# Gas pedal shake



## vantage08 (Jul 23, 2013)

Hey guys I don't know if this is common in these cars but my 2011 has a odd shake in the gas pedal during acceleration sometimes. Any ideas?:dazed002:


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

I used to feel this.

Running higher octane fuel (89 or 93 vs 87) helps the 1.4T immensely.

Take out your spark plugs and gap them to .033". From the factory, all/most were gapped UNDER .025" (lower than the spec). 

Those two should make your car perform a little better and run a little smoother.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Describe the shake. Is it a pulsing feel? If so, you are feeling the car's anti-knock features and jblackburn's recommendations are the best solution. Even if this isn't what you're feeling doing as jblackburn suggested will help your car.


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## CRUZEEE (Aug 17, 2013)

When I accelerate in my 2011 I feel a shake/shimmy only in first. Its on like light/mid acceleration and does not happen all the time but its frequent enough to notice it. Almost feels like how my Gtp was when lowered. Brought it too the dealer 3 times no one feels it but me. My gf never feels it. But I go on a ride with buddies and they feel it in the front end. They balanced the two front tires said it fixed it. I just laughed and said okay. They said they relearned the transmission because it has adaptive learning...still didn't fix it. I'm just getting a run around pretty much. 


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

How many miles on your cruze? Is it an automatic? Mine had this very strange shimmy/shake out of balance feeling when on the gas the first few seconds at low RPMs(below 2500RPM), Slowly over time this feeling went completely away with nothing done to correct it. Seemed to happen every time I got on it when I had less than 8,000 miles on my cruze premium gas or not. 

I'm guessing this is was some sort of torque management by the trans since it went away on its own.



EDIT: I should add that this feeling really only happened at slow speeds, not on the highway. I could feel it most in 5th say going 30mph when I needed to accelerate up to 40mph, the wobbliness would last the first few seconds when on the gas them smooth out.


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## CRUZEEE (Aug 17, 2013)

spacedout said:


> How many miles on your cruze? Is it an automatic? Mine had this very strange shimmy/shake out of balance feeling when on the gas the first few seconds at low RPMs(below 2500RPM), Slowly over time this feeling went completely away with nothing done to correct it. Seemed to happen every time I got on it when I had less than 8,000 miles on my cruze premium gas or not.
> 
> I'm guessing this is was some sort of torque management by the trans since it went away on its own.
> 
> ...


If your referring that to me mine has 22k on it. Automatic. I only notice it from a take off at a stop sign or stop light. I run premium. Vantage have you taken this to the dealer yet? I would be curious to see what they say could be your issue. Might take mine in Thursday and see what the new dealer says. 


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

spacedout said:


> EDIT: I should add that this feeling really only happened at slow speeds, not on the highway. I could feel it most in 5th say going 30mph when I needed to accelerate up to 40mph, the wobbliness would last the first few seconds when on the gas them smooth out.





> When I accelerate in my 2011 I feel a shake/shimmy only in first. Its on like light/mid acceleration and does not happen all the time but its frequent enough to notice it.


To be honest, both of those sound like bad inner CV joints on the axles.

If you accelerate hard on the highway, do you feel any shaking?


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## CRUZEEE (Aug 17, 2013)

jblackburn said:


> To be honest, both of those sound like bad inner CV joints on the axles.
> 
> If you accelerate hard on the highway, do you feel any shaking?


This is exactly what I said and the service writer looked at like I was an alien. Mine only happens at a stop, I never notice it any other time. 


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

jblackburn said:


> To be honest, both of those sound like bad inner CV joints on the axles.
> 
> If you accelerate hard on the highway, do you feel any shaking?


Mine never did on the hwy, it was only noticeable at low RPM when you first went to accelerate for a few seconds. It stopped doing it before 10,000 miles and I now have 30,000.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

CRUZEEE,

You said that you are taking your vehicle in to a new dealership on Thursday. If you would like for us to contact the dealership on your behalf, please let us know. You can send me a private message including your name, VIN, address, phone number, and name of your GM dealership. Look forward to hearing from you. 

Erica Tiffany
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## CRUZEEE (Aug 17, 2013)

Chevy Customer Service said:


> CRUZEEE,
> 
> You said that you are taking your vehicle in to a new dealership on Thursday. If you would like for us to contact the dealership on your behalf, please let us know. You can send me a private message including your name, VIN, address, phone number, and name of your GM dealership. Look forward to hearing from you.
> 
> ...


Stuff came up I'm going to take it in next week. I will send you a pm then. Thank you!


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

OK Cruzeee

We will be here whenever you need us. Hope you are having a great week.

Jackie
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## JeffBazell (Jan 24, 2012)

You're correct, CRUZEEE. Many of us felt it and we called it a 'wobble.' Most felt it during light to moderate acceleration in 2nd gear. It's a transaxle problem that GM is aware of but never did a recall. I noticed it at about 500 miles, brought to dealer but they didn't feel it, of course. But it's there. My fingers shake on the wheel, my keys jingle in the ignition. It's there, alright. Now to see if GM will recall.


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## Dale_K (Jul 16, 2011)

I don't know specifically about the Cruze, but my Ram pickup is known for a vibration in the gas pedal and the cause is a bad torque converter. If all the Cruze with the problem are automatics it tend to confirm a transmission problem.


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## eljackso (Apr 23, 2011)

My 2011 Eco M6 is doing the exact same thing; first started noticing it around 40k and has steadily gotten worse up to now (55k). At first I thought tires, so balanced and rotated the OEM Goodyears; that made no real difference and now it's really noticeable when going through left hand curves in the 25-55mph range and definitely gets louder the longer the car is driven. I'm definitely leaning towards the CV joints being the culprit as it gets worse with driving time and curves, but the wobble also makes me wonder about the clutch pressure plate, too. I'm putting new tires on next month, so if it is still there it looks like I'll be doing CV joints and checking the wheel bearings (keeping my fingers crossed that it isn't the clutch). 99% of my mileage is on relatively smooth/straight interstate (drive about 100 miles each day to and from work) so I am fairly ticked off to likely be looking at bearing replacements at 55k...


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

eljackso said:


> My 2011 Eco M6 is doing the exact same thing; first started noticing it around 40k and has steadily gotten worse up to now (55k). At first I thought tires, so balanced and rotated the OEM Goodyears; that made no real difference and now it's really noticeable when going through left hand curves in the 25-55mph range and definitely gets louder the longer the car is driven. I'm definitely leaning towards the CV joints being the culprit as it gets worse with driving time and curves, but the wobble also makes me wonder about the clutch pressure plate, too. I'm putting new tires on next month, so if it is still there it looks like I'll be doing CV joints and checking the wheel bearings (keeping my fingers crossed that it isn't the clutch). 99% of my mileage is on relatively smooth/straight interstate (drive about 100 miles each day to and from work) so I am fairly ticked off to likely be looking at bearing replacements at 55k...


Doesn't sound like a clutch or axles, but your wheel bearings do sound suspect...


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