Engine shakes at idle and idles down and dies

[Euroz33]

Engine shakes violently, idles and slowly dies out & smokes.Conclusion: Blown Head gasket would make it smoke but not idle & shake.. so maybe? Maybe spark plug's for the bad idle but dont explain the shake & smoke. (There are NO leaks) I did change out the thermostat , the old one was dead, so maybe it blew the head gasket? which would explain the smoke but not the shake and bad idle.. Friday a mail man hit me while i was trying to pass him and since then i've been having the idle and shake problem.. Maybe the stupid idiot knocked one of my motor mounts off that makes it shake and idle bad? But wouldnt explain the smoke? would it??

-Please help me, I've done research and I'm still not sure of it cause it seems like 2 problems at once but i dont know it could be one and i'm in the wrong thinking spot..
Modified by Euroz33 at 7:14 PM 4/12/2010

[rps13ka]

i had about the same symptoms for my car too and my problem was the MAFS (mass air-flow sensor). if you didnt tighten up the air filter chamber tight enough last time you opened it, or prolly just build up of dirt from over the years, then debris gets caught on the sensors and throws off your air/fuel ratio. hence the violent shaking and the stalling. its the big metal piping in the air intake pipe by the air filter. when you remove the mafs, you'll see two (2) tiny needles above the big ring opening. those two needles are the sensors and need to be cleaned. just pick up a can of MAFS cleaner from any autoparts store for about $5~$7 and spray that bad boy down nice and generously and let dry. it dries quickly so afterwards, bolt it back up, make SURE your air filter chamber is NICE AND TIGHT so this doesn't happen again and fire it up! see how it goes from there and let me know how this works out for you. now for some icons!!!!

[shiro_neko]

also check that the connector of you AAC if its connected properly. I lost the the staple on mine and sometimes it gets loose with just racing the engine

[rioredstang]

Pull the plugs out and check compression. I think you have a head gasket. Let us know what the cylinders read and we will help.