Q: Hesitation
What makes my car hesitate during acceleration to the point where it ends up dying out and has a weird smell?
My car has 148675 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
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Hesitation is a common sign of a failing mass air flow sensor. This is a unit that monitors the air flow into the engine as it is mixed with fuel to create the optimum air/fuel ratio. When this is not working properly, this can cause the motor to hesitate due to fuel starvation when trying to accelerate as you described. I would recommend having an expert from YourMechanic come to your home to diagnose and resolve your vehicle’s hesitation issue.
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