Shaking and Racking Engine

[Delano]

Hi all,

car stalled on me this morning at a stop light. Had issues starting it back up but was able to get it over to parking lot. Opened the hood and fluids look fine.

Major concern – when I started to get it to start it sort of turned over but the engine started to rack and shake very hard. It’s a manual engine so had it in neutral. It did it a couple of times and the 2nd time it revved to like 3 or 4K and then came back down and sputtered out.

Any ideas as to what could be the issue? Is my car done for?

2003 Isuzu Rodeo
Manual Transmission
4 cylinder

Thanks for any help or insight!

Delano

Topic

[John B Kobberstad]

Have you checked to see if you have the proper fuel pressure and spark at plugs?

[dan]

first thing i would do personally is give a good visual inspection of other things which you have already started with the fluids, so thats a good start, if you can’t see anything broken or out of place… then i would narrow things down a bit buy plugging a scanner in and see if you get any engine codes that may give you a clue.

and if they are easy too get to have a look at the plugs.

[Delano]

thanks, guys. would those account for a hard shake? it was a hardcore violent shake? I really thought something was going to break. Just had never seen anything like that.

I had checked fuel and spark a couple of months ago when I was having other issues but I guess they could have gone bad since then.

just looking around internet – motor mounts seem to come up as a possibility. What do y’all think? How would I check that?

BTW I’m not getting any warning lights on the dash – no CEL.

Thanks again!

[Wayne]

You’ve stated it revved itself to 3-4krpms, that’s not a motor mount problem; nor is stalling out. Things smell badly of gas, any smoke out tailpipe, etc? Anything else odd you might notice could go loads to a fast direction to go.

[Lorrin Barth]

If I recall correctly that vehicle has a twin coil waste spark system. If you lost a coil you’d be trying to run on two cylinders. So, check for spark.

Also, you vehicle has a known problem with the ignition switch.

[Delano]

Thanks again, guys. I just brought up the motor mount thing thinking that maybe it was the cause of something else coming loose or breaking.

I didn’t smell any gas. Vacuum hoses looked intact. I shot some starter fluid to see if that would bring it back and it seemed to help try and get it started but still didn’t quite catch.

So, the lost coil would mean my car is basically working on ‘1 lung’ as a metaphor and could be the cause of the severe shaking?

Sorry to ask so many questions but i’m really just at a loss and a bit stressed out about the whole thing. What would be the best way to check the coil and/or ignition switch?

Thanks again!

[Delano]

Just an update…still trying to figure my situation out.

I went back the following morning and still was unable to get it to start. Went to work and came back at the end of the day and called for a tow. When the guy showed up I handed him the key. He got in and it fired right up. No hesitation or rough idle but the exhaust fumes did smell a little funny. There was not any smoke – just the smell. Guy said it smelled like bad gas to him. I don’t know what that’s supposed to smell like so not sure if that is feasible or not.

I did get an in line spark plug tester and all 4 plugs were good.

Is it possible that I’m getting too much condensation in the tank? I did have the fuel pump replaced a few months ago. Replaced the gas cap a while before then. Fuel lines are metal but it does have rubber hoses leading to and from the fuel filter. Maybe a small tear in them could be causing the issue? I did have a rough time changing it the last time I changed it when I was trying to diagnose my previous problem – which ended up being the pump – so if i made a really small tear in the hose could that be part of my problem?

Any help would/insight/thoughts/guesses would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Author]

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