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.
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..
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.
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.
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.
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