So, I don't even know how to describe this one really....seems the best way is to say that the car is vibrating, with rpms jumping up and down plus or minus a couple hundred when i am in drive, yet stopped at a traffic light. Once I get the car going, the problem goes away. If I shift the car into neutral while at the traffic light, the problem goes away. If I am in a parking spot, and shift to reverse, everything goes well until I shift into drive and give the car gas to move forward, then the vibrations are more intense and it feels like the car is going to stall. Recently my door lock actuators have seemed to die, so I was hoping the problem was a battery, possibly alternator. Something I can easily fix. Got everything tested, and the battery and alternator are fine, but the starter failed the test. I don't know if the starter could have anything to do with this problem. The car starts without a hitch. Anyways, sorry for the long novel, but I just don't know what this could be caused by, and searching yielded little results. Any help would be greatly appreciated! It's a 2004 Cavy Automatic with about 97500 miles on it. Last maintenance done was oil spark plug air/oil filter change 5 months ago, as well as changing the fuel pressure regulator 3 Months ago due to the original leaking from the housing. Thanks again in advance.
So in drive after a reverse, the engine rpm goes way down and feels like it's going to stall and vibrates? Or the rpm stays the same but still vibrates like crazy?
I would suggest checking your motor mounts if the vibration is felt but no rpm variation is going on.
With the rpm variation, it could be something pertaining to the vacuum system, and the AIC is the first thing coming to mind.
Paid alot more attention to what the car was doing after replacing the MAP sensor with a friends spare, just to shotgun and hope for the best. Easiest way to describe it is that i turn the car on, shift into reverse to leave parking spot, shift into drive and start to give gas, then there is the feeling of hesitation, (better word than vibs.) the rpms dip a few hundred, and feels like a manual would if you weren't laying on the clutch and gas right. this all happens in the span of 2 to 3 seconds, at which point the car will usually start to accelerate normally. This is also very noticeable on right hand turns from a dead stop. Strange thing is, the symptoms aren't so prevalent on a dead stop left hand turn. Now, if I am at a complete stop at a traffic light, then the rpms tend to dip a little, bout a hundred rpms, the car feels like it may stall, but isn't as severe as on the reverse to drive situation, or right hand turn situation. Another piece of info that could be useful is that the symptoms are much more intense once the car has reached optimal running temp. the problems don't seem to severe when driving the car for the first time that day, or after it has been sitting for a while. Thanks for the response. I'm going to start with the simple things, first being the fuel filter, been a while since it was last changed.
Check the ignition module/coil assembly. If you have a buddy with the same car, just take off the black thing that ways ecotec, and swap it from his car to urs, if it goes away you need that, if not, the IAC are problematic with those cars too. Goodluck, and keep us posted, im going to follow this one.
changing the fuel filter didn't help. or if it helped, it was too little to really notice. checked the fuel rail and injectors again just to be sure, and everything looks fine there. put of bottle of injector cleaner in there just in case it would help. Luckily, my father has the same car, albeit a four door. i'll will try swapping the coils to see if that eliminates the problem. got a friend at a shop who is going to do some in depth trouble shooting on it tomorrow afternoon if that doesn't work. i will let you all know the results.
Well Mike your advice was awesome and the problem followed to my pop's car after swapping the coils. Guess there wasn't that big of a mystery to it huh? I have never had coils present themselves as starting to fail in this way, but this is my first Cavy. Thanks again for the help, saved me a larger headache having to be without the car while it was in the shop. Nothin' else to say except thanks again!!
James Mac wrote:Well Mike your advice was awesome and the problem followed to my pop's car after swapping the coils. Guess there wasn't that big of a mystery to it huh? I have never had coils present themselves as starting to fail in this way, but this is my first Cavy. Thanks again for the help, saved me a larger headache having to be without the car while it was in the shop. Nothin' else to say except thanks again!!
No problem man, I know when i had my Eco I had a issue to when i was reversing nothing was wrong, but when i put it into drive, and accelerate, the car would fall on its face, and sputter, and act like it was missing on a cyl, or two. So i took it to my buddy who was a chevy tech, and even HE couldnt figure it out. I told him change the coils, and see what happens, and sure enough the whole thing went away. Im just glad i could have been to some help to ya. Goodluck buddy!
Yeah, just strange how the coil was behaving since it was failing. Had this car since 2004, bought it new, so bout 100,000 mile later it had a good run, just never had a coil act like that once it was giving up the ghost. Another thing, since hind sight is 20/20. My door actuators for the locks were starting to fail, so first thing that came to mind was to make sure the battery and alternator were alright. Everything checked good, so now that the new coil and boots are in, the door actuators are working like a charm. Go figure. But def. thanks for having me check that before going through the long painful process of checking the vacuum lines, the fuel pump, IAC, TPS, and all those other fun things. My cav is back!
