The diagnose-the-problem game

LeVeL

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So a couple of months ago (June, to be precise) the Accord got the shakes. It vibrated at idle and vibrated even more idling in gear and when off the throttle below 15-ish mph. Turning the AC on made it worse. The car was taken to a shop where they blamed everything on the rain (believeable - there were literally 5 days of sun in June, at most) and replaced the spark plugs and wires (coilpacks?). Yesterday lo and behold! The shakes are bad and worse than ever. Now, the car is overdue for a timing belt change by about 5k miles; the accesories belt started squeaking whenever the AC is on; the engine physically shakes like a wet dog; and oil is magically disappearing (its not burning oil, nor is it leaking, but there is a coating of it in some spots around the block, although its been like that for probably a year). It's booked for a belt change in a week because that's the earliest that they can get the new belt, but I'm taking it down tomorrow to see what's up with it (well ok, technically my dad is taking it there since he works 5 minutes away). My dad just looked at it and said that it looks like its running on three cylinders - not out of the question, come to think of it, as its running pretty rough, as mentioned earlier.

So, FinalGear boffins... place your bets on what will come up when the car gets looked at!
 
Usually vibrating in idle and at slow speeds is the engine mounts, at least that was the case with us...
 
Usually vibrating in idle and at slow speeds is the engine mounts, at least that was the case with us...
This. The 240 needs new mounts, and it shakes like a whore at a gyno exam. Open the hood and observe how the motor looks; if it looks like it's having a seizure, there's your problem.
 
1998, 210xxx miles, 2.2L 4-cyl
Engine mounts crossed my mind briefly but I rejected it right away for some reason. Could be it though. And yes, the engine does look like its having a seizure lol it rocks back and forth a lot

edit: completely forgot to mention that the CEL is on
 
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Any bubbles in your coolant?

Although the mechanics would have picked this up, a warped head/blown head gasket?
 
Vacuum leaks, bad gas, shorted ignition components, worn mounts. Those are what I think of when I think of engine shake.
 
Those codes aren't terribly reliable. I had a transmission code for a while and got it checked out, but the transmission was fine. Eventually discovered that the gas cap wasn't screwed on all the way.
 
That's because you have a Sebring.

Most other cars' codes are pretty accurate.
 
Well, it's true.

Most cars with a loose gas cap will set an evaporative emissions system code (which is what the gas cap is part of) and not a transmission code.

Some of them will even tell you "check fuel filler cap."

Your Sebring? "Oh, wow, my gas cap is loose.... what random code can I set to confuse my owner?"

Chrysler + Mitsubishi = Owner: "WTF??????"
 
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I'm going to suggest that the throttle position sensor might be the cause of the rattle. Also - have you cleaned the throttle body?
 
How the HELL did you manage to do that???

Beats the hell outta me. It's been losing oil pretty quickly the last few months and I've been topping it off but I bet it ran pretty darn low a few times... dunno if that might have done it.
I think its worth replacing the engine, but depending on how much it costs. We'll see. Either way, the plan is to get a miata soon :evil:
 
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