Anyone know anything about cars? or have a hubby that does?

[Megan Turnidge]

My cousin left the country for a church mission for 1.5 years and left her car with my aunt in California. My aunt didn't need the car... so she is offering to give it to us - for free. It's a 2007 Ford Focus, I believe. My dad checked it out when he visited CA and said that it's in pretty good condition EXCEPT that it shakes quite a bit when the car is idling, but once the car is moving it doesn't shake anymore. I was wondering if anyone could guess why it's doing that? I'd hate to spend $$ to fly out there and drive the car back only to find it needs expensive repairs, ykwim? If anyone could help, I'd be forever grateful! :) The transmission in our car is going out, so we could really use a better car. :)

[Libby Pritchett]

Jeff says that could be caused by a number of things... broken engine mount or dirty injectors being a couple of options. He said it didn't sound like anything terribly expensive, but he'd probably pay a mechanic in CA to look at it before driving all that way to get it.

[Megan Turnidge]

Jeff says that could be caused by a number of things... broken engine mount or dirty injectors being a couple of options. He said it didn't sound like anything terribly expensive, but he'd probably pay a mechanic in CA to look at it before driving all that way to get it.

I suggested paying to have it looked at before we went out there, but hubby would rather bring it back first and have the guy here, that he trusts, look at it. DH is rather stubborn sometimes, so I doubt I'll convince him to have it looked at out there. :rolleyes:

[jorgies5]

I just recently had a similar problem with my car except sometimes it would shake when I was driving it too. It ended up being one of the engine coils needed to be replaced. I not sure exactly how much it cost, but I don't think it was that expensive.

[lovely1m]

I had that issues recently, too, all it turned out to be was my vacuum hose had come off and just needed to be stuck back on. I felt pretty silly cause I thought my car was about dead and it was just such a simple (free!) fix. lol

[KirstieGai]

DH is a mechanic and he says the first thing to ask is "when was it last serviced?", he says it could be something as simple as that.

[jessica31876]

my husband is a mechanic (for 27 years) and he says it could be a motor mount as well. It could be just from sitting to long and needs to be ran. Or it could need a tune-up. Most mechanics will give a free estimate if you take it in and alot of times if it is something simple like something that came undone they wont even charge. At least that is how my husband has alwways been. And if it is free even if it was a little pricier it is a nice little car that gets really good gas mileage and a small-mid sized expense to get it running could be justified because the car is free KWIM?

[Sarah8914]

I don't know, but hopefully it's not that bad... 2007 is NOT old enough to have major problems in my opinion!!

[Megan Turnidge]

Ok, thanks gals! DH thinks it's the motor mounts too, but glad to hear all these problems are easy and small fixes! :)

[kscwgirl]

Yep, Jeff said probably motor mount.

[scrapperjade]

Okay - I have a Ford Focus!! I haven't read all the other responses - I've skimmed some, but I'll tell you what I know from personal experience before you start freaking out, lol!

Ours is a 2002, and one day we went on a gravel road, hit a pile of soft gravel, and our car went NUTS. It was shaking like crazy in idle (like yours), but was fine to drive. We took it into the Ford dealership and we were told that it is a known "error" in the car, and easily fixed. Apparently there is a small "scoop" in front of the transmission that gets filled up with water/snow/dirt, and then the tranny vibrates against it, which causes the grinding/shaking. Its just a matter of having it sprayed out, and they now have a part to cover the scoop so it can't fill up. The part doesn't cost very much to install (the part is cheap, its just the labor that adds up - we were quoted about $200 to fix it)... we haven't done it yet because now that we know that its not really a problem if we just keep it cleaned out.

Hope this helps you some!

[scrapperjade]

Oh and I remembered another thing. Did they have to hook up a new battery (or even the old one)? Whenever our battery gets disconnected for whatever reason (changing the battery, having work done in the shop), for a few days afterwards our car shakes. It always sorts itself out, but it can be a little crazy for about a week.

Please PLEASE keep these in mind before you have someone tell you its something major... it most likely is one of these 2 scenarios. Focuses are known for these shakes. It's annoying, but we LOVE our car. We've had it for 5.5 years, and this is the only problem we've had with it (and its not really a problem, just a bit annoying at times).

[Megan Turnidge]

Thanks Jaedyn! That helps lots!

[Beth Swann]

Megan, where is the car located? My hubby is a tech and we live in California...depending on where it's at, we might be able to take a look for ya?

I would DEFINITELY have it looked at before you bring it home if you plan on driving it home. You don't want it to break down on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere when it's 105 outside...

[Megan Turnidge]

Megan, where is the car located? My hubby is a tech and we live in California...depending on where it's at, we might be able to take a look for ya?

I would DEFINITELY have it looked at before you bring it home if you plan on driving it home. You don't want it to break down on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere when it's 105 outside...

It's in Modesto.

[Beth Swann]

I sent you a p.m., Megan.