hi guys, im leaving for home in 5 hrs and i need help quickly!!! i just started my car, and i feel this heavy shaking. I drive like 10 feet, and all of a sudden the maintainence required light starts flashing (ive never seen it flash before) and my car continues shaking. I can feel the engine shaking, so i pulled over and checked it out with a flashlight. the only thing i could see was that the engine physically was slightly shaking. when i stopped the car, i saw that the belt that connects to the left of my engine had some chunks missing. i need to know:

1) wtf happened???
2) i need to get my car to my garage, which is about 1/3 mile away. is it safe to do so?
3) long term solution? nearest honda dealership is about 10 miles away. should i have my car towed there when i get back?

please help! thank you.

p.s. i have a 2000 honda accord v6 sedan

 

what's the milage on the car?

shaking = busted engine mount, but this belt issue is new to me.

 

misfire

check your wires for cracking or deterioration. (Quick test best seen in dark, with engine running take a squirt bottle fill with water and set on mist setting, spray around wires and distributor but do not soak, if you see a spark show then they are bad wires)

check spark plugs if the gap is too large or they are badly corroded then it will not fire properly.

if there was no tune up done lately then you should change you plugs wires cap and rotor anyways.

just wanted 2 give u somewhere 2 start

 

actually urs is the v6 so there is no distributor and no wires

it could be a bad coil or spark plug.

I would go 2 autozone or somewhere to get the codes read. that is only after u looked at the plugs and say that they are ok.

dont drive 2 far otherwise fuel could dump out into the exhaust and ruin the cat convertor.

again this is my educated guess is could be problems from something else

 

No idea what you're talking about. Could be tons of things. If your engine is running that poorly you should be getting an MIL.

 

the shake could be from the slow idle being produced by whatever part is going bad. if u have a chunk of belt gone its possibly the alternator belt. the car needs the alternator to run the car after it starts. i lean towards getting the belt replaced. maybe the tensioner is bad? the belt could be going bad, all stretched out or just worn out.

the coil could be a source of the problem if its not the alternator belt. id say the shake is due to not having enough current to run the car or the computer. good luck.

 

Does anyone find it odd that "chunks are missing" out of a belt? Would this imply that someone seldom looks under their hood or has not had the belts replaced anytime recently?

Sounds like some basic maintenance may fix and/or prevent this sort of thing.

Other than that, maybe something has frozen up on you which grabbed the belt and tore a chunk out of it...

In either case, I bet if you replaced the belt, your problems might be solved or at least you'd be one step closer...

Can you put on a/the belt on your own? If not, you have your answer as to whether or not you need to have to hauled somewhere. And no, I probably wouldn't drive the car. When the car does get into the shop, I'd go ahead and let them do most all the normal and routine maintenance items since it sounds like the basic stuff gets ignored, like the other belts too.

 

i find it funny how no one is mentioning that perhaps that missing chunk is the problem.
Yeah might be a motor mount or spark plugs but, one of the more obvious things is that missing chunk. I would start there.
If thats the alternator belt wouldnt the car start to hesitate and buck because of the lack of power being made from this alt. missing a chunk off the belt?

 

i mentioned the bad belt. that is where i would start. the tensioner could be bad. chunks can come off with age. belts go bad like tires. once the rubber starts to age, dry rot, oil leaks, plain old wear pieces start to come off. tires start to pick up nails etc. i agree with u. we will know soon enough.

 

Exactly...this problem is probably caused by more than one factor.