shaking streering wheel when going uphill

[LaFlaca]

Hi,

My '95 Escort (Auto,175K) is having this problem: driving uphill, hard to keep speed, very little power, and steering wheel starts shaking, vibrating. Goes away when I release gas pedal a bit. No problem at same speed going downhill or flat surface. Recently had tune up (new spark plugs, wires, fuel filter) and engine oil/filter changed. Did not help.
Is this serious? Thanks for your help!

[mightymoose_22]

On a flat surface does the car accelerate normally? If you try to hurry up to 65 mph is it sluggish?

If you got new plugs and wires... pop your hood and make sure those wires are connected well. If you are only running on 3 cylinders you would get this kind of reaction. If the new plugs aren't gapped properly, it is possible that maybe one of them is not firing.

Anyway... with new plugs and wires, I suspect them as the culprit.



EDIT: I just reread the post... looks as if you had the plugs and wires changed in order to fix this? If so, verify that you are getting spark at each cylinder. Perhaps your coil pack or EDIS is screwed up and not sending the signal. It still sounds as if running on 3 cylinders... just a different reason why.

[LaFlaca]

Car is sluggish even on flat surface, acceleration is an issue. And hot weather seems to make matters worse (or is just my imagination!).
Repairs were done to try to resolve the problem, but did not help much. Would running on 3 cylinders make any "noise" or rattle from engine? I sometimes hear a "rattle" going uphill, specially if I try to accelerate.
Thanks for your suggestions!

[mightymoose_22]

It could make a rattle... the sound I have in mind is like a standard transmission when it starts to struggle at low rpms right before it stalls.
Your is auto, but could make similar sounds if the engine can't keep up.

An easy test that MIGHT help.... disconnect the spark plug wire from one of the plugs... start it up and see how it runs. If no different, then you have located the problem. If it runs rough or will not start, plug it back in and unplug another.

I certainly could be way off... but if you do have a cylinder that is not firing, this can help you to identify which it is. It could be a bad plug, bad wire, bad injector, bad coil pack, bad EDIS.

Since plugs and wires were replaced... I would assume coil pack.

If you do happen to identify a bad cylinder, remove the plug for that cylinder and see if the plug is wet. If it is, you know you are getting fuel to it. If it isn't, your injector may be bad.

[hakachukai]

When the car slows down going uphill, does the engine also rev down, or does it stay the same/increase?

If the engine speeds up while the car slows down, your automatic transmission is about to die. Hopefully that is not the case, but i've had it happen.

[LaFlaca]

I have not checked that, but I will now that you've scared me enough.
So if I understood correctly, the rpms should go down as the car (speed) slows down going uphill.

[mightymoose_22]

Rephrasing what he said... when the car begins to slow, pay attention to what the engine does... if the engine slows down, then we have some sort of power problem. If the engine stays constant or increases, the engine is doing what it is supposed to and your transmission is messing up.

Provide more details about what is happening... not much to go on here yet.

So far it sounds like you aren't on all 4 cylinders... I'd start my investigation there. If you find anything out, post again.

[corning_d3]

Or, it could be an inner CV joint. The inner joints wobble during heavy loads when they're worn out..

[mightymoose_22]

I was thinking that too... but he says it is sluggish even on flat surfaces. The shaking is only there when going up hills which makes me think the engine is struggling.

Could very well be a CV joint causing the shaking, but that doesn't account for the sluggishness.

[corning_d3]

Originally Posted by mightymoose_22

I was thinking that too... but he says it is sluggish even on flat surfaces. The shaking is only there when going up hills which makes me think the engine is struggling.

Could very well be a CV joint causing the shaking, but that doesn't account for the sluggishness.

it's an escort with 175K on the clock... Seriously though, it could be fuel related as well.

[LaFlaca]

Ok, yesterday driving back home I paid attention to the speed and rpms. I am afraid I can't listen to the engine, freeway has too much noise....Starting going uphill, feels OK, car slows down a bit, but I can keep speed constant if I step on gas a bit. Just when I think I made it, almost at top of hill (this is after about a mile or so), wheel starts shaking and engine lacks power, can't give it more gas. What I have noticed is that the rpms are a bit higher than what you see at same speed but on flat surface. But as speed goes down going uphill, rpms stay same or lower.

[mightymoose_22]

If an auto transmission, make sure your fluid level is correct... you have probably done that though.

If this is a 1.8, possibly a problem with the distributor at high RPM.

If you aren't getting anywhere, do a compression check and see if that uncovers anything.

[szigatti]

Any car will slow down going up a hill if more gas is not applied, even a ferrari. I can make my escort do the same thing on a hill if i give it enough gas to stay in gear but not enough to go up the hill....it shudders madly.

Solution, more throttle.

[LaFlaca]

Took the car to the garage.
Transmision checked OK
They got two codes:HEGO 172 sensor circuit indicates system lean (right side)
and 173 sensor circuit indicates system rich (right side)
( I confirmed the codes at www.Fordfuelinjection.com)

Is this a job for the dealer? What exactly is wrong? Is it dangerous to drive until I get it fixed?

[mightymoose_22]

Both lean and rich at the same time? That's a headscratcher...
This does lead you toward what others have been suggesting... a fuel problem.

Probably is safe enough to drive... you will just have to deal with performance issues in the mean time... and you are probably not getting good fuel economy either.