shaking streering wheel when going uphill

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 (http://www.Fordfuelinjection.com))

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

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.

Recent news:

Took the car to another shop, they did engine diagnostic, nothing showed up.
I spoke with mechanic, took him for a test drive, he was scratching his head....Since the car had a tune up and transmission checked OK, no idea what could be wrong. Coil is OK, it is running on all 4 cylinders...Next he'll do a compression test. Other than that, no idea. He said maybe to clean injectors...
I drove the car today, I thought I was going to have to pull over, every time I had to get on the freeway, the acceleration was so, so slow!! This was specially true as the engine was getting hotter (temp, gauge OK), the more I drove it, the worst it got. Made it home safe....

Recheck those ignition wires that they are pushed all the way onto the plugs. It's almost always a misfire in one or more cylinders when the engine starts shaking under a load. Whether that is due to a fuel starvation (filter, injectors, enough pressure at the rail, fuel pressure reguator) or an ignition problem (plugs, wires, coil pack, EEC) it I guess remains to be seen. Sometimes you just gotta take your car to the dealer if you don't want to mess around with it and want to get it fixed the first time, every time. Sure they charge more, but in the long run it's cheaper than getting getting parts replaced at random that are not at fault.

I would rule out an ignition problem first. Plugs, wires, DIS module. Then I would look for a vacuum leak - and they can be very difficult to find. Have you ever had your fuel pump or fuel filter replaced? I would monitor fuel pressure while driving (there is a fitting on the fuel rail for this but you will need a fuel pressure guage and a way to read it while driving). Should be 35-45 PSI. I think the CV joint problem suggestion is way off. The engine is running poorly and transmitting its vibration thru the steering wheel. All vibrations are transmitted thru the steering wheel.

Paul

I agree with Paul's direction.

Are you sure the fuel filter was replaced? I don't know where it is on your model ... hopefully you can see it underhood and determine if it looks new.

Next concern would be the fuel pump inlet screen (in gas tank). If it is the inlet screen being clogged up, sometimes a recent fill-up of fuel will temporarily wash the screen and give some brief relief. Have you noticed any changes after a fill-up?

Reading the fuel pressure while driving is a very good approach. Just be careful and make sure you don't have any leaks .... none!! AutoZone may have a fuel pressure gauge with extension hose available in their tool-loaner program. If not, you may want to purchase one. I usually rely on NAPA for tools and equipment ... that is, if Sears doesn't have it.

Probably easier to hook up the gauge and just rev it up while under the hood, huh?
No need to rig it up to see it from inside.

The engine may need to be loaded (for the fuel flow rate to be great enough) to see a significant pressure drop. That is, if the low pressure is caused by restricted fluid flow. An underhood check would find a bad pressure regulator.