| Brakes | Description |
Brake fade | Stopping distance seems to increase, causing longer braking distance, similar to braking at high speeds |
Low brake pedal | Brake pedal must be pushed unusually far to engage brakes |
Brake pedal pulsation | Brake pedal fluctuates while brakes are applied |
Grabs | Vehicle has a tendency to move right or left when brakes are applied; brakes engage suddenly when applying steady pressure to brake pedal |
Engine | Description |
Cuts out | Temporary complete loss of power. Engine quits at irregular intervals. May occur repeatedly or intermittently, usually under heavy acceleration. |
Detonation | Mild to severe pings, usually worse under acceleration. Sounds like popcorn popping. |
Dieseling | Engine runs after ignition switch is turned off. Runs unevenly and may make knocking noises. |
Hesitation | Momentary lack of response as accelerator is pressed. Can occur at any speed. Usually most severe when starting from complete stop. May cause engine to stall. |
Miss | Pulsation or jerking that changes with engine speed. Exhaust has a steady spitting sound at idle or low speed. Not normally felt above 30 mph. |
Rough idle | Engine runs unevenly at idle. Car may also shake. |
Sluggish | Engine delivers limited power under load or at high speed. Won't accelerate as fast as normal. Loses speed going up hills. Vehicle has less speed than normal. |
Spongy | Little or no increase in speed when accelerator is pushed down. Continuing to push pedal down will eventually give an increase in speed. |
Stall | Engine stops running or dies out. May occur at idle or while driving. |
Steering & Handling | Description |
Bottoming | Suspension moves to extreme end of travel and hits compression bumpers. Feels like a heavy thud. |
Excessive play | Steering wheel must be turned unusually far before vehicle responds. |
Hard steering | Vehicle difficult to steer, especially during parking situations or when first started. |
Pulls | Vehicle moves to one side when steering wheel is released. |
Shimmy | Rapid side-to-side motion of both front wheels felt in steering wheel. |
Sway/pitching | Mushy or spongy ride; vehicle takes a long time to recover from bumps in the road. |
Vibration | Vehicle shakes. |
Wanders | Vehicle meanders, requiring frequent steering adjustments to maintain direction. |
Odors & Stains | Description |
Antifreeze or coolant leak | Sweet odor, usually accompanied by steam from under the hood. |
Axle leaks | Black stains with heavy, thick consistency. |
Burning oil | Thick, heavy odor, sometimes accompanied by smoke from under the hood or from the exhaust. |
Coolant streaks | Yellow, green, pink, or orange stains that are lighter and thinner than oil. |
Crankcase, oil, power-steering
fluid leaks | Brownish stains |
Electric short | Acrid odor, like burned toast |
Emission | Continuous, heavy sulfur odor-like rotten eggs |
Overheated brakes or clutch | Burning rubber odor |
Overheating | Hot, metallic odor usually accompanied by antifreeze/coolant odor. |
Transmission oil leaks | Reddish stains |
