What Causes the Engine Warning Light to Illuminate and the Car to Shake?
1 Answers
When the engine warning light comes on accompanied by noticeable car shaking, the root cause is typically poor combustion of the air-fuel mixture. This incomplete combustion leads to carbon deposits accumulating in the engine - the primary reason for vehicle vibration. Simultaneously, when oxygen sensors detect this combustion irregularity and report it to the ECU, the system triggers the warning light. This explains why both symptoms often occur together. Several components can contribute to poor mixture combustion, including faulty spark plugs, defective ignition coils, malfunctioning fuel pumps, or clogged fuel lines. When the engine warning light activates, follow these steps: 1. First assess whether the engine is running abnormally - check for vibrations, black smoke emissions, or difficulty starting. If present, avoid restarting the engine. Important: Never attempt to restart if the red warning light is illuminated. 2. If the engine operates normally, you may drive to the nearest service center for diagnosis. Technicians can quickly retrieve trouble codes using portable diagnostic equipment to identify and address specific issues. 3. For normally functioning engines, owners may try reseating electrical connectors (poor connections sometimes cause false alerts) or cycling the ignition key to the ON position multiple times to potentially reset the system.
