# Help! bad engine hesitation in cold weather



## CartmanSteve (Jan 18, 2012)

hi,

the X-trail 04 diesel has developed a very bad engine hesitation under load, when the temperature is below zero. its very bad going up hill. as the outside temperature warms up, the problem almost dissapears.

can anyone help and point me in the right direction

cheers


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

And are you running winterized diesel or the cheap stuff from the corner gas station?


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## CartmanSteve (Jan 18, 2012)

i'm in the UK, so the below zero temps arnt extreme, up to -9

car revs fine while foot is on the clutch

but underload especially up hill its terrible.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

Even still, with your foot on the clutch, the engine isn't under a load and isn't drawing much fuel at all, even if it gets rev'd all the way up to the red line.
Therefore, if you've got "summer" diesel, it's possibly getting gelled up, wax flakes, etc, in the filter. Get a can of 'diesel treatment', put it in the tank and see what happens. In the meanwhile, probably wouldn't hurt to change out your fuel filters and such.


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## CartmanSteve (Jan 18, 2012)

all our diesel in the UK is the same, except for the red diesel. could it be a fault with the MAF?


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