I have a Hyundai Accent 2002 which has 126k miles on it. Overall the car runs well without any trouble. Recently I am noticing that if I suddenly slow down (like taking an exit from interstate or sudden traffic so that speed reduces to 30 mph from 60 mph or so), the front of the car starts shaking. On a very few occasion I have noticed that the check engine light comes up for a few seconds and disappears. At the same time car looses it’s acceleration power. However, as soon as I slow down further (close to stop) everything starts working fine without any issue. Any idea what could be going wrong? The car is due for a timing belt replacement around 130k miles .
Sometimes the check engine light comes on simply b/c the engine rpm is so low the computer thinks the engine has been shut off. On my Corolla this tends to happen more in the winter b/c of the colder temperature. It’s also possible there’s some electrical problem that is actually turning the engine off, but then it restarts due to the motion of the car turning the engine. If you have an rpm display, check what it is saying when this happens. If it goes much below 600-800, that’s an indication the rpm is getting too low for some reason.
One thing that is not clear to me from the OP’s post is whether the brakes might be a significant part of the problem.
Yes, if the CEL starts glowing, and if the engine LOSES acceleration power (hopefully the engine is not actually loose), then there is most likely an electrical problem, but there could actually be two issues with this car. It could have warped rotors as well as an electrical problem.