i have a 5spd (I4) Avenger, and whenever I take off in 1st gear, the car shudders and makes a "popping" noise and jerks a little bit. that's the best way i can think of to describe it. it doesn't do it every time, but it only does it in first gear. does this sound like a tranny problem? it's a 96 with over 200K miles on it and it's on it's 3rd transmission (technically 2nd cause i had the last one rebuilt). i changed the axle shafts a while back thinking that may be the problem but that didn't change anything.
i want to say it does it more when i drive it for longer periods of time, but i'm not completely sure of that because it comes and goes. a couple of times it has gotten so bad that i wasn't sure it was going to get it to go anywhere at all, like the other day when i was driving up the ramp of a parking garage. any ideas? thanks.
It's a suspension issue. I'm 99.999999999999999999999999% on that. Check your struts see if they're leaking. They probably are, replace them and the springs (they are probably shot too).
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Mod List. Um WAY too many to fit on here. But the engine can handle about 800HP
Ck the front end, but also ck the engine for a misfire. That will also cause a popping sound and shudder in 1st gear and all the other gears too, but not as bad as 1st gear.
it's funny that you mention suspension, because i'm pretty sure the front struts are shot. they make the most awful noise sometimes whenever i am turning or hit a bump. i had honestly not planned on replacing them because i'm not sure how much longer the car is going to last and i only want to put money into whatever is going to keep it running until the engine/transmission blows up. would that actually affect the car's ability to move? because it seems like sometimes the shuddering gets so bad i feel like the car is going to quit moving forward. i asked around when my struts started making noise and i was told that other than that, they would probably just give me a bumpier ride, but then again, those people didn't own Avengers...
the car does give me CEL codes all the time saying that the engine is misfiring. i normally end up changing/checking spark plugs and wires, cleaning contacts, and spraying some intake cleaner in the intake, and most of the time that does the trick. are these cars just designed really terribly or is it more of the fact that my car has so many miles on it and burns lots of oil?
Probably the upkeep of the car isn't where it should be. A misfire would definitely be an issue. But your struts are also a culprit. When I first got the car, it had horrible take offs, and shuddered like crazy. A set of KYB GR2s cleared up the problem. I work on tuner cars semi-often, and struts will cause bad launches.
The misfire is more of the issue. Have you ever changed the plugs and wires? How about your coil pack? (I think I have a spare flat pin one around). Your tranny should never blow, (I know anything is possible) but the NV-T350 is a power house of a transmission. The motor should also last you a while. It's very well designed. And even if you're burning oil, but still taking car of it, you can run that thing for a good long time.
This car had over 200 on it before I replaced the engine, and the only issues I had were water pump and burning a bit of oil.
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Mod List. Um WAY too many to fit on here. But the engine can handle about 800HP
actually i try to take good care of the car. i change the plugs and wires regularly, and i've changed the coil pack (and a million other things like the EGR valve, catalytic converter, and just about every sensor) since i've owned it. i think one major factor is the car wasn't taken care of by the first owner; i bought it wrecked and it had 114K miles on it. i'm sure they weren't too kind to the transmission. when it blew, we took it out and saw that it wasn't even the original tranny in the first place (which is why i said i'm on the 3rd transmisison).
i wouldn't claim to know tons about cars, but i know my fair share. i think another huge factor in my problems is poor design. this is only my 3rd car, but the other two were much older and cheaper and i didn't have nearly as many problems with them as i have had with this one. i have been told (by more than one person, all who work full-time in the automotive industry) that the 4-cylinder engine and the 5-speed transmission that Mitsubishi put in these cars weren't designed well and sometimes don't last very long. the salvage yard i used to work at couldn't keep them in stock, and they sold them for a pretty high price compared to other engines and transmissions because the demand was so high. i remember the guy who rebuilt my transmission telling me about some of the plastic pieces in it. plastic? in a transmission? again, i'm not a car expert, but that just sounds awful to me. more like cutting corners than anything else.
...not trying to use that to make an excuse, but i take good care of my car, and the CEL still comes on probably about once a month. i wonder if the fact that it burns oil like crazy doesn't help, but i don't imagine the previous owners changed the oil very regularly, something which i make it a point to do. i've definitely had more than my share of problems with this car. i love the looks and the way it drives, but in terms of reliability it just sucks. i'm pretty positive i'll never own another Chrysler or Mitsubishi car ever again.
but anyway, i don't actually have a misfire problem right now. it seems to be running just fine, but it's definitely a problem that seems to occur all of the time, once i've just finished fixing it or some other problem. but i'll definitely look into some new struts for the thing. seems like sound advice.
The engine is chrysler, and is VERY reliable.. the transmission isn't mitsubish and is also very reliable... demand is high because we have the same tranny as the neon ACR.. which has "performance" gearing in it.
if you base your opinions on a car that you bought used from someone who obviously didn't take care of it.. no offense but don't you think that's kinda stupid?
The stuttering problem you are having is most likely a bad coil pack or the cam position sensor is faulty.
You most likely bought someone elses problem, and paid too much.. but that's a whole other issue altogether.
oh. and where is your oil leak.
I highly doubt that your tranny is the problem.
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The engine is chrysler, and is VERY reliable.. the transmission isn't mitsubish and is also very reliable... demand is high because we have the same tranny as the neon ACR.. which has "performance" gearing in it.
if you base your opinions on a car that you bought used from someone who obviously didn't take care of it.. no offense but don't you think that's kinda stupid?
The stuttering problem you are having is most likely a bad coil pack or the cam position sensor is faulty.
You most likely bought someone elses problem, and paid too much.. but that's a whole other issue altogether.
oh. and where is your oil leak.
I highly doubt that your tranny is the problem.
i actually wasn't aware that the engine and tranny were Chrysler and not Mitsubishi, although this certainly doesn't improve my impression of Chrysler at all.
i have already replaced the coil pack recently, with a brand new one.
i replaced the camshaft position sensor with a brand new one as well, even more recently. a design flaw in the original connector was causing my engine to cut out intermittently.
thanks, but i know how to check the codes. i don't have any at the moment, but my CEL does light up all too frequently.
i paid $2000 for the car, 7 years ago. how much should i have paid?
i don't believe i mentioned an oil leak, unless you mean the oil leaking into the cylinder.
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if you base your opinions on a car that you bought used from someone who obviously didn't take care of it.. no offense but don't you think that's kinda stupid?
i would agree with you--that does sound stupid. however, i don't believe all of my problems are related to the suspicion i have that the previous owner didn't take care of the car. moving on...
anyway, thanks for the input. at this point it looks like darktengu's suggestion makes the most sense, so i'll probably look into replacing the struts, which need changing anyway, even if they're not causing this particular problem.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2007, 08:02:10 PM by Bryan »
So is it your engine cutting out or is the problem something else?
seems like it's something else.
as it happens in 1st gear.. have you checked the motor mounts to see that they aren't broken.
i've also had issues where the wiring harness for the alternator had melted and shorted against the EGR tube going to the manifold. it would cut out exactly as described, and only happened when the engine had enough load on it that it twisted in the motor mounts, allowing the wire to contact the egr tube.
other weird knocking sounds are often the sway bar bushing being wore out.. allowing the sway bar to hit against the bracket that holds it.
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Bryan you should read up at Hahn Racecraft (Hahnracecraft.com) and see what all they did to this motor with stock components. These trannys are able to handle all kinds of power. It sucks that you have a bad opinion because of your situation, but as you can see by the amount of people that have them, you're car is one of the rare cases, probably brought on by the previous owner.
It's good to hear that you take care of the car now, hopefully you'll get the problem sorted out.
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Mod List. Um WAY too many to fit on here. But the engine can handle about 800HP
a car on its third transmission...at this point...is it really the transmission?? the previous driver knowing what he did sold u the car for 2k.....just to get the problem off his/her hands after the damage has been done. that car has a lot of miles...it may be due to the amount of miles y u have these issues, but ur car isnt the only one with over 200k, there's a couple or so here on the board. look at it this way..no matter what car it is..if it gets beat up enough..its gonna show ... some ppl might say ooooo hondas are the best...but u know what they still have issues..my cuz bought a civic...and was more problematic than my sebring ever was.
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