My car starts to jerk when accelerator is being pressed/stepped on : which components / parts to look into

Could this be due to me using the cigarette lighter to charge my powerbanks
while driving (ie engine is On) a lot ?

No, it's not due to your using the cigarette lighter to charge your powerbanks.

You do not ask the mechanic to look into any particular part of the car.  You describe the symptom to the mechanic (jerking on acceleration).  It's HIS (or her) job to diagnose the problem and determine what system(s) to look into.

car starts to jerk when the accelerator is being stepped on while at low speed: above 60km/hr, it doesn't jerk anymore.

There are a couple of causes that come to mind.

1. Fuel blockage. Check the gas line filters and replace them. Plugged or constricted filters can cause this and higher speed requires more fuel.

2. Engine computer could be malfunctioning, although this is less likely.

Get the mechanic to drive the car so he can SEE and FEEL the symptom.

I'd suspect the automatic transmission myself but it could be almost anything from engine problems to a sticky brake piston.  Which is why you get the mechanic to drive the car.

Mechanic says it's  "engine mounting" needs to be replaced : we'll see in 6 hours' time after
replacing the mounting to see if this symptom still persists

> I drove a last 2.5 months : Uber driving
    should read
I drove a lot the last 2.5 months due to Uber driving.


As my mechanic is charging US$520 (which I find it rather costly as I'm seeing some other local
workshops indicating online for US$250) for the four mounts plus another US$40 of labor to replace
them, I'll test drive after the various parts (spark plugs, engine flushing, major servicing of every 40000
servicing is done) to see if the 'coughing / vibration' is still there.  I've personally encountered too
many local mechanics that just change parts that are not faulty which costed me an arm & a leg.

Was told the spark plugs have turned "white"/burnt : maybe the misfirings caused the jerks/
coughing at low speeds ?

I read online that if mounts wear off, even when stationary with engine On, we'll feel the vibrations/jerks
but I don't though my mechanic told me there's some "noises" that he's hearing while stationary

Is there any way that we could insert "gaskets" to replace the worn out rubber to
reduce this vibration/jerking while at low speeds?

What's the harm/implications if it's not replaced?  Will it caused some other damages?
I thought of deferring it a few days till I get another much lower-cost workshop

I did not get the engine mounts changed: requested the mechanic to do the 40,000 major servicing,
replaced the spark plugs, did an engine flush with rotor discs changed:

voila the big vibrations (which feel like the engine is going to shut off) are gone but there's tiny
vibrations when stationary or at low speeds which is hardly noticeable.

I believe the engine mounts are worn but this certainly is not the cause of the big vibrations (sort
of bad misfirings), only the minor ones which I can live with.

Thing about my regular mechanic is : rather than doing part by part isolation, they would rather
change as many parts as possible to ensure the culprit is fixed.  Once a part is installed/replaced,
they would not want to take it out again: they warn me in advance that once they've replaced
the mounts, they're not going to take it out as it's too much of an effort.

Well, I told them after doing the servicing & the low-cost spark plugs, engine flushing & disc rotor
replacements, if I still get the bad shakings, then only replace : right choice

Btw, What's the harm/implications if worn mounts are not replaced?  Will it caused some other damages?

Thanks;  as the vibrations is rather mild, I'll just get it changed a couple of weeks later at a
cheaper workshop.  This car is due to be scrapped (by our local regulations) in 3 years.

The LCD panel was not properly fitted so I went back today & told the lead mechanic that
the bad shakings are gone: his take this time was it's likely the gear box fluid replacement
(as part of the 40,000km major servicing which my car is truly due) fixed the shakings.

Just one last query:

I read somewhere that Honda Airwave is a replica of Honda Fit, only the body chassis is different
(ie engine & other internal parts are the same).

I plan to order the engine mount online, so would a Honda Fit engine mount or Honda Civic 1.5litre below fit?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Engine-Motor-Transmission-Mount-Automatic-Fit-Honda-Fit-50805-SAA-982-4537-/151460888042?hash=item2343c5bdea:g:Z1gAAOSwLa9UVIP8&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Engine-Mount-DEA-TTPA-A6503-fits-88-91-Honda-Civic-1-5L-L4-/252300101852?hash=item3abe4208dc:g:atwAAOSwFNZWz5dX&vxp=mtr

> Shop for a kit if you can.
Does the 1st (ie the eBay) link includes a kit?
I can't seem to locate it.  If you have a link for
the kit, would be nice to share

How much are you going to save by ordering the parts online?

If you order the parts online, and there is a failure or problem after installation, the shop will blame the parts you ordered: "they must not have been genuine"; "what do you expect from eBay?"; etc.

If you let the shop provide both parts and labor, they cannot lay the blame at someone else's feet if there is trouble after the work is done.

So unless you are saving a LOT of money by ordering online, the savings may not be worth it.

No, I can't find any kits for the Airwave unfortunately.

Note akahan's advice above.

The workshop's price is US $520 (OEM mount) vs eBay's US $27.   Read somewhere tt there are ppl getting their parts online n got the workshops to do it

For sure this workshop has got it wrong when they first reckoned the huge shakings is due to engine mounts n the other changes fixed it.

Another alternative is for me to find time to drive to the country just to the immediate north about 35km away: labor cost there is about a third n parts cost is about half (sometimes I can get same brand battery cost for abt 60% the cost here)

Tho I hv good experiences with this workshop, I hv bad ones too: the OEM rotor discs they changed for me need to be replaced after ten months n tho they r less than 1 year, there is no warranty. The original discs tt come with the car lasted 6 years.

They reckoned the intermittent no-display of the reverse camera is a camera fault n they replaced with a $110 camera n I went back again twice till they decided to change the wirings at extra cost.

So I reckon it is worth to explore lower cost options for this engine mounts

Is that workshop price $520 for one mount or all the mounts?  Does it include labour?

That is the total cost for all the four mounts excluding labor. Add $120 for the labor.

Btw the workshop refused to take back the reverse camera tho the root cause is the wirings,citing tt I hv used it for 3 months

The eBay price $27 will be for just one mount then.

Yep, leave the country and find a cheaper repairer.