Have you ever noticed a certain kind of a jerk in your car when slowing down? This can happen due to factors such as an imbalance in the air-fuel mixture, malfunctioned braking system, or clogged air-fuel filters. There can be multiple components of a car that might be responsible for this problem, so the best thing to do is to troubleshoot this problem and identify the cause of it.
We have listed the reasons for this problem that might be causing this issue to sustain in your car and the solutions to the following problems.
Table of Contents
Car jerks when slowing down: Reasons
This problem of car jerking can easily be observed; look for frequent vibrations as soon as you apply your car brakes or when you are gradually decreasing the speed. You can also get this checked by a mechanic if you are confirmed about the issue.
Well, for those who want to know the reason behind this problem that is hampering their driving experience then here are some of the reasons that might potentially cause this issue to exist:
🚗 Faulty transmission
Other than brakes and accelerator. Transmission in a car is one of the critical components that contributes majorly to accelerating or slowing down a vehicle. It means the upshifting or the downshifting of the gears of a car.
If these go malfunctioned, then you would not have the correct downshifting or the corresponding upshifting of the gears properly, which will then result in jerking of the car.
🚗 Worn-out clutch
This can also act as a potential cause of the problem you are facing. A Clutch is an integral part of a car. But these can be worn out as these are used daily as soon as you set to drive these came into play weather it is downshifting or upshifting of gears and when you are reversing your car or starting it.
When operating with a worn-out clutch, as soon as you press it to alter the gear, your clutch pad won’t respond correctly, and hence you will feel a certain jerk while slowing down.
🚗 Faulty or worn mounts
Engine mounts are responsible for keeping the engine at a certain place while the car is in motion because it can happen that the position of the car engine shifts. It can also cause vibration or jerks because the engine now won’t be stable at a particular position you can easily notice this as you slow down your vehicle.
🚗 Damaged coils
A coil pack is responsible for generating the power from the car’s battery to convert it into a spark for ignition or, at times, the functioning of a car. Excessive heat and frequent vibrations can cause the coil packs to go wrong. When these coil packs get corrupted, there is a slight probability you will experience jerking while slowing down your car.
🚗 Bad throttle body
wonder how the air comes into your car system for the ignition and other processes? Well, it is made available by the throttle body of a car; a good throttle body will ensure a good air-fuel mixture for ignition and ensure the better working of a car, whereas a bad throttle body will disturb the air-fuel mixture of the car.
🚗 Faulty MAF meter
MAF is responsible for showing the reading of the calculated amount of air entering the engine for the combustion process. When these go wrong, it is a high chance that you will experience issues when your car is at lower speed resulting in jerking of the car.
Car jerks when slowing down: Solution
This section will discuss all the solutions to the issues that might be responsible for the jerking of your car when you are slowing down. Remember to troubleshoot your car and look for specific symptoms to know what the real cause of the problem is, then take a call for the corresponding solutions.
🚗 Check the MAF of the car
Inspect your car’s MAF (Mass air flow) sensor and look for rust wires because it might be possible that faulty wires may cause the MAF to malfunction. If you see a lot of dirt and debris clogged at the air filter, try to clean it using an air blower but remember not to touch the MAF sensor while cleaning it as this might disturb the alignment of the sensitive and thin wires in the MAF sensor and cause it to further damage.
If you cannot figure out what to do in such cases, or you don’t have enough exposure to interact with the inner parts of a car directly, then consider consulting a mechanic to deal with this issue.
🚗 Repair the braking pads of the car
This symptom is pretty easy to check; just notice if there is a delay in stopping your car while applying the brakes. In this case, it might be quite dangerous also, as it is never advised to drive a car with faulty brakes.
Never attempt to drive a car with a worn-out break because you might know when the braking pads might go fully worn out, and your car will lose its braking power; moreover, this can lead to serious accidents.
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Look for a replacement of the braking pads as soon as you suspect this problem is in your car. This is quite dangerous to deal with so let the mechanic handle this issue.
🚗 Check the transmission services
The transmission system plays an integral role in slowing down or accelerating a car because this also alters the car’s speed. Suppose you wish to slow down your car, then you would first hit the brakes gently to decrease the car’s speed and then downshift the gears coordinating with the speed of your car.
But if your transmission system is not working properly, you would not be able to shift the gears properly, and hence there would be a slight jerking while slowing down your car.
In this case, you should consider a mechanic because a car’s transmission system is very complex and hard to deal with. So your best bet, in this case, might be consulting a mechanic.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why does my car keep jerking when I brake?
☑️ Worn out brake rotors.
☑️ Faulty MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensor.
☑️ The problem in the transmission system.
☑️ Leakage in the transmission fluids.
These factors are very certain to cause this issue. Troubleshoot your car to know the exact reason for this problem.
Why does my car jerk when accelerating and decelerating?
Can transmission cause the car to jerk?
Does a dirty air filter cause your car to jerk?
Which impacts the combustion process in the engine as there is not an appropriate amount of air available to burn the fuel it will cause the unburned fuel to remain in the engine itself.
This residue then mounts on the spark plug tips and disrupts the working of the spark plugs making them not deliver the correct amount of spark. This all can be collectively seen in the jerking of your car.
Is it safe to drive a jerking car?
Conclusion
It might be tricky for you to know the reason for the jerking of your car. Sometimes you are slowing down; try troubleshooting this issue by observing your driving patterns. Do not try to engage in driving at higher speeds while your car is sustaining this issue, as this might get you into accidents and can harm others as well.
