I have a 96' civic hatchback DX. Whenever I engage the clutch and start accelerating the car jerks back and forth until I pick up speed. Also when I let off the gas the car will jerk a little bit too. I have been told several things that it could be including: motor mounts, transmission, clutch and suspension. I was wondering if someone could give me some real insight of what it might be. I don't think it is the suspension because it doesn't bounce when I go over speed bumps. Also, the clutch does chatter when I first use it in the morning, but I am not sure this is the problem? Please Help!!

 

Motor mounts. You can either get inserts, or use the window glazing stuff to fill your inserts. There is a DIY somewhere on how to do it. I will try to find it and post it after I eat dinner.

 

it could also be the way yo uare driving, is this your first manual car

 

Here are two versions of making solid motor mounts

Hard Version

I like this one because it is much faster to do.

Easy Version

Hope it helps.

 

thanks I will look into that.

 

not to bring up a dead post but i had some similar behavior with my civic ('93 dx sedan). sometimes, when i let out the clutch in between the "slipping" stage and the "engagement" stage, I get what feels like engine/clutch hop. the front end of my car shakes. it's completely avoidable and i usually do but i'm just curious what is making it do this.

also, when i'm in first or sometimes second gear and going at low speeds and i let off the accelerator and then get on it again, i get a herky jerky movement until the speed picks up a little. What's with this?

thanks for your help.

 

You need to work the clutch and the gas a little bit to smooth it out while you are accelerating or changing gears. The herky jerky feel is fromyour engine about to stall out. Its pretty hard on engine and trans mounts.

 

ok, so it's normal? i don't feel the herky jerky on newer cars as much. just thought there was something wrong/different about my car.