Check engine light came on and car started shaking noticeably while slowing down and stopped. What's going on with my car?
Posted by Mithril2H@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 29 comments
Apologies if Im using the flair wrong or if this is the wrong place or something but I was hoping for some help. I was driving to work this morning and maybe within 15-20 minutes into my drive I notice my check engine light flashing and my car shaking (not violently but noticeable) seemingly when I drove at slower speeds and also when I was stopped at a red light. The check engine light eventually turned off but the shaking stayed until I eventually got to work and parked my car. Other than the car shaking when slowing, it drove normally. It's a Kia Forte 2017.
If it helps, before this happened, my car would sometimes suddenly decrease RPM for a split second before kicking back up again. Also Im not sure if its in my head or not since I started a new job that is a longer drive, but I swear my fuel consumption is a bit more.
I know its impossible to be able to tell me what's wrong with my car just from this post but would you car guys happen to know the likely causes? Is it something I have to call off work and go and get repaired immediately or can I wait until the weekend? Is it safe to drive to the shop or should I have it towed?
Life_Comfortable_618@reddit
Samething just happened to me ngl I was kinda driving hard then came to a stop at a red light then my check engine light started flashing , I pulled over into a street and sat there while my car was shaking a bit, I just turned the car off for a minute then turned it back on and it was good check engine light disappeared and stopped shaking
thatbitch001@reddit
This happened to me and mine went away after restarting, I did have really low coolant so I’m not sure if that is part of the problem, what it a glitch or did it have to go in?
Life_Comfortable_618@reddit
I’m not to sure, best for you to bring it to a mechanic, Ik for me my car needs a ignition coil replaced rn so it could be why it’s acting up
thatbitch001@reddit
Thanks, turns out it was my spark plugs!
chmod-777@reddit
Did it came back for you? Mine came little shaking happened then it went
the_Bryan_dude@reddit
Flashing check engine light means dangerous misfires. The vehicle is not burning the fuel properly and can cause it to catch fire. DO NOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE!!!
Raw fuel is entering your catalytic converter. It can operate at 1200 degrees and will start glowing if you drive the car with a misfire.
TOW it to a reputable shop. I'm not kidding. If you drive it, you will damage the engine and possibly catch fire.
Collosal_Moron@reddit
Um.. this happened to my car just now and I drove it home about 12 minutes am I screwed??
Bona-Petite_22@reddit
Were you screwed? Just happened to my car
Collosal_Moron@reddit
My dad brought it to our mechanic like three days later. He just did something with the spark plugs and it’s been fine since 😭
Bona-Petite_22@reddit
Ty for your response!
crocs4docs@reddit
This happened to me today. My mechanic is only 3 minutes away from me. Would I be able to at least drive it there ?
Gwolfski@reddit
Sounds like a misfire. It's most often caused by bad coils or bad sparkplugs. It can survive a few days if you drive gently and avoid hard acceleration. The shop should be able to fix it within an hour or two in most cases.
MePirate@reddit
I know this is 5 months old. But this just happened to me today. And it the issue was exactly what you said. Got 4 new coils and spark plugs and changed them myself. Took 45min to an hour and everything has been great since.
Jay__Vision@reddit
How much was the cost?
MePirate@reddit
I want to say it was a little over 300 for all 8 parts. 4 spark plugs and 4 coils. My Toyota had just over 100,000 miles on it and never changed them out so it didn't make sense to change just the bad one as the others would probably go soon too.
Confident_Rich6286@reddit
Same thing happen to me just now
BoringEquivalent7820@reddit
Joining the party! Just happened to me, getting my car towed to the shop tomorrow morning
okmsalone@reddit
what was the issue?
BoringEquivalent7820@reddit
They only started looking at it like an hour before they closed for the weekend lol. They did mention a misfire so hoping it’s just spark plugs/coils.
honeyluvvver@reddit
Also same thing happened. I have a vw cc 2013. Anyone figure out their issue and prices?
_biyaya@reddit
Did you find out what was wrong?? Same thing happened to me. Waiting until Monday to tow it to a shop
Street-Ferret-6275@reddit
Just happened to my car as well
Impossible_Memory_65@reddit
heh... I just dropped my car off at the shop for the same issue. I'm Ubering home now
Due-Security-9668@reddit
Literally just happened to me , I’m freaking out
No-Huckleberry-2365@reddit
Same thing happened to me. 😔
acdpsn@reddit
I had this issue start happening to me last month and got it checked by a kia dealership. Apparently, I had a recall that I never got for a ignition coil that needed to be replaced. They confirmed that that was what was causing the problem and fixed it. Took about a day.
zervan@reddit
Me too 😭
NCRaineman@reddit
The problem is you bought a Korean POS.
Google "Hyundai Theta Engine Recall" and get educated on why their cars are crap.
JeffonFIRE@reddit
A flashing check engine light is an idiot light telling you to stop the engine immediately due to risk of significant damage. No, you should not drive it. You should not have driven it further than what was absolutely necessary to get it off the road and park it.
Next step should be a code reader - the car will tell you what it detected. Yes, it's quite a possible it's a misfire. The code will typically even tell you what cylinder.