I’ll give u the run down real quick. So the past few days my car has been really shakey whenever I started it. It wasn’t Everytime but like every other time. Whenever ever it was like this it acted hesitant like I would push on the gas and it just didn’t want to go. Today when it happened it shook then it just shut off and wouldnt start. Then like an hour later it started like normal no trouble. Also just gonna mention like Saturday I was going down byden and acdently switched into reverous but switched out like not even a second later. Then car locked up but after I switched it into park and turned it on and off it worked just fine no trouble starting. That might have something to do with it but I dont think so bc the shaking happened a few times last week before that. If anyone can help that will be great.
If you could tell us anything at all about your Cutlass it might give us enough information to help you. Little things like, the year, the engine you have, how many miles on it and anything else you can tell us.
Sure it has 105,000 miles on it it’s a 1996. Just recently I replaced the camshaft sensor. It has a v6 3.1 liter
Is it showing a check engine light?
If no light, it could be a sticking EGR valve, dirty or failing idle air control valve, sticking intake or exhaust valve, failing fuel injector and lots more.
Do you normally work on your own car?
No check engine light. This is my first car and I’ve never been a car person. But I’m the type of person who likes to do things myself. So anytime there’s an issue with the car I do it myself but I’ve only been driving it for like a year but there’s has been no real issues until just now
There are a number of basic mechanical checks that are simple for a mechanic but hard to walk a complete novice through.
Fuel pressure, spark and compression are the basics but 2 of the 3 require special tools. These need to be checked first.
I started looking into it and that’s where I ended up I’m thinking it might be a spark plug issue but idk. So Im gonna have someone more car savy then me look
Update checked sparkplugs it’s not that. At least they look fine. Also I started to notice exactly when it would misfire. Its always on a startup not while idle. After the initial misfire it runs just fine like nothing ever happened. If I were to turn the car on and off again while the engine is hot it will start up just. Now your probably thinking it has something to do with a cold start that is untrue as well. If I start up the car while it’s cold it will start up just fine as well. So on a hot and cold engine it’s starts up just fine. The misfire only occurs while the engine is cooling down for about 30 mins. Then it will probably misfire the next 30 mins during cool down if not started. Someone told me it might be just watered down gas that I got so I’ll try this additive that he recommended that might get rid of any water in the system the next time I fill up.
Whoever told you that this can be caused by watered down gas is probably a very nice person but lacking in car knowledge. A can of dry gas (alcohol/methanol) will not hurt, but since most gas contains 10% ethanol (also an alcohol) any residual water will be sucked up by the ethanol you get at the gas pump during a normal fill up.
What made you do that? A bad sensor can do just what you said.
I changed it out bc of a check engine light
The code was for a camshaft sensor
How did you find a 104k mile 24 yr old car? What state are you in? Rust issues?
So I live in Idaho. My mom and Dad got the car a few years ago for themselves. Then when I graduated high school they gave it to me. The previous owner was an old lady who hardly drove the thing
.
So, did the light go off after you changed the sensor and how quickly afterwards did the shaking start?
Yes and the shaking started like a month after
If you bought that thing local, I would take it back for an exchange. It’s free and only takes a few minutes to replace. Nothing to lose.
I think the watered down gas thing is silly.
I agree that it free its just that on my car it’s actually kinda annoying to replace bc u have move the power steering pump out of the way to get to it. So it’s like a 30min job. I might try that though bc 30mins is nothing when it comes to fixing a car.