2000 Volkswagen Golf Very jumpy and loss of power

2000 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF
135,000 MILES • 6 CYL • FWD • MANUAL
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MEZZA
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  • 1 POST
Sometimes, not always, my car will become very jumpy when I accelerate. When I say "jumpy" I mean the car will violently bunny hop just like if you were to change gear poorly. The harder I accelerate the more violent the jumps get. There is also a very noticeable loss of power. My foot will be planted to the floor in a low gear and the car will not progress much.
This has been happening for a few weeks now, at first I thorght it was the battery since I replaced it recently. However the mechanic says it is OK on that front.
Dec 7, 2009 at 2:23 PM
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RASMATAZ
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  • 75,992 POSTS
Lacking acceleration/hesistating/surging:

Oxygen sensor
Catalytic converter
Dirty fuel injectors (cleaning the injectors often fixes this).
Bad MAP (manifold absolute pressure) sensor
Bad TPS (throttle position) sensor
Bad or dirty MAF (mass airflow) sensor
Low fuel pressure (leaky fuel pressure regulator or weak fuel pump)
Vacuum leaks (intake manifold, vacuum hoses, throttle body, EGR valve)
Bad gasoline (fuel contaminated with water or too much alcohol)

Sometimes, what feels like a hesitation is actually ignition misfire rather than lean misfire. The causes of ignition misfire may include:

Dirty or worn spark plugs
Bad plug wires
Weak ignition coil
Wet plug wires
Dec 7, 2009 at 2:45 PM