Saturn shaking when accelerating?

Question

I'm having a problem with my 2002 Saturn SL2...

Back story:
We had an alignment done approximately one week ago. At the same time, had a tie rod replaced. Car was driving perfectly. Then, drove from Florida to Kentucky... car did perfectly the entire way until we stopped for gas the last time. Immediately after returning to the interstate after re-fueling, it began shaking violently when we accellerated past 45mph. Pulled over, no flat tire, nothing noticeably wrong. 

I was told (by several people) that most likely it was a tank of bad gas that we received at that last station. However, we drove the gas down to approximately 1/8 tank, added a bottle of Heet (as was recommended by above people), and re-filled the tank with fresh gas, as well as replaced the air filter. 

However, nothing seems to have changed. Now...
-The car will shake (though not the gear shift or the steering wheel independently... the entire car... so, thus-far all have ruled out a problem with the mechanics of the wheels/etc. themselves) once we hit approximately 40mph. It is fine at lower speeds, and only really noticeable at higher speed and at 4th and 5th gears. 
-At 40mph, if I take my foot off the gas, it continues shaking, stops when I push in the clutch.
-At 45+, it shakes only when the gas is pushed... if I let off the gas, the shaking stops. 

Any ideas? I'm at a complete loss... asking on here, as we can't get it into the shoppe until Monday morning.

Boe · Accepted Answer

The three things I would look at or have replaced are. Upper engine mount, Lower engine mount and transmission mount.  The mounts on these cars use rubber to resist vibration. And its a common problem on ALL saturns.  True the aftermarket one are not as good as OEM. But I cant complain with the ones from Autozone. Even if they last a year. I could care less, they have life time warranty, and take about 20 mins to change. 
The other thing on these cars that cause problems is dirty EGR valves. They are cleanable. Look on youtube for saturn repairs under a guy called Richpin. Good videos and good information on how to solve or fix the problems.

? · Answer

Possibly the engine mounts.  Also why you are in there replace the electronic coolant temperature sensor (less then $15 at an auto store).  The sensor was originally plastic which will crack and cause your car to have all sorts of other problems.  The later ones are all brass.

Check out the HowTo section here http://www.saturnfans.com/forums (just scroll down).

If the mounts go bad the engine could eventually snap them and destroy itself (imagine it spinning around in the engine bay).

And if it is the mounts only get them from the dealership as the after-market ones are apparently crap.

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Saturn shaking when accelerating?

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