Car shakes a little upon starting?
Asked by
trypaw (
332
)
June 29th, 2012
Hello I have a 1998 Dodge Stratus. Sometimes when I start my car it shakes a little and then stops as soon as I start driving. It doesn’t do it all the time and it hasn’t done it in months. I did not drive yesterday and started it up today if that could be a factor. It did it this morning on a cold start (in warm weather) and I am a little concerned. Should I be? It had a tune up last November and it really hasn’t done it too much since. When I turn off the car however for as long as I know it shakes a tad and makes a weird noise from the engine like a “clank” Could these be connected? If not is it normal for it to shake after not using it yesterday?
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6 Answers
From the intarwebs: “It sounds like 1 or more cylinders is not powering properly. This could be caused by a fouled spark plug, a bad distributor wire, or a bad fuel injector. This is only a few of the things that could cause this.”
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_would_cause_a_car_to_shake_after_starting_it#ixzz1zChZUaFT
That said, I would definitely take it in to see what is the matter. When you had the car looked at in November, was it for a different problem, or just a tune-up?
It was for just the tune up cause it was doing this before
@LittleLemon That does sound like the most likely cause to me. It could be any number of other small/easily fixed things too. Spark plugs take all of 6 seconds to change, and a fuel injector cleaner can run it’s course in a matter of days (you use it with a full gas tank). I would start there and if it doesn’t go away take it to a mechanic.
In the mean time, be listening for noisy belts. Try popping the hood and having someone else start it, and see where any noises are coming from.
It doesn’t sound like the engine mounts (which would definitely make the car shake if they were loose/going bad), as it would probably continue to shake throughout driving.
It maybe the catalytic convertor, it could run better once it warmed up. Any strange smells from the tailpipe.
No smells, nothing else is weird just that shaking. Also It hasn’t done it since and this was already well over a week ago. Maybe just a fluke?
Did the weather change, like it is now drier than before? If it is humidity on the distributor or spark plugs wires, it may dry out after running for a while.
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