Car bunny hops low speed

[Maliwrex]

Does anyone else’s car like bunny hop in low speeds? Especially when creeping in traffic? Am I doing something wrong? 

[StephenFord]

10 minutes ago, Maliwrex said:

 Am I doing something wrong? 

With respect, when did you pass your test? Have you had this issue before?

The 'kangaroo' behaviour is symptomatic of too much gas been given at too low a gear, and generally not having smooth clutch control.

[TomsFocus]

My Mk3 Focus was the same.  Bad mapping on the ECU.  Impossible to drive smoothly at low speed.  

Is it petrol or diesel?  It's definitely not EcoFlex.

[Maliwrex]

I have the econetic titanium diesel and yeah anyway to drive smoother in traffic  

[Maliwrex]

Hi @StephenFord I passed my test nearly 2 years ago and this hasn’t been an issue in my previous cars is why I’m posting the question because it’s a new sensation to me 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Variety of possible reasons:

- All cars feel different and depending on what you had previously, might just be a case of becoming accustomed to it and finding the ideal balance of clutch/throttle. Some diesels can be a bit "all or nothing" in their power delivery and take a while to get used to.

- I've had a couple of cars with incurable software "glitches" such as Tom mentions, just had to drive round the problem.

- Could be worn/weak engine mounts - some cars are known for this even from new

- Clutch issue ("judder") particularly when the car is cold.

 

[TomsFocus]

13 hours ago, Maliwrex said:

I have the econetic titanium diesel and yeah anyway to drive smoother in traffic  

Ah, same engine and year as mine was.  I'd owned 20 odd cars by that point so can be fairly sure it wasn't just my own clutch control that was the problem.

Sadly I never did find a solution to it and ultimately sold the car after about 6 months.  Replaced the engine mounts but that didn't help.  Replaced the MAF sensor but that didn't help.  Car only had 40k miles on it so don't think it was a clutch fault.  The injectors were a bit weak but not worth the cost of replacing them without being 100% sure it was them.

I considered having the PCM (engine ECU) updated to the latest software by Ford.  But was quoted £80 to do it, and I didn't feel it was worth the risk as there's no guarantee that it would improve the drive.  If you want to do that, just ask your local Ford dealer if they can check whether there's a PCM update for your car and how much they'd charge to do it.