99 1.4 Stalling problems at low speed - nanz
Hello,

I've got a T reg SEAT ibiza.

Basically the 'bite' point on the car is fine, but once i start to move off at low speed the car shakes heavily then stalls unless i rev the car A LOT (and constantly) until it's going at 10mph.

The car lunges a lot when i move into second gear also, and it makes that stalling, rumbling noise until i put my foot down. However it's fine once in 3rd/4th gear.

It clearly doesn't like going at low speeds with low revs. I have to put quite a lot of power into it to stop it from stalling.

I thought at first there was a major problem with the clutch, and took it to the garage a week ago and the guy told me it was working fine, so no major clutch replacement needed (phew!).

Although i am getting used to the way the car handles, i am not keen on the fact that the car stalls so easily at low speeds.

Is there anything that could be tweaked to prevent me from having to rev the car so much to stop it from stalling?

P.S. My dad won't drive the car, and he's been driving for 35 years!
99 1.4 Stalling problems at low speed - Screwloose
nanz

That sounds like a misfire, or throttle-body, issue; get a competent person to try it; plug in a scanner and advise.
99 1.4 Stalling problems at low speed - nanz
Thank you for your help :-) i'll go down to the garage to get the reading and find out more.

I have been looking this up on the internet and it seems a dirty throttle body or clogged fuel filter could be the problem. Another said the spark plugs may need replacing.

This does make sense because the car has done 85,000 miles and may need certain parts cleaning out now.

From what i have said about the car though, do you think there is any chance that the whole throttle body needs replacing? I'm kind of dreading this but i'll gather as much info as i can before going to the garage.

Just one last thing - the car runs fine when it's on idle, it's just when it setting off at low speed. Hope that helps pinpoint the problem more!
99 1.4 Stalling problems at low speed - Screwloose

Literally dozens of possible reasons for that effect; picking the right one is a highly-skilled job and requires the competent use of fearsomely-expensive equipment.

"Poke-and-hope" diagnostics [as practiced by all too many outdated garages] will need a lot of luck - or a very big wallet.
Misfiring - still! - nanz
Hiya,

I had a misfire problem with my seat about two months ago where the engine ran fine in neutral, third and fourth gears but needed a lot of revs to pull away in first and second gears.

Now we changed the spark plugs (new bosch ones), the oil and oil filter and the engine is fine in neutral, first and second gears now, but it seems the misfire happens in third and fourth gears.

As i change into third the car starts juddering and sounds like it wants to conk out and so i have to put my foot right down on the pedal to keep it going. Once the speed gets up it sounds a bit happier but then if i don't keep my foot on the pedal it loses speed/power very quickly.

This seems to be an unusual problem, but i really would like my car to be happy in all gears with no dodgy misfiring - has anybody got an idea what could be causing the problem?

Ta!

Hannah