When moving in first gear, my 2006 Ford Fiesta creates a shuddering sound and shakes hard till the vehicle gets moving. However, this happens only when driving through traffic on long drives, and not when the car has just been started or during short drives. What could the reason for this be?
KarthikSivakumar, Chennai
AAA The cause of the erratic behaviour of your Fiesta’s engine, as described by you, can likely be traced to throttle body and airflow sensors not functioning properly. Head to your service centre and ask them to clean the throttle body, MAP sensor, idle control valve and their respective electrical connectors. These parts are responsible for precise metering of fuel and air inside the engine. Over time, they may get dirty or clogged and resultantly give incorrect readings to the Electronic Control Unit (ECU), which results in such issues. Make sure that your engine check light is not on – if it is, you need to ask the service centre to plug in an OBD scanner and read the error code, which will tell you precisely what the issue is.
