The check engine and trac light came on on my car. Thecar engine vibrates a lot when I put it in drive and the engine sound like it is sputering what could that be

Asked by Robert Dec 12, 2013 at 09:17 PM about the 2002 Pontiac Sunfire GT

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I disconnected the battery and the lights
turned off.istarted the car and put it ln drive
and the loghts came back on pleas help

2 Answers

...well, first I'd take the black battery cable where it attaches to the frame/ground....take that bolt off and wirebrush the mating surfaces....lug and chassis both...bolt them together for renewed ground potential...then I'd get a NEW battery if yours is older than five because these tin/antimony batteries stop accepting a charge slowly, ten percent per year...get a NEW one~ with refreshed ground things should start to behave normally~

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Although the battery may be in need of replacement, there's much more going on than that, IMO. Check out this article: http://www.carsdirect.com/car-repair/5-causes-of-engine-vibration ------> As you can see, the vibration could be caused by: worn out spark plugs, broken motor mounts, loose or disconnected hoses, Faulty or Poorly Adjusted Fuel Intake System (This may be WHY Check Engine Soon light is on), or even a Faulty Timing Belt. Also, if your Traction Control Light is on, that may be a separate issue which I'd recommend having a mechanic look at...Weather is getting bad (Here on East Coast anyway)...Disabled Traction Control System is not a good thing when there's snow, black ice, etc. to deal with.

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