Struggling

What you describe sounds sorta like what happens when the 1.4T's pull timing to combat knock.

If you're running 87, try going up one gas grade and see if it makes an improvement. I thought they'd mostly fixed it by the 2016 MY, but if it still continues, check spark plug gaps as well - they should all be gapped to 0.028" and were wildly inconsistent from the factory in the earlier years.

jblackburn said:

What you describe sounds sorta like what happens when the 1.4T's pull timing to combat knock.


If you're running 87, try going up one gas grade and see if it makes an improvement. I thought they'd mostly fixed it by the 2016 MY, but if it still continues, check spark plug gaps as well - they should all be gapped to 0.028" and were wildly inconsistent from the factory in the earlier years.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. I'll give it a shot. Sidenote - I turned off traction control completely (held the button down for 10 seconds until both lights came on the dash) and the power has improved a lot in the city driving. The car doesn't seem anywhere near as sluggish now. It still kinda kicked back when i floored it while going highway speeds however.


I'll put some premium gas in tomorrow. As for the spark plugs, are they hard to find in this particular engine or is it as simple as removing the plastic on the engine and there they are.

Remove the Ecotec cover, remove the spark plug rail (you'll need torx bits), and they're right there.

Make sure to pull straight up on the plug rail - wiggling it side to side may break the boots.