Chrysler Town & Country van "shakes / misses" under load?

Nov 25, 2003 9 Replies

A friend has a 1993 Chrysler Town & Country van. We thought that the tires were out of alignment, as the van would shake as if there was a bad tire, or an alignment problem. After having the tires rotated and balanced, the problem continued. We thought it could be motor mounts, but that was not the problem either. After test driving it again, it seems that the van shakes when under a load. That is, when you are climbing a hill at 60 MPH & the engine is under a load, the car shakes as if it had a bad tire. However, when you are accelerating on a down hill, or simply let off the gas, then there is no shaking whatsoever.



Conclusion: the engine must be missing, or similar.



I am not familiar with this van. Would someone please suggest a 1,2 3 solution. That is, what do we start replacing, checking, etc. to fix the problem? My first thoughts are to change out all filters, injector cleaner, new plug wires and plugs.



THANKS in advance for your suggestions:-) My email is: snipped-for-privacy@thegateway.net



Gene


Thanks Larry. We had the tires & wheels, etc. checked. It definitely has something to do with the engine "missing" when it is under a load. The engine idles & runs up just fine without a load. Put the engine under a load, and it "runs rough".

Gene

accelerating

Does the transmission downshift?

No

accelerating

So when you brake-torque it in the driveway it misfires? Or is this only something that happens when it's on a roll?

--Geoff

This is typical of bad inner CV joint on one of the axles. A good mechanic would be able to take it for a test drive and determine which axle was the problem (or both!).

I had the exact same symptoms, it was a plug wire, but I see you've already thought of that.

Lisa

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