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Trust My Mechanic

Your Free Car Repair Advice and Auto Repair Help

Engine Runs Bad and Belts Make Noise

Austin Davis, March 27, 2007September 27, 2014

:

I have a Mitsubishi Galant 2.0 sohc front wheel drive .My question is during acceration car jerk a little bit and it smooth it self out.
Some say it is Throttle position sensor.Any ideas!!! Car has 165,000 miles.And one other thing is this just started 3 days ago.When starting up car get loud screaming noise from belts section.

Thanks!

 

Howdy

You probably have two separate problems going on here. The first one, jerking on acceleration could be something as simple as a bad spark plug wire causing the engine to misfire. Spark plug wires tend to break down, or fail when placed under stress…like heavy acceleration, pulling an extra load or when the engine is running hotter than normal.

You can take a spray water bottle and LIGHTLY spray cold tap water on the spark plug wires WITH the engine running. If the wire is worn or has a crack in it the water will cause it to ground out and the engine will misfire and run ragged. Do not spray water on the distributor, cap, or any other electrical sensor.

The belt noise could be a worn or cracked belt, a loose belt due to a bad belt tensioner or bad belt pulley or one of the accessories like the a/c compressor or alternator is going bad and the belt is slipping on that pulley. I would open the hood with the engine OFF and pull on the belts with your hands to see if one is loose. The belt will give a little, but you really should not be able to pull up on it very much if everything is working properly.

If the belts seem tight to you then look down the sight of the belt to see if all the pulleys line up ok. If a bracket is broken or loose the belt will not travel straight on the pulley and will cause a squeak noise as it rubs on the side of the belt against the pulley.

Also inspect the belt for signs of oil or coolant that might have leaked onto the rubber, which can also cause a squeak.

Blessings,
Austin Davis

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