96 Cutlass, shaking engine, check engine light.

[Mizouse]

I own a 96 Cutlass Supreme. 3.1L V6 engine. Just the other morning I started it up and it was shaking, quite odd. I let it idle for a moment and the check engine light came on. I poped the hood (car still running) and saw the engine shaking quite violently. It seems to calm down a bit at higher RPMs, but it is still noticable. I did some research and found that it is most likely a dead cylinder because of a bad plug, wire, etc... The plugs only have a few thousand miles on them, all fluid levels are good etc... I keep it well maintained. It is in the shop now being looked at, just wondered if anyone else has had the same or similar problems.

[Redfox340]

Welcome! Glad to join on to one of the finest W-Body forums that exists.

Violently shaking, huh? Could be a couple of things. Basic start is the plugs / wires; check spark / resistance.

Also, it could be a faulty fuel injector so the car is literally "miss-firing" on that cylinder.

Since the car's in the shop however, don't think it's much accessable now.

Since it's an OBDII system, you'll need to pick up an actual scanner for home use; try scanning it yourself.

Best of luck, and hope the damage (price of repair) isn't steep. Laters!

 

- Erik

[Robby1870]

It could be EGR valve stuck open. That would explain why it gets better at high rpms

 

Robby

[Mizouse]

Thanks for the input. The shop called just a bit ago and said that it was a plugged fuel injector. Apparently it is a pretty common problem. I don't remember all of what he said (the phone call woke me up, heh) but something about a valve that is very large that allows chunks (for lack of a better term) into the fuel system.