Studder on cold engine B6/MT

[Gforcefd]

Hey all,

My winter festiva is having a issue that seems to be more prevalent.

In the mornings, I will start the car and head to work. When I take off from a light I sometimes get a shudder or hiccup from the engine. Also when I am cruising on a flat piece of road and shift into 4th it will shudder or buck like it is misfiring. If I downshift back to third it doesn't do it. Only appears to have a problem when the engine is cold. The idle has always been a bit uneven so I don't know if this is a problem getting worse or something new not related to my uneven idle.

I have noticed this problem 4 times. 1 day was damp out, 1 day was dry but very cold, yesterday was normal weather and 40's, today pouring all night and 60 degrees.

The car is a 92 with a B6 swap, and manual transmission. This is the car I drove out west and have put 20k on it since last year wihtout a problem before.

Car also never seems to build heat even though I have the correct thermostat in it, but that may be because I have a automatic radiator (dual core) or the thermostat needs to be replaced.

If this has been covered before a link would be great, but I couldn't find anything in the search that sounded like the same problem.

Logan

[Gforcefd]

I think I am going to start with a new set of plugs and wires tonight, and try and figure out how to clean the VAF. From all the threads I have read these are common problems areas. I changed the plugs last june for my trip along with new wires though, but worth a shot.

[Gforcefd]

Checked the plugs the look perfect, not sure if I should change them. I too the air filter off and the VAF out and cleaned them up a bit. Both are very greasy. I will have to wait till the morning to see if that made any difference.

[FestYboy]

be sure to clean out your dizzy as well and recheck base timing whilre your at it.

[Gforcefd]

^Thank you, will do. Just incase I can't find it, base timing is 16 degrees right? Will search.

[Gforcefd]

Forgot to mention my temp gauge always read really low, I cleaned up the temp sensor (the one below and to the left of the thermostat) and now that gauge works perfectly. I always thought maybe my thermostat was bad that I put in, but apparently there was just too much corrosion on that sensor. Would that sensor affect anything on the ECU/PCM? My idle is still a little funky this morning but I didn't have a studder, will have to see if it comes back again.