Car Problems

Hey guys and gals. I need some advise from members that are somewhat car-smart.

Today as I was driving down a road, my car suddenly started to shake back and forth rather violently. My mother thinks that it might be the transmission. Tomorrow I am taking the car in for servicing which includes the fallowing:

- Oil Change
- Front Tire Alignment
- Transmission Inspection

I am not sure what the problem is though. My grandfather said to make sure the bolts on the hubcaps are on tight. I m not sure if that could cause the amount of shaking the car made though.

The car shakes very badly between about 25 to 50 MPH. The car is a 1995 Plymouth Acclaim with a V6 engine if that helps you out. If any parts need repairing, could you tell me how much it might cost?

Thanks for the help!

[hyyyper]

could be the engine, could be transmission, could be the differential.

when you bring your car in tomorrow, ask about the problem and i'm sure they will look into it, or make an appoinment.

i'm 14 and can't drive yet, but your screwed if it falls apart on the interstate... would really be bad if i found tetsu spread all across the pavement!

[Oscar]

My dad's Altima went through something very similar, it turned out to be that the piston was hitting the spark plug. Did a micky mouse job and it worked but for a few days, he redid the micky mouse job and traded it in for a new car.

I am not so set to trade it in for a new car. But thanks for the tip. Perhaps thats what is causing the problems. Can you go into detail about how you fixed it? How much did it cost? Thanks for the advise.

SFF - I wil have that looked at also.
hyyyper - That is a good idea. I should have the whole car looked at right away I guess.

[Coasterkidmwm]

This may sound stupid, but on some older cars the whatevers that hold the engine in place will rust out and that moves around the engine block, which causes all kinds of bad.

Actually come to think of it, I know nothing about cars so don't listen to me and I don't even know why I posted here.

[Oscar]

They added an adapter to extend the battery farther out that it's notmal position. A washer did the trick, hence it's a mickey mouse job. I dunno how long it will last you though. Dad was adviced to not accelrate too much, in other words, keep the RPM's as low as possible. Cost associated with it, a washer and whatever your mechanic wants to charge you. But you can do it yourself. Just check the spark plugs. See if any of them has evidence of being struck. You should notice it easily. See if the spark plug in question is uhmm burnt / dark. Readjust the spark plug to the car specs and insert with the adapter in front of it.

[gouldy]

I've found your problem:

Originally posted by Tetsu

The car is a 1995 Plymouth Acclaim

[Coasterkidmwm]

If you're British you shouldn't be knocking American cars. At least we've never made Leylands I mean jesus christ.

Also how great can you people be if the goddamned new Mini is made by Germans?

Update: Problem is not with the transmission at all. Somehow both of my front axles got bent. Thats a $550 fix it job.....

Thanks for your help though.

EDIT:

Originally posted by Coasterkidmwm

This may sound stupid, but on some older cars the whatever holding the engine in place will rust out and that moves around the engine block, which causes all kinds of bad.

Another thing the guy at STS said. One of the major parts of the anchors needs to be replaced.

[gouldy]

Originally posted by Coasterkidmwm

If you're British you shouldn't be knocking American cars. At least we've never made Leylands I mean jesus christ.

Also how great can you people be if the goddamned new Mini is made by Germans?

I was not responsible British Leyland though really was I? So why does being British make me somehow linked to this travesty against the automotive industry? We have made good cars in the past, but for the large part, they've been a huge pile of crap, but that my friend does not mean that an even higher percentage of American cars haven't been huge piles of crap now does it?

And I'll tell you why the Germans have their name on the new mini, it's because they tend to build decent cars and they saw a chance to make some money by re-launching a modern version of an old British classic. Can I also point out that the new mini is not "made by the Germans", for the large part it is built by English hands. One of the main plants is in Swindon, England. The company that I work for also had a lot to do with some of the machinery that went into that plant specifically for the construction of the new mini! So just because BMW own the design-rights does NOT mean it is made by the Germans! [:)] The mini is in fact built all over europe like most vehicles, except for American cars, which for the most part are entirely designed and built within America, herein lies the problem. The new mini isn't a particularly great car anyway so I don't even know why I'm defending it haha!

This in recent years has been tagged onto a little bit by the American car companies such as Chev. who buy the design-rights and manufacturing rights to fairly poor japanese/indonesian/indian cars, put a chev logo on them and sell them here, which doesn't really work, even though they are an improvement on American cars. The only company to break the market here is Ford, the reason for which is that the cars they release here are European vehicles that have been designed and manufactured here and have never even seen an American person

GM on the other hand is now using old vauxhaul/holden/opel designs in America. Doubt that's going to work, our cars don't consume anywhere NEAR enough fuel for the American market!