car shaking! help TROUBLESHOOT !

Changster · #1 (**permalink**) 02-26-2002, 08:26 PM

hey, it was kind of wierd.

this morning i startup my car and off i go ... i notice the check engine light is on ... i wonder why ...

later on my commute i realize the car shakes kinda bad above 60mph ...

are these two related ? or might/can they be ?

im thinking maybe its because i hit a pothole and im out of alignment or something ... but it only happened this morning. the shaking didnt exist yesterday and i dont remember hitting anything that could put this out of whack.

pleaassee help

v.b. · #2 (**permalink**) 02-26-2002, 08:27 PM

hahaah, I had the same thing as you before..
I hit a bump and the check engine lights came out...
and I found out it is the O2 sensor...check tech E36, I just had a
thread there

MoronRed525i · #3 (**permalink**) 02-26-2002, 08:29 PM

Could be an alignment problem. My car has that problem except when i hit 55-65 it shakes violently (exaggeration) and then 66mph and up its smooth sailing. I havent gotten my wheels aligned ever since i got it dropped im just waiting to put new tires. So it could be the alignment.

As for the Engine Light i am not sure if it would be related.

PS go check tire pressures

Oh yeah and in houston especially DOwntown its potholes galore.. even on the highway sometimes.

jb552 · #4 (**permalink**) 02-26-2002, 08:30 PM

dont know about the engine light, could be a million things, as for the shaking, if you hit a pothole, you might have bent a rim, id go get that checked out and have your tires balanced.

JB

v.b. · #5 (**permalink**) 02-26-2002, 08:30 PM

also, my steering wheel is shaking at 60...(a little bit)
before I had no such problem

Yangsta · #6 (**permalink**) 02-26-2002, 08:55 PM

Wheel Balance. Try cleaning the outside/inside of u're rims. A high majority of the time, shaking at high speeds is a result of wheel balance. The check engine light is another story.......

rhyswynn · #7 (**permalink**) 02-27-2002, 05:40 AM

If you didn't hit anything, I would suspect tire pressure first. Also, look to see if any of your wheel weights have come off. You can tell by a stain or an outline of a wheel weight that is not there, maybe a little leftover double sided tape...when I first bought my car I had the same exact symptoms, shaking at a certain speed, steering wheel wobble. I noticed my one of my front wheels was missing a weight. Got them rebalanced, good to go. If you got the steering wheel wobble, check the front wheels first.

Not sure about the check engine light...best to get it checked out before commuting too much. A $60 visit to the stealer for a stupid problem beats a $1200 repair (or more)for negligence.

Good luck! Hope its nothing worse!