I was driving on dirt road and hit a section of “washboard”–even going slowly it felt like it was beating up the car. A mile later I try to stop the car, but as soon as I slow down it shudders and dies. Starts back up OK, but now whenever I am under 40, it feels like it is going to die any second and will die if I don’t keep the gas on, so I have to put it into neutral at every stop and rev the engine to keep it going. Sounds rough, feels like there is not enough gas getting to the engine, so I have to pump the pedal to get going again–tricky on an automatic! Did something get disconnected? Tranny going? ENGINE LIGHT IS ON NOW! HELP!!
You probably jarred something loose. Did you check to see that all the spark plug wires are solidly attached? Maybe you’re running on 3 out of 4 cylinders (or 5 out of 6). See anything that might have come loose under there?
Do you have an auto parts store that will read the check engine codes for free? If not, take it to a mechanic asap.
Yes, I think I DID jar something loose. I took it to the nearest mechanic this morning and they are trying to figure it out. I did tell them about the bumps and the possibility of having disconnected something. I did not check anything under the hood myself, as I don’t feel confident about doing so—maybe if it was my old Ford (ha! thank goodness it isn’t). Thanks for your reply. I will let you know what it turns out to be.
The as soon as I tried to stop the car it shudders and dies would lead me to start with vacuum hoses, especially the brake booster.