low gear. its only when i'm already rolling,never happens from takeoff.
the car has 33000 on,it never had its plugs changed so i changed them with the stock champion copper plugs, gapped it at .040.
when i took the old plugs out,they were gapped at .060, and the car ran perfectly,no hesitation whatsoever until the day the hesitation started. i tried the original gap and it ran the same, then gapped at .040 thinking it was too lean, to no avail. car hesitates exactly as it did with the old plugs.
its an 03, and the only mods are a mopar bov and stage 1. i'm not getting a check engine light, idles smooth as silk.
this is my first turbo car, any suggestions you guys might have would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

[Turbodog97]

Alrighty, I would try doing a couple things.
1)Change your spark plug wires to new oem ones or an upgraded wire(msd, etc.)
2) Gap those champions down lower, try .038 or maybe even .036.
3)Try resetting your pcm, it can be done in a couple different manners. One, disconnecting the negative battery cable and then reconnecting it(be careful) or two, turning the key to the accessory(as far as the key will turn without starting the car) position and pulling out this fuse for 10 secs.:


4)Check for boost leaks...Tighten all your clamps and hoses to make sure a large amount of air isn't escaping...

[TEXSRT4]

odds are its your wires. change them to the MSD's!

[sydbar81]

ok,so i scanned for codes, none came up. i decided to change the coil and wires for the fu#* of it, still no change.
i'm hearing a high pitched whine coming from the mid/left side of the intake manifold, think i might have lost the img? is this common?
all the vacuum lines look ok,they've never been messed with either...
at higher rpms in third and fourth the boost gauge seems to dip between 12 and 14,while its sputtering.
and the sputtering is getting way worse, to the point where it stalls and restarts itself while its in gear , when i get on it.
i never push it before 3k either.
this blows.

[Turbodog97]

So maybe a leak on the intake manifold gasket?

[breckboarder55]

could be tps.... if nothing else works get some ccarb cleaner and put it on the tps and pump it a little.... just throwing that out there

[geekmonster]

be careful when cleaning the throttle plates and near the tps, you can actually make it worse. the tps may be the problem, i had mine replaceed. they have a tendency to get flat spots on them or the wires that come from them get tugged on by the movement of the engine with the stock motor mounts. if you have ever seen a srt-4 a dyno, you know exactly what i mean. when i had mine done, i got a new tps and had the guys lengthen the wires, and so far, knock on wood, no problems with it.

see if someone you know has access to a lab scope like a ferret or better and do a clean sweep of the tps. if it is a smooth slope on the graph, then the tps is ok, if there are any points where it dips down, even slightly, then it needs to be replaced.

if you clean your throttle and near the tps, i suggest getting throttle body cleaner, sprayind it on a rag, preferably lint free, and then wiping out the inside. some of the sensors can be real sensitive and the force from the spray can will damage them.

good luck.

[blk_srt]

you can sweep the tps with a volt meter to. It should start close to zero when closed, but not zero like .01-.1 somewhere around there then slowly open the plate more and watch the volts, the should go smoothly untill wot and peek volts shouldnt excede 4.9

[geekmonster]

Originally Posted by pr_ricer

you can sweep the tps with a volt meter to. It should start close to zero when closed, but not zero like .01-.1 somewhere around there then slowly open the plate more and watch the volts, the should go smoothly untill wot and peek volts shouldnt excede 4.9

the only bad thing about using a volt meter is i cannot react fast enough to pick up a dead spot. its a good way to see if you are getting close to the 5v signal when the throttle is wot, but it won't pick up on the more specific problems like dead spots.

[blk_srt]

If you are using a good volt meter it will and besides you should be going pretty slow anyway

[sydbar81]

sorry bout the belated reply,lots of stuff goin on lately.
i had to throw in the towel and take it to the dealership
turns out to have been just the wires,they happily diagnosed the problem and got me a new set(all for $164!). i replaced them initially, turns out i somehow got a bad set(which is typical of my luck).

[sydbar81]

and thanks to everyone for your help!

[Turbodog97]

Wait, you paid $164 for a tps repair kit installed? I hope I didn't read that right.

[sydbar81]

nah, sparkplug wires.
i got raped.
i

[Turbodog97]

dang.