 | Brakes | Description |
|
|
| | Brake fade | Stopping distance seems to increase, causing longer braking distance, similar to braking at high speeds |
| | Low brake pedal | Brake pedal must be pushed unusually far to engage brakes |
| | Brake pedal pulsation | Brake pedal fluctuates while brakes are applied |
| | Grabs | Vehicle has a tendency to move right or left when brakes are applied; brakes engage suddenly when applying steady pressure to brake pedal |
 | Engine | Description |
|
|
| | Cuts out | Temporary complete loss of power. Engine quits at irregular intervals. May occur repeatedly or intermittently, usually under heavy acceleration. |
| | Detonation | Mild to severe pings, usually worse under acceleration. Sounds like popcorn popping. |
| | Dieseling | Engine runs after ignition switch is turned off. Runs unevenly and may make knocking noises. |
| | Hesitation | Momentary lack of response as accelerator is pressed. Can occur at any speed. Usually most severe when starting from complete stop. May cause engine to stall. |
| | Miss | Pulsation or jerking that changes with engine speed. Exhaust has a steady spitting sound at idle or low speed. Not normally felt above 30 mph. |
| | Rough idle | Engine runs unevenly at idle. Car may also shake. |
| | Sluggish | Engine delivers limited power under load or at high speed. Won't accelerate as fast as normal. Loses speed going up hills. Vehicle has less speed than normal. |
| | Spongy | Little or no increase in speed when accelerator is pushed down. Continuing to push pedal down will eventually give an increase in speed. |
| | Stall | Engine stops running or dies out. May occur at idle or while driving. |
| | Surge | Vehicle speeds up and slows down with no change on accelerator pedal. Can occur at any speed. |
 | Steering & Handling | Description |
| | Bottoming | Suspension moves to extreme end of travel and hits compression bumpers. Feels like a heavy thud. |
| | Excessive play | Steering wheel must be turned unusually far before vehicle responds. |
| | Hard steering | Vehicle difficult to steer, especially during parking situations or when first started. |
| | Pulls | Vehicle moves to one side when steering wheel is released. |
| | Shimmy | Rapid side-to-side motion of both front wheels felt in steering wheel. |
| | Sway/pitching | Mushy or spongy ride; vehicle takes a long time to recover from bumps in the road. |
| | Vibration | Vehicle shakes. |
| | Wanders | Vehicle meanders, requiring frequent steering adjustments to maintain direction. |
 | Odors & Stains | Description |
| |
| | Antifreeze or coolant leak | Sweet odor, usually accompanied by steam from under the hood. |
| | Axle leaks | Black stains with heavy, thick consistency. |
| | Burning oil | Thick, heavy odor, sometimes accompanied by smoke from under the hood or from the exhaust |
| | Coolant streaks | Yellow, green, pink, or orange stains that are lighter and thinner than oil. |
| | Crankcase, oil, power-steering fluid leaks | Brownish stains |
| | Electrical short | Acrid odor, like burned toast |
| | Emission | Contigious, heavy sulfur odor like rotten eggs |
| | Overheated brakes or clutch | Burning rubber odor |
| | Overheating | Hot, metallic odor usually accompanied by antifreeze/coolant odor. |
| | Transmission oil leaks | Reddish stains |
