Hey, I have a 2011 Honda Insight 1.3 65kw. I’ve been noticing an issue that when I accelerate from a full-stop, the car rattles and shakes(you can feel it and tell it’s not coming from tires, but from most likely the engine) for a second or two. The more gas, the more shake. If I do it very calmly, there is no shake. There are no issues while driving after that.
I suspect it might be something to do with the timing chain possibly but was wondering if anyone has any other thoughts?
Tel us about any maintenance you have done.
There are many possibilities from engine mounts, CV joints, ball joints, PCM, air induction wheel bearings etc. An auto shop may have to get involved. Wheel bearings, tie rod ends or the usual combinations of other worn out or broken stuff to even include the anti-sway bar.
Sorry I didn’t notice the hybrid thing. 65KW should have given it away. Oh well.
Under the hood, I’ve done the normal maintenance aka motor oil, oil filter, air filter. Also AC compressor and serpentine belt have been changed. That’s just for information. Around the car, I’ve recently swapped all brake pads and discs. All liquid levels are fine. The car has an installed LPG device, for which I just recently changed the fuel injectors and done proper maintenance, and the problem occurs with both petrol and LPG. To put it plainly, this is what happens: Gas, 1 second of BRRR (you can hear and feel it) and then perfect driving. Same thing again from the next full stop.
That “shudder” is usually associated with the gasoline engine start-up and engagement. You didn’t feel this 13 years ago?
Sorry I might have been unclear when I said full stop - I meant movement wise full stop. Aka when you’re at a traffic light or an interjection. So the car is still running. I don’t mean the start-up shudder. Sorry, English isn’t my first language haha
It’s a hybrid, so the gas engine will most often shut down when you come to a stop, and then restart when you ask for some acceleration. Your engine mounts are probably just showing their age.
OP, suggest to clarify if this is a hybrid car, part gas, part electric? The “65 kw” could just mean it has a 90 hp gasoline engine. 65kw == 90 hp.
That model Insight was Honda’s answer to the Prius. It’s a hybrid. I’d get on an Insight forum and check there for similar problems.
If it was a gasoline-onlyengine, shaking during acceleration would makes me think the first suspect is the engine is misfiring. But no experience for a hybrid, sorry. Is the check engine light on?
Alright, here’s some more information on the issue. This is a hybrid car, yes and there are no warning lights on the dash board. I have set up the car so it also wouldn’t have an auto-stop feature enabled so it is not related to that and the issue persists also, when I try accelerating from a stand-still with auto-stop enabled. This is 100% abnormal and should not be happening as it feels like something in the motor is not functioning correctly, creating an intense vibration and sound from the point of starting to move until reaching about 10km/h. This shudder/vibration was not there when I got the car and only became noticeable some months ago. The issue is especially predominant when I, for example am behind a traffic light on a hill and accelerate from there.
I’ll try to get a video tomorrow, while driving, to show the issue so you guys could hear it, perhaps that could be more helpful than my explanations because a sound or a feeling is quite a difficult thing to explain hahah
If you’re 100% certain that there is both physical vibration that you can feel and noise, then I’d still be looking at engine mounts first.
If it’s mostly noise and some part of your brain is adding in the physical vibration, then I’d start by checking out the heat shields on the exhaust system.
When was the last time the transmission fluid was serviced in the CVT in your Insight?
Tester
My CVT was serviced about 35000 km ago - but… ‘good’ news - I found the problem - it’s the automatic gearbox’s clutch that’s acting up - hence why it only happens from a stand-still. Thank you guys for the suggestions, they really helped me find the actual problem! The CVT needs to be properly serviced again and, if needed, the clutch needs to be changed…
Does your Insight use a dual-mass flywheel/clutch ass’y?