If your car is dragging then 2 things are likely to blame.
Generally I would check the Rear Brakes.
1) The Rear brakes are engaged somehow. First try to release the parking brake lever, and make sure it is fully dis-engaged. The other would be to have a shop check the rear wheels to see if they spin freely, if not, then either a wheel cylinder is broken or the drum has become choked in it's own brake dust, as well as a spring may have given way, and the thing is locked up. They may even be set too tight and it's not allowing the car to operate freely.
On cars with rear disc brakes, the caliper may have become stuck and is pressing the brake pads down and not disengaging them when you drive.
2) Make sure when you drive that your not in a lower gear than the thing says. Feel the shifter as it moves and make certain your in Drive and in overdrive not O/D off.
3) One other thing that can cause problems is a bad Serpentine belt or a bad water pump, A/C pulley, or idler arm pulley, or Power Steering pump. See if there are any other problems as you drive, like overheating, difficulty steering, or squealing from the belt. If one of these systems is disfunctional, it will put a strain on the load of the engine causing the RPM's to increase making the car feel more "loaded" than it really is supposed to be.
4) Lastly check for bad spark plugs. If the plug gap has become too great, or one plug is defunct, it will cause the engine to run hard.
SPONSORED LINKS
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 AT 5:30 PM
