Getting Bad Vibes From Your Gas Pedal? Here's What You Need To Know

Cars often give warning signs before they fail completely and leave drivers stranded along the roadside, especially when it comes to shakes or vibrations in the gas pedal. But before you can try to troubleshoot the vibrations, you'll need to be somewhat familiar with what makes your car go. So first, here's a basic rundown of what makes your car move, followed by what can cause your gas pedal to vibrate. 

How Your Car Goes Vroom

The engine uses fuel and air to create energy by moving pistons rapidly up and down in cylinders. This is essentially the heart of your car. This energy that is created in the engine then goes to the transmission, which transfers the power to the differentials based on the gear that the transmission is in (either automatically or manually).

As the gears shift in the transmission, a torque converter (in automatic cars) or a clutch (in manual cars) momentarily stops applying the power from the engine to the transmission, which gives the gears time to disengage and engage while shifting. The differentials get power from the transmission to control the speed of the wheels as they rotate and/or turn, but the wheels also are controlled by the brakes when the driver applies them. 

Troubleshooting the Vibration in the Gas Pedal 

Now that you have a basic understanding of how your car goes, here's how you can use your new knowledge to troubleshoot shakes or vibrations in your gas pedal. 

If you feel the gas pedal shake or vibrate while driving, it could mean that your torque converter or clutch didn't fully disengage from the engine. If you have a manual transmission, see if the vibrations change when you press and release the clutch. With an automatic transmission, you'll have to keep an eye on your RPMs to see if the vibrations occur soon after the automatic transmission changed gears. If so, the red flag warning sign is pointing to the torque converter or clutch. 

If the vibrations occur when the transmission is in gear (as opposed to switching gears), the cause of the problem will likely be the actual gears inside the transmission. The gears may be missing teeth or have chips in them. If the vibrations occur all the time, regardless of whether the transmission is in gear or switching gears, the problem will likely not be found in the transmission but in the axles, which are powered by the differentials. Contact a business, such as McCarty's Transmision Service Inc., for more information.   

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