Bad vibrations

[suki243]

Hey all, I just got my car back form the painter and i was driving around and i began to notice that all of a sudden my car shakes when i'm at low rpms, (if i accelerate its fine, if i stop its fine it, it only shakes when i'm going 30-40 mph [according to my off speedometer] and my foot is resting on the gas pedal not pushing it down to hard but just slightly, when i take it off the shaking stops) the gas pedal and the shifter shake, when i'm at higher rpms its fine, and idling is fine.... any ideas?
The only thing i could think of was that the painter did me the liberty of replacing my speedometer cable... perhaps he didn't replace the tranny fluid that was lost? would that cause shaking? it feels really bad.

Edit: its an automatic stock transmission

 

[suki243]

So last night after i finished some electrical problems and some tidying up of wires, my mechanical oil pressure gauge line decided to break, so it leaked oil all over the interior of the car. Luckily it was only on the rubber part of the driver's side. So i spent all morning trying to find either a replacement line or a nut to plug it, and i went to like 5 different stores... no one had anything!! Eventually i bought an acorn nut and just put it in.

I started up the car to make sure the new nut didn't leak in any way, and it was fine, i then noticed that the engine is super quiet and not running very strong... i give it a little gas and lo and behold... it starts shaking insanely...

So it also shakes in park as well as in drive, so its not a tranny problem right?
Could it be timing? carb? The carb was rebuilt about 6 months ago and has been fine so far.
Vacuum leak?
Bad flywheel? I haven't touched the flywheel but i do know it needs to be replaced soon, its missing some gears i believe and gives a loud screech every once in a while =\

(btw anyone have any tips on how to block the oil line? i just put the acorn nut should i have put some kind of sealant? i can't even see the thing from the top the ps pump is covering it and the frame rail is covering the bottom =\)

 

[jcode68]

Sounds like you could have a mis firing plug. Check your plug wires to make sure they are solidly connected and double check the firing order. If your painter was under the hood at all, he could have knocked a wire loose. As for your mechanical oil guage, I would not run one of these personally. I would switch over to an electrical guage and use a sending unit.

 

[suki243]

He was working on the hood, so maybe he did knock a wire loose, maybe if he dropped a tool or something, I'll check when i get back home.

Ya I want to delete it completely just because i never want that happening again to my interior. What amazed me completely was that the kraigen, autozone, and pepboys that i went to a. didn't have anything to cover up the hole. and b. didn't have a replacement line. I was like hmm can't plug it, might as well get a new one... but no...
But, when i was cleaning up i decided to tighten that acorn nut just a bit more and snap! it came off.. i broke it =\ i looked under the car and i unscrewed that thing that attaches to the sending unit and just put a 1/2 in bolt wrapped in that white seal tape. should be fine.

 

[suki243]

So I got back home and put a tach on the car. The engine doesn't sound right, it sounded a lot stronger before it went to the painter. It is idling at 500 rpm. When i give it gas to about 800 it starts the shaking, when i push a little more to 1k it violently shakes and slowly creeps down to 800ish, but every once in a while it'll fight through it and go up to 1200 and then but start shaking again. after 2k it stops shaking all together. I may need new wires, the one going to the distrubutor is a bit cracked So perhaps the others aren't doing so well either. this gives me a chance to get some nice wires.
Any suggestions?

Plus i'm not totally sure how to check firing order, anyone want to chip in.
thanks in advance.

 

[01ragtop]

So I got back home and put a tach on the car. The engine doesn't sound right, it sounded a lot stronger before it went to the painter. It is idling at 500 rpm. When i give it gas to about 800 it starts the shaking, when i push a little more to 1k it violently shakes and slowly creeps down to 800ish, but every once in a while it'll fight through it and go up to 1200 and then but start shaking again. after 2k it stops shaking all together. I may need new wires, the one going to the distrubutor is a bit cracked So perhaps the others aren't doing so well either. this gives me a chance to get some nice wires.
Any suggestions?

Plus i'm not totally sure how to check firing order, anyone want to chip in.
thanks in advance.

If you have any cracks in the spark plug wires you should replace all of them. I have seen wires in such bad shape that you can see the "leakage" at night or in the dark with the hood up. If that doesn't solve your problem you haven't really lost anything because it needed to be done anyways.

 

[suki243]

Any specific size? i noticed a 7mm, 8 and even 11. Any good brands/ bad brands? Also, the previous owner just threw the wires together they're all over the place crossing over each other and what not. Is it a good idea to get those spacers a ton of people have?

 

[01ragtop]

Any specific size? i noticed a 7mm, 8 and even 11. Any good brands/ bad brands? Also, the previous owner just threw the wires together they're all over the place crossing over each other and what not. Is it a good idea to get those spacers a ton of people have?

Are you using the stock style distributor with points? Or an aftermarket solid state electronic ignition? My brother had a 89 F-150 with electronic ignition and it would lose power at certain lower RPM. Turned out that the spark plug wires were too close to each other and the magnetic field was inducing spark in the other cylinders. (= really bad). I personally have never heard of this with a points style distributor, but I'm not saying it can't happen. What I have seen, however, is spark plug wires that are in such bad shape that you can see them sparking all over the engine compartment at night.

 

[suki243]

It is a stock distributor with points and all. Right now the wires are 7mm, and i was only able to see cracks in one of the wires, the one going from the distributor to the (i'm blanking out on the name of the part right now) its the smallest plug wire. You cant see the threading underneath the rubber.

As for the firing order, The order according to ford shop manual it is: 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 for my 289 v8, is there a difference between the 2v and the 4v? i have a 2v. As for firing order how do i know which one is 1 on the distributor? is there some kind of marking on it? then i go counter counter-clockwise? So next will be cylinder 5's then 4, etc...?

 

[01ragtop]

It is a stock distributor with points and all. Right now the wires are 7mm, and i was only able to see cracks in one of the wires, the one going from the distributor to the (i'm blanking out on the name of the part right now) its the smallest plug wire. You cant see the threading underneath the rubber.

As for the firing order, The order according to ford shop manual it is: 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 for my 289 v8, is there a difference between the 2v and the 4v? i have a 2v. As for firing order how do i know which one is 1 on the distributor? is there some kind of marking on it? then i go counter counter-clockwise? So next will be cylinder 5's then 4, etc...?

If your Dizzy is stock you will be fine with the 7mm wires. As for changing the dizzy, and rotor, save your self a lot of hassle and change the wires one at a time so you know where it goes. Pull one wire off the old dizzy and put the new wire in the same spot on the new dizzy. Also when you pull the wire off the motor match it up lengthwise with one of the new wires.

 

[JDS68Stang]

Change the condenser in the dist. as well, that caused me some headaches last year. Car would run smooth, then start running rough and eventually stall, I thought it was a fuel problem at first.
Another coil is also cheap enough to replace to rule that out.

 

[suki243]

So I checked the firing order. It was right, but i unplugged and replugged all the cables and it seems to be idling better at about 750-800 rpm can't tell exactly, when i give gas to 1200 thats when the shaking starts and if i give more gas it shakes even more violently, then at 1500rpm it becomes fine again. My next step is to replace the spark plug cables. Anything else such as replacing the condenser and what not will have to wait till after finals =\

 

[NewStangOwnr]

It probably won't happen but I had a similar problem. Checked timing, wires, etc. One of my rocker arm studs snapped in half on the intake valve so it wasn't firing.

 

[suki243]

Hmm it may be possible, there was an on and off clicking under the valve covers a while back. The thing that is baffling me is the fact that it was running fine before i took it into the paint shop.