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Lag in throttle response


rnelson

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I have a 2016 Ford Fusion with the standard 2.5L engine. This is a pretty good car for my needs, except for one problem. When accelerating from a stop, there is a long delay between the time I press the accelerator pedal and the engine accelerates. It is especially bad when making a turn. For example, if I stopped at an intersection, waiting to make a left turn, when I pull out to actually turn there is no acceleration for around two full seconds. Two seconds may not sound like much to some people, but when you are in a busy intersection and there is a big SUV coming at you, it is long enough to make you nervous. Because of the delay, instinct causes me to push the pedal farther, which means that when the engine does decide to accelerate it pulls hard enough to bark the tires.

I have talked to other Fusion owners who have the same problem, and I have talked to mechanics at the Ford dealership. I have heard that this is caused by the Driver Learning Transmission, the Curve Control system, or the transmission being designed for a more powerful engine but used on all engines. I am not aware of my model Fusion having a Learning Transmission or Curve Control System, and the transmission shift points are controlled by the computer, so I don't put a lot of faith in any of those theories. The common response is that nothing can be done about it and I just have to adapt my driving habits to suit the acceleration delay. None of the people saying that works in a busy traffic area like I do.

Has anyone on the form encountered this problem? Has anyone found a solution?

Thanks in advance,

Rick

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It only hesitates going straight when you brake and then accelerate. When turning, it hesitates when braking before a turn, or when starting from a standstill. The traction control light doesn't come on unless I push the pedal too far before the car decides to accelerate, which causes the tires to spin a bit. That only happens when I want to get out of the way quickly. I expect the delay now, so I try to accelerate slowly in turns whenever possible.

I didn't mention before that my car is a 2016 and has under 11,000 miles on it. There shouldn't be any wear on any parts yet.

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  • 1 year later...
On 11/20/2017 at 1:19 PM, fordtech1 said:

It has sounds of a bad throttle body. However with out some diagnosis it's hard to say. The first drive by wire Ford's would have that symptom when the throttle body was bad.

Yep!! Girlfriends' 2005 Escape had a "lag" as described...throttle body had a "sticking" issue just off idle and there was a 2 second delay that caused the car to surge forward. Throttle body replaced and throttle response was corrected and very smooth off idle while accelerating. 

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