Hi,

Yesterday for the first time, I was driving down the road and I pressed on the gas, and the car for lack of a better description, jerked back and forth, not side to side. I thought, oh no, major problem. I know very little about the tech aspects of cars, so I need your help.

It seems to do it only when I start out from a stop. I was thinking either the transmission slips, or the engine missed, but I don't know what to do. I checked the tranny dipstick, and it had good level and was a reddish color.

What should I do? Also, yesterday was the hottest day ever that I have had the car on the road since I got it (86 deg) and I smelled a distinct smell of something burning or something like that.

I need to get to the bottom of this, as I don't want the car to be damaged beyond repair. It is very hot today, and I hesitate to even take the car out on the road due to fear of damage.

Please advise,

Viper

just from a stop? of with every shift?

i would check your engine/trans mounts, also control arms bushings.

did it seem like the power train jerked the car? as in the turning of the axles made the car move funny. or did it seem like a big thing shifted in the front of the car?

It could be engine related, but from your description i feel its the mounts..

Thank you soooo much for replying!

It seems to "jerk/sputter sensation" when starting from a dead stop or when it shifts big going up a hill.

How much would my dealer probably charge to look at it?

Please advise,

Viper

dealers charge like $100-120 an hour to "look" at it, unless your under warranty. and typically they don't know diagnostics unless they can read codes, but thats not all mechanics, some are very good.

you could pop you hood start the car and shift from drive to reverse, and watch to see if the engine rocks an excessive amount. also since you said it happens starting from a stop, listen for the "clunking" or motion noise while standing outside of the car, if the tranny is the issue you will see/hear the tires stutter in the case as extreme as your description. or if its the mounts you wont see it.

it could be a few things including your car not downshifting when you come to a stop. which could have multiple causes as well. before taking it to a dealer experiment how it happens, what you do that makes it happen, and practice making it happen on command (unless it all the time then they will be able to reenact it). so that you have more likelihood of them finding it faster to save you money.

Great advice.

Remember also the one symptom I mentioned that hasn't been addressed yet: the "burning" odor.

What do you think is causing this. That worries me pretty much the most.

Thanks

the burning odor, what did it smell like?

i can't say what is causing it definitively without actually having the car.

I have tested your theories and the following are my observations.

When looking at the engine while my son shifts from drive to reverse, the engine moves a little like a small rocking but I don't know what your definition of excessive is. I would say a half inch, maybe just a little more. I don't really hear any clicking but when I sit in the car and do the shifting, it to me seems like the car rocks forward a little too much, but again I am not sure.

Now, the road test. I hate to say this, but I was unable to reproduce the problem. But, I remembered another thing, that may or may not be related. When this happened yesterday, I was able to get it to pretty much stop misbehaving by turning the a/c off. This I just now remember. Also, the problem just "came on" suddenly yesterday for the first time ever. And, the car was really warmed up as well. Today I did not run it long enough to really warm up.

Your thoughts?

with that said, check you ac compressor clutch, turn it on and off a few times while watching the belt, if it is locking up, it would "halt" the small 1.6 engine when it can, cause a rough idle, put more strain on the engine causing a higher idle and rougher shifts and starting from a stop, etc, can also burn the serpentine belt for the smell issue.

Your 2008 Aveo should still be under factory warranty, why not just drive by the dealer and have them check it out.

not unless it has too many miles

i think rabbit is right on this one, its not overheating?

I drove the car today for about 12 miles round trip. Much to my dismay, the problem happened again with the a/c OFF. Here are my observations:

It seems to happen mostly when you start out going up hill. I am starting to think this is a shifting problem. There are only ~46000 miles on the car.

Also, it didn't start again until the engine was warmed up. The temp guage was a little bit below half way. (not very accurate)

What do you think now?

Now the symptoms have changed, i can say this though, if it was engine related i would hope you would have a cel by now. the transmission is 50/50 on a light sometimes.

what speed did you reach during the test run? do you know which gears you shifted into?
this is where i would need the car.

i think with your stated mileage and that its an 08, its under warranty.

mine would do this dealer made excuses
they said it was tps sensor and they replaced it but they didnt
(they cleaned it) i got use to jokeying the gas to keep it going once coasted almost a mile lol
finally i bought a used throttle body(caus u just cant get a tps for an aveo)
that fixed it ,,dealer did all kinds of stuff once they said valve cover leaked oil on plugs ,,so i paid them for a tune up for nothing
heres the long and short of it
alot of times if u drop hood hard the prop rod pops out gf holder hittn tps.
and it will crack it,,
causing u to have top replace throttle body

When car starts out, it is in lowest gear, and this is where the problem mostly happens. Once it shifts for the first time, it may or may not jerk.

Thanks

i had that happen to me several since i have a heavy foot and press on the gas al little to much and then let it go right away n the response of the car is like ok what the heck u wanna go fast or u wanna go speed limit so it jerks a bit. only time i smell burning is when im going up a steeeeeep hill on the highway and it drastically changes from 70 to 50 with the gas floored. other than that. do you have automatic or manual. if automatic make sure u check if u didnt put it into 2nd ive done that once and had the same reaction from the car plus the burning smoke.