My wife's car shudders while sitting still (in park, in gear, and in neutral). Also, it sometimes is slow to accelerate and jerks while doing so. It acts like it wants to die sometimes, but has only done so once. I put some iso-heet in it to rid it of any condensation. I'm also having the fuel filter replaced and possibly the coil packs. It is a '98 Pontiac Sunfire with 100,000 miles on it. Any ideas?
2006-12-28 01:36:17 · 6 answers · asked by Kerry 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
My wife's car shudders while sitting still (in park, in gear, and in neutral). Also, it sometimes is slow to accelerate and jerks while doing so. It acts like it wants to die sometimes, but has only done so once. I put some iso-heet in it to rid it of any condensation. I'm also having the fuel filter replaced and possibly the coil packs. It is a '98 Pontiac Sunfire with 100,000 miles on it. Any ideas?
And I do mean shudders as in shakes...not sputters...so don't waste my time with retarded remarks like the first response below.
2006-12-28 01:43:16 · update #1
Nevermind the rant from before...had that comment removed.
2006-12-28 01:47:43 · update #2
Sounds like U have a dead miss-wire(s) Plug(s) I would put some Justice Brothers Fuel Injector Cleaner in..
2006-12-28 01:42:51 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have had this problem before and it was a timing issue. The spark is not occuring at the right time as when the pistons are compressing the air.
If you have an old car, you need to adjust the timing belt to the specific settings for your car = pretty easy.
If it's a newer car (which your's probably is being a '98 model) then it's all done by electrics and needs a machine to do it for you.. (well that's the easy way).
If you don't know much about cars, I suggest you go to the mechanic to get it done.. it's not one of the most expensive things to get done, and I have known some mechanics to do it for free.. but then most things with cars are never cheap either....
2006-12-28 01:50:46 · answer #2 · answered by annyka 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take the car to a reputable mechanic and get a complete tune-up.
Sounds like old cracked plug wires for one thing. Its even worse when it rains or is really damp out. Keep your fuel topped off in really cold weather, you don't need the Heet stuff. Just a BIG waste of hard cold cash.
Consider this and then, GIT ER DONE!
2006-12-28 10:00:42 · answer #3 · answered by HowFuzzyWuzee 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Look under the hood at night to see if one of the plug wires is shorting to ground. You should see a spark if it is. A partially plugged fuel injector will also cause jerky accelleration. The only fuel injector I have ever found that works ia a product called Techron put out by Chevron but sold in most chain auto supply stores. As a last resort , have a computer test on the car to locate the problem. You can probably fix it if you know where to look.
2006-12-28 01:51:47 · answer #4 · answered by cwagley@sbcglobal.net 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes.... check your wires on your distributer cap.... sound like a bad miss. You might just need to do a tune up, make sure to put in a new air filter, also the spark plugs could be fouled and missing.
2006-12-28 03:05:24 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
if it is the 2.3 or 2.4l, that's the quad 4. there are no spark plug wires per say. they are under the shield or plenum on top of engine. there are 4 short boots that connect from that to the plugs. check both(plugs and boots). then try a new fuel filter. did all to my wife's '99 malibu(2.4)@100,000mi
2006-12-28 02:36:31 · answer #6 · answered by buddy leight 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋