Pulsing/Jerky Acceleration when Cold

[CaboInsight]

385 miles, and my 2010 LX pulses or jerks away under light acceleration when cold. Is this normal?

Thanks.

[corey415]

Are you accelerating from auto-stop? If yes, try accelerating with a lighter pedal force.

[Car54]

500+ miles on my Ex, and it is, getting better.

[WoodyInsight]

9000 miles and mine does the same thing when its cold.

[buglermcd]

Just happens when it's cold. Let it warm up and it won't do it.

[captaingohan]

i've had a 2010 insight LX i put about 650 Miles and it happens to me most of the time aswell. but mine will do it even if the engine has warmed up. i let the engine wake from the auto stop before i lightly accel. , the only way i can get it to not do that is if accel kinda hard, between blue-green and blue.

[fokkerdmr]

Happens to me on my 2010 EX when cold or warm. Cold is definitely worse. Here are a few other "jerky" issues I have - just wondering if others notice the same / have any suggestions.

1. When coasting to a stop, if the fuel cut was active because of light braking, when the fuel kicks back in, the car jerks forward.
2. When decelerating to a stop with light brake pressure, disablement of the regenerative braking causes the car to jerk forward.
3. I can't seem to get constant pedal pressure at any rate that causes constant slowing. It seems to change between strong braking and light braking.
4. Reverse is always jerky.
5. Starting from a stop on a downhill is very hard to get smooth acceleration. It seems to be "held back" from normal acceleration.

Thoughts?

[jonniedee]

If you've never driven a car with regenerative braking or a cvt transmission now you can say you have.

Drive a Prius sometime and see how much better the brakes on your Honda are...

[fokkerdmr]

Nope, never had driven a car with regen or cvt. And it's fine if that's what it does and everyone's experiencing the same thing. I asked / joined in on this thread just to get validation that I should expect that type of operation with a regen/cvt car. It's different than my other ride with a "old technology" rotary engine, manual transmission and 4 wheel disc brakes without ABS.

Dave

[Tinytimmy80]

I took this issue up with my dealer the other day. The mechanic explained it is caused by the way a CVT works. Not only the jerky acceleration, but also the delay when going from P to D or R (there is another topic about this). This only happens in cold weather (or afther a cold night) as the CVT fluid/oil needs to build up enough pressure for the CVT to work properly. When the engine warms up the 'problem' goes away. Any other car with a CVT will display this behaviour to some degree.

The mechanic also explained it can happen when you brake firmly for a trafficlight and then quickly step on the gas when the light changes to green. The CVT fluid doesn't get enough time to build up enough pressure, causing a slight delay in throttle response.