Shudder During Acceleration From Low Revs

[Nuc]

Hi,

My 2.3 Galaxy (yr 2002, Mk-II, manual) is shuddering and shaking badly 3-5 times during accelerating from low revs. These symptoms basically start after the engine reaches nominal temp (90 C) and re-appear whenever I shift gears and speed up. It never happens again at higher revs or during steady driving, unless I drive steep uphill in 5th. Idling and overall engine running is smooth, no signs of back- or misfiring, neither loss of power, nor increased consumption.

 

Unfortunately, the STP Complete Fuel and Injector Cleaner additive did not help.

 

Any pointer to the cause of the problem and advice for solution would be highly appreciated. Thanks a lot.

 

-= Nuc =-

[Nuc]

It seems that nobody has any idea... :( Air intake? Clutch? Transmission? The least likely: ignition?

 

I would be grateful for any comments.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Nuc

[fonze]

mine done the same it was due to snapped coil pack ide pull them out and check none snapped to start with

[Nuc]

mine done the same it was due to snapped coil pack ide pull them out and check none snapped to start with

 

Thanks so much for your comment. I have checked the coils but found none of them snapped. Since I am still without ideas, I booked a time at a Ford garage next week. (Just the diagnostics will cost more than 1200 SEK, = approx. £ 110 :) plus labour, plus spare parts).

 

I will share my experiences with you afterwards.

Edited September 25, 2011 by Nuc

[chrispb123456]

Seized drive shaft joint (CV JOINT) maybe.

[johnatjasperlodge]

I have had a similar problem with my Mk2 Tdi since I bought it 3 years ago. The vibration is similar to a cylinder miss firing but which goes with road speed not revs and much worse with power on particularly on long hills. It once got very bad and my garage had a look at it and could find nothing identifiably wrong with the final drive and put it down to one tight cv joint that tightened up as the engine tipped on its mountings with power on.

It was much worse when I had the gearbox reconditioned earlier this year but went back to normal after three - four days.

As it is generally not a serious problem my garage has suggested I live with it so long as it does not get much worse and wait till the defect becomes serious enough that it can be isolated unless I wanted to take out a mortgage to investigate fully.

Three years on still running and waiting for something to happen, the garage assures me it won't be catastrophic (Ihope).

 

Hope this helps a bit but not and answer let me know how you get on

[MrT]

I had this shake on my Gal and it was a dry CV joint caused by a tiny hole in the boot. It needed an expensive new shaft to fix it. It only happened when the enginer was hot and I assume that the CV joint was also becoming hot at the same time from driving and causing the vibration.

 

When my poorly made coils went a few years ago, this misfire was picked up by the engine management system and brought on the yellow engine warning light. The misfires were recorded on individual cylinders and readable by VagCom.

[Mirez]

Shuddering on the 2.3 is normally a coil pack issue, there are two sitting above the plug and each with a flying HT lead to the next cylinder. Its not an obvious failure when they go internally so a swap out is the easiest method of testing.

[Nuc]

O.K., the source of the problem seems to be detected and the final solution is on the way... :rolleyes:

 

Well, it originated from the least suspected place: one of the spark plug cables. After taking a closer look into one of the plastic covered part that connects to the spark plug, we found bad corrosion. Strangely enough, there was still nearly zero conductivity measured after cleaning the contacts. (There might be a weird minor break inside the cable). Despite that, the shuddering at low revs seems to be eliminated by a thorough cleaning! :)

 

In order to fix this for a longer run, I have ordered a new cable. Thanks to my technician colleagues at the department, they spared me a lot of

[Nuc]

Yes, it was the ignition cable no. 3...

 

Conclusion: in high voltage, a broken cable does not necessarily mean an immediate cut of electricity. It can cheat you.

 

Again, thanks to all of you who tried to help me in this topic.