Why does my car rev fine in Park and neutral but when you go to drive it it boggs down and the gauges go crazy but no check engine light or anthing comes on Any ideas?

Answer 1

I'm not a mechanic...and my ability to fix cars is limited, however, I recently replaced the battery in my 2003 Sable station wagon. After I did so, the owner's manual indicated I had to follow certain procedures when I started the car so that the car would "relearn" it's idle settings. It sounds to me as if you car has lost some of its idle settings. So, my suggestion is that you check your owner's manual to see if it provides a procedure . If it does,

1) Start your car and make sure all electronic items (radio, AC, etc) are off;

2) Disconnect your battery cables and wait 5-10 minutes;

3) Reconnect the battery and follow the steps in owners manual.

If you don't have an owner's manual, you can try the following steps (which were in mine 2003 manual).

1. With the car in park, and the emergency brake on, start your car.

2. Allow the car to idle until the temperature gage is at is "normal" reading (e.g., the car has warmed up). Note: when I changed my battery, my car had just been driven for about 20 minutes, and so it was already "warmed up". So, I let it run for a several minutes, after which the RPM's (idle) dropped significantly.

2. Turn on the A/C and let the car idle for at least a minute

3. With the A/C on, depress the brake peddle, place the car into drive and let the car idle for at least 1 minute.

4. Now drive the car for at least 10 miles without turning off the engine.

Once you have completed this process, your car will have "relearned" its idle settings. I hope this helps.