Is Your Car Shaking When Idle? Here's What You Need to Know

Car shakes when idle, the vibration is so extreme that it causes the entire car to shakes even when the car does not move and stay idle.

Why car shakes at idle?

If car shakes when idle the reason is that one of the cylinders is misfiring. For the normal engine to run smoothly the engine cylinder must fire properly, the firing of each cylinder must be in the correct sequence. If one of the cylinders is not firing according to the normal firing order in sequence the engine will be out of balance which will result to engine extreme vibration that is enough to cause the entire car shaking at idle.

But that is not the real problem here, the real problem is why the cylinder misfiring. The reasons for the engine cylinder to misfire are bad spark plugs, bad spark plug wires or a worn distributor cap. Any of the above reasons can cause the firing of the air/fuel mixtures inside the cylinder. Another possibility is that the valves are burned. If the valve is burned the compression of the cylinder will become abnormal and as a results engine misfiring occurs.

Possible cause of car shaking at idle
Engine misfiring on one of the cylinder

What to do when there is excessive car shakes at idle?

Replace Spark Plug

To begin fixing the problem first is to replace the spark plug and the spark plugs wires usually this will fix the problem of engine misfiring.

Replace Distributor Cap

If after the replacement the car still shakes when idle the next thing to replace is the distributor cap. You can do the work by yourself by checking on the service manual that covers your car model or you may bring the car to the shop for tune-up.

If after then cap was replaced and the problem still occurs then the problem is a burned valve, in this case, confirm with the shop mechanic the problem and repair if necessary.

Suggested article:
What causes my steering wheel to shake?

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