Four months ago, I purchased a 1993 Ford Tempo GL from a used car dealership at an excellent price. It had a little over 100,000 miles on it at the time, which I was told by both the dealer and several other people is "fantastic for a car that old." Initially, the only problem the dealer pointed out was that the turn signals weren't functioning correctly. The brakes were also a little squeaky, but still worked fine during the test drive. After getting the turn signals fixed, I was more than happy to start driving the car regularly...
That was until I started to notice that it was leaking a little bit of what I'm assuming is oil since there appears to be a gasket that needs to be replaced when checking under the hood. This has not been replaced yet though as it's not leaking too badly and I have gotten the oil changed probably a little more than is even recommended. Recently also had to have a flange on the exhaust system entirely replaced after it suddenly got very loud after hitting a rough spot in the road a couple weeks ago. For a couple days after replacing the flange, it seemed to perform MUCH smoother and better on the road but now the biggest problem, not even two days after replacing the flange, appears to be some pretty violent shaking and wobbling when driving the vehicle upwards of around 50 mph. This is also accompanied by a "service engine soon" light, which had only come and gone here and there in the past.
Any suggestions, advice, etc.? When asking most people about the shaking and wobbling, they tell me that I may simply need to get my alignment checked out/fixed, but with it happening at the same time the engine light comes on, I'm suspecting it may be something a little more critical. I would appreciate any feedback! Thank you in advance.
That was until I started to notice that it was leaking a little bit of what I'm assuming is oil since there appears to be a gasket that needs to be replaced when checking under the hood. This has not been replaced yet though as it's not leaking too badly and I have gotten the oil changed probably a little more than is even recommended. Recently also had to have a flange on the exhaust system entirely replaced after it suddenly got very loud after hitting a rough spot in the road a couple weeks ago. For a couple days after replacing the flange, it seemed to perform MUCH smoother and better on the road but now the biggest problem, not even two days after replacing the flange, appears to be some pretty violent shaking and wobbling when driving the vehicle upwards of around 50 mph. This is also accompanied by a "service engine soon" light, which had only come and gone here and there in the past.
Any suggestions, advice, etc.? When asking most people about the shaking and wobbling, they tell me that I may simply need to get my alignment checked out/fixed, but with it happening at the same time the engine light comes on, I'm suspecting it may be something a little more critical. I would appreciate any feedback! Thank you in advance.
Jul 9, 2010 at 7:53 AM
