2005 bought 6/9/05. ~1400 miles now. Twice, after startup and driving ~1 mile, then coming up to a stop sign (while braking), the car has 'jerked' (engine misses) a couple of times, and then smooths out. An amber light blinks briefly (I think the CEL). I will take it to the dealer soon for checking, but was wondering if others had had this problem? Will the CEL briefly flashing assure me that there is a code stored to tell what happened? It happened this morning for the second time, first time was ~ a week ago. I always follow the same sequence (while commuting). I have noticed the past few days it seems that the ICE is rougher upon first startup than it was when I first picked it up ... I thoought that these things smoothed out after ~1000 miles.
The cel light won't blink. Perhaps you saw in the corner of your eye the squiggly car? It will blink when traction control kicks in. As for shuddering on shutdown at stops, yes that's normal, especially when the ICE is still cold.
Thanks for the info on the CEL. I am not sure what blinked. I am not sure whether the shudder was from the engine shutting off ... maybe. I know I saw something amber blink twice on the dash. It sure felt like two misfires in quick succession. I watch for it every morning now, so hopefully if it happens again I can tell which light it is. Thanks again for the reply.
actually my car does idly rather roughly at times especially when cold. it seems to happen the most at the first stop light which is less than a block from my house. after the car warms up. sometimes its difficult to tell when the engine comes on because it runs so much smoother
Also, when TC kicks in, it feels like ICE hesitation, as if it was dying. It is basically stopping wheel motion in order to regain traction. With OEM tires, many road surfaces, even when dry, will cause TC to activate, especially on takeoff.
I seem to have the exact same problem on my new '05, at 800 miles now. Seems to happen only in the morning, about 2 blocks from home where I always get stopped at a light. As soon as I come to a stop, there are two distinct misfires or shudders (sputters). Only once did i see an amber warning light which I'm pretty sure was the low outside temperature warning, which of course should never display in San Diego. Could have been the traction control warning, but that warning light is more obvious with a car slipping picture. Haven't seen the light since and am watching since I know when exactly the problem happens. Dealer time, I guess?
