Car shakes at 60 mph

ANSWER : Normally on the Hondas, the front end components start wearing out as the car approaches 200 thousand miles. You could have one or more worn control arm bushings, ball joints, or tie rod ends. Your hard braking episode may have put enough stress on the components to cause a shift in the lose components which has messed up the alignment. There isn’t any point in trying to have the car aligned until you have replaced whatever is worn out in the front suspension. If you contact Your Mechanic, they can send a technician to your home or office to check out your Honda front end and let you know what pieces need attention.

ANSWER : This may be a sign of a dirty or failing mass air flow sensor. The mass air flow sensor is a unit in the intake system that monitors air intake as it is mixed with fuel prior to being injected into the motor. When this fails, this can cause an imbalanced air/fuel load to be supplied to the motor which results in an over fueling or under fueling situation depending on the conditions. This may cause a hesitation, loss of power or jerking reaction when this sensor is malfunctioning. When this is not working properly, you may also notice a strong smell of fuel. I would suggest having a professional from Your Mechanic come to your home to diagnose your mass air flow sensor.

ANSWER : Control arms and control arm bushings are a very common failure on your car. If there is even a slight imbalance in the tires and wheels, the effect will be greatly amplified by any looseness in the front suspension.The control arm is a large boomerang shaped unit that has an integral ball joint and is held in place at the rear by a large rubber bushing. With the mileage on your car, it’s likely that the bushings are shot and the ball joints are getting loose as well. The quickest way to a long lasting solution is to replace both the control arms and the supporting bushings. But you can check it out and go at it one piece at a time if that is more your style. If you would rather put this job in other capable hands, contact Your Mechanic to have a technician come to your home or office to check out your car and recommend a solution.

ANSWER : Hi there. What had happened is the wrong key set the security to the vehicle. This is to prevent the vehicle from starting with the wrong keys. Try removing the battery cables (+) and (-) for 13 minutes. During that time, put the original key in the ignition and turn it on. Activate everything in the car even though there is no power. Then remove the key and hook up the battery cables. The computer should have reset and reset the security. If the security is still being tripped, then I recommend seeking out a professional, such as one from Your Mechanic, to help you

ANSWER : Hello. I would recommend taking the car to have the alignment checked. Sometimes when the car is not properly aligned this can cause a shaking effect. At the same time, you may also want to have the wheels and tires balanced as this can also cause a shaking effect if they are not properly balanced. Lastly, I would also recommend checking the wheel bearings as well as they can also cause a bit of shaking when they are severely worn as well. If you need help having this tested, a certified technician from YourMechanic can come to your car’s location to diagnose the shaking issue and advise you on repairs.

ANSWER : Whenever there are multiple causes of vehicle vibration, which is probably the circumstance you face, it is best to fix the obvious causes first because that will greatly simplify diagnosis and identification of the remaining causes. So, in your circumstance, you should request replacement of the motor mounts and then continue on with the vibration diagnostic. If you do end up replacing motor mounts, genuine OEM mounts are recommended in order to maximize the chances of resolving that portion of the vibration problem. If the vibration at idle, during parking, is not resolved by replacing the motor mounts, be sure to rule out engine operating conditions. For example, rough running at idle can be caused by faults in the air induction system as well as the ignition and fuel systems. To get an evaluation of the running condition of the engine, please request a rough idle diagnostic.

Vibration at high vehicle speeds, felt through the car body and/or the steering wheel, is usually due to dynamic imbalance of the wheel/tire assembly and/or various types of tire defects such as belt separations or excessive radial force variation. Vibration on braking is typically due to excessive thickness variation in the brake rotor, pad defects, or excessive rotor runout as installed on the hub. Typically, thickness variation can’t exceed .001 inches and rotor runout, as installed, should ideally be no more than .002 inches. To determine if the rotors are the cause of the vibration in your case, rotor runout has to be carefully measured. To have the root cause of the brake vibration identified, please request a brake and suspension system diagnostic. If you have further questions or concerns, do not hesitate to re-contact YourMechanic as we are always here to help you.

ANSWER : It is very possible that you have a valve cover gasket or spark plug tube seal leak on your vehicle. These type of leaks will allow oil to leak onto the spark plugs causing misfires. When the engine misfires due to oil getting on the spark plug, the engine oil will burn. Since oil and tires are both petroleum products, they will both smell similar when they are burning. I would recommend having an oil leak inspection performed by a qualified professional to determine if there is an oil leak. Consider YourMechanic as an Oil/Fluid leak inspection can be peformed at your home or office.

ANSWER : Shaking or vibrating may be caused by many different things such as faulty spark plugs, poor fuel pressure or misfires. Other things such as a faulty idle air control valve may cause the engine idle to drop below the normal idling RPM which may also cause the motor to shake or vibrate more than normal. This creates a loss of power that resonates throughout the motor additionally causing other problems with ignition and fuel timing. Anytime a misfire is caused, this causes an imbalance in the motor which will cause the motor to shake or vibrate. The other issue that may cause this type of shaking or vibration is a broken engine mount. Engine mounts are generally rubber mounted braces that hold the engine in place to the chassis of the car. When these break or become weak or faulty, this may cause the engine to vibrate heavily. Due to the many possible causes of this type of shaking or vibration, I would suggest having an expert from YourMechanic come to your location to diagnose and inspect your vehicle.