Troubles while Idling and Driving slowly

Anyone? Please help!

I am planning to take my car in next week for a checkup regarding this problem, but in the meantime, it just seems to be getting worse and I'm worried about the safety of driving it at all:

Re: 1999 Chevy Malibu
When I stop at a light, within a few moments, my car starts to sort of jerk a little; the only analogy I can make is that it's like it's burping :) I've found that if I put it in Neutral, or better yet park, the frequency of these jerks is little to none. However, even when I shift back into drive, it hesitates and jerks a little until I reach appr. 35 mph.

Does this sound like a familiar problem? Anything I can likely fix on my own? Should I stop driving it until I get it fixed?

Thanks for any advice you can provide!

I may be reading too much into this but try checking a few things.....

-check the air filter
-when does it jerk, when breaking or just typical driving under 35mph
-describe the jerk, does it feel like it's not wanting to take off
-i have a malibu 98 so my revs show when idling, is it steady or is it moving up and down when idle??

check the air filter (sadly, I don't know how...i'll ask a friend :)

-when does it jerk, when breaking or just typical driving under 35mph
it jerks the most around 10 mph and at a stop. if i put it in park or neutral at a stoplight, it's basically fine, but then it jerks when i switch to drive and pushes against me intermittently, definitely up until 20 mph, but sometimes up to around 30-35 mph.

-describe the jerk, does it feel like it's not wanting to take off
yeah, i'd say it feels like it's pushing against me, hesitating, and it's slow to respond too. when i shift out of neutral to drive, it take a very long 3 seconds for it to engage and start going again.

-i have a malibu 98 so my revs show when idling, is it steady or is it moving up and down when idle??
i'm not exactly sure what you mean; if i were to keep it in drive as i was stopped at a light, it would be randomly jerking the whole time, with the rpms slightly going up and down...

thanks for responding! i've been talking to a lot of people who are warning me that it may be a transmission issue, unfortunately...

Before narrowing it down to the tranny...check the idler, reason I say that I had combustion issues. EGR valve giving me the code, cleaned intake areas & everything I could think of and finally when i was done, at least thinking i was, my 98 malibu started idling funny. (this was all happening to me 2 weeks ago)
Revs at a stop light would go up and down and like your situation, I would put it to park then all would be okay. When it was time to go, it would jerk a little at take off, (never paid attn. to the speed) and as i picked up speed i was fine.
I stopped at an Advanced Auto they recognized the issue by my description. They showed me where the idler was located, cost me $9 bucks. I believe it's also reffered to as an IAT temparature sensor in the intake area after the filter (u have a 99, i don't think it's any different). When I replaced that sensor, my jerking stopped asap...
It's worth a short....first things first though, stop by an Advanced or Auto Zone and see if they can recognize the issue and ask them if the idler could be what's causing the jerking.
Never asked you but do you have an engine light on???

wow, i will definitely check in with them (once it stops snowing outside)...i'd be thrilled if this could be a $10 fix. was it easy for you to install the idler yourself?

the check engine light did go on, just yesterday, but that was after almost 2 weeks of driving it with this issue (and my car has always had a very sensitive check engine light sensor: goes off at the smallest things). does the check engine light automatically mean it's likely a more serious problem?

Yep, the sensor sits quite tight in the intake area, has a connector plugged to it, so u have to remove the connector, shaped like a clip, it's plastic so when you try to lift it to remove be careful, too much tension could break it. Once the connector is out u're left with the sensor and pulling it out is the all time job, it sits tight and yes u pull by hand. But best advise, see if someone can help u cause if u're not sure what u're doing u have to almost remove the whole intake so it's easy to pull out. Once u're shown how to do it, next time u try it there's nothing to it.

viola, check engine light, just as i was thinking. definitley let the advanced and auto zone scan for codes first, then if they give several codes, they can print out or at least write them down, post them on here and trust me there's tons of help here...
think of it this way, todays cars are getting sophisticated, everything is electrical. anything faulty electrically will cause that engine light to come on, doesn't always mean something is serious but it starts by notifying u where the issue usually is. I prefer the old models, being i learned the issues and solved, but todays cars, i can solve but if an electrical fault happens, takes a whole lot to get rid of the electrical and that's a pain in the u know what. But again, most people rather the electrical...welcome to the electronic age :)

I have had a similar problem. Between sometimes this happens at 30 mph but most times at 50-60 mph the car kinda lurches. Well took the car to a tranny guy and he said it was the TCC (torque converter cluch) going bad. It will cost somewhere between 300-400 to replace the part. Also the Throttle Positioning Sensor was going bad but we replaced that ourselves at a cost of about 30 dollars.

just go drive at top speed..it'll be ok

How about getting a check engine code read if possible? usually, the first things would be fire (ignition - plugs, wires, etc.).

will do tomorrow...
let you know!

Mine (98 3.1) was doing the same thing. I canged the Catalytic converter and the Throttle Positioning Sensor and now it's running strong.

Pull codes. If the CEL is lit, autozone will do the scan for you for free.

Stored error codes will usually guide you in the right direction.

-Mark T.

Honestly, if the problem stops or lessens greatly when you shift into neutral/park then the problem is most likely the transmission.

-Have you noticed a change in your gas mileage lately (has it gotten worse)

-During accelleration does the car shudder, hesitate to change gears, or change gears very hard (doesn't have to be just one, it could be all three)

-After your car has been driven for a few minutes and has reached normal operating temprature, look under the car below the driver's side door. Is there anything red hot close to the center of the car?

-Does the problem seem to appear while traveling up hill or trying to pull a heavy load of any sort?



SPRaYeD9

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I'd second (or third) pulling all the codes and posting them here.

Also:

"Honestly, if the problem stops or lessens greatly when you shift into neutral/park then the problem is most likely the transmission."

I would like to draw attention to "most likely," as I had a spark plug problem causing similar symptoms and the motor seemed to smooth out when not in gear. The problem didn't go away, but the vibration wasn't transferred through the transmission, suspension, and all that. Plus the engine will tend to idle a little bit higher out of gear. The problem could be more pronounced at 600 rpm than at 1000.

99 malibu did you ever figure out your problem?

Hey!
Yes, I did figure it out...sorry to not repost the solution....
Basically, it was the spark plugs/wires were misfiring. Had those replaced and she is running great!

99 malibu, I have the same exact problem as your car......basically started right after I replaced my spark plugs and wires and it has been running bad for more than a year. Do u have any idea what brand spark plugs and wires you got installed on your car??

99 malibu, I have the same exact problem as your car......basically started right after I replaced my spark plugs and wires and it has been running bad for more than a year. Do u have any idea what brand spark plugs and wires you got installed on your car??

What brand of plugs & wires did you use? I have found oem by far the best for these picky 3.1L engines, oops forgot to ask do you have the 3.1L engine?

Actually.....I used Bosch +2 Pre-gapped plugs and I used a no-name 35 dollar set of wires. Yea I do have the 3100.............should I just change the wires or just redo everything??

Actually.....I used Bosch +2 Pre-gapped plugs and I used a no-name 35 dollar set of wires. Yea I do have the 3100.............should I just change the wires or just redo everything??

I've had problems with bosch plugs, not on my malibu but in my mustang gt, I don't like em at all. Switch back to the stock delco plugs first before the wires and see if that makes a difference.

Im gonna go try to get these plugs put in today......Ill keep ypu up to date with this lil process but thanks for the help so far

From what I've learned, the Bosch plugs are rated one heat range colder than recommended for the 3100. This would translate to ~20k miles of use compared to ~60k-80k of use from a delco plug.

I usually pick up wires at the same time I change plugs just incase I break a wire pulling it off an old plug. No matter how careful I am it always happens, if successful then you return the wires or stash 'em.

Use anti-seize on the plug thread and dielectric grease on electrical connections.

-Mark T.

From what I've learned, the Bosch plugs are rated one heat range colder than recommended for the 3100. This would translate to ~20k miles of use compared to ~60k-80k of use from a delco plug.

I usually pick up wires at the same time I change plugs just incase I break a wire pulling it off an old plug. No matter how careful I am it always happens, if successful then you return the wires or stash 'em.

Use anti-seize on the plug thread and dielectric grease on electrical connections.

-Mark T.

I agree on having wires handy, those ends pull off easily. I would go easy on the anti-seize and use a Torque wrench for sure. Make sure the motor is stone cold when you change those plugs. Do not put the dielectric grease directly on the plug terminals, just a little bit on the inside rubber part of the spark plug boot.