It was fine on the way there though. And I made it home, but I'm concerned about whether it'll make the half hour drive to my job.

Oooh, is it making a sort of popping sound as well? It might be the timing belt, in which case you can make it to work but you'll REALLY want to get that looked atl.

I didn't hear any weird noises.

Just the vibrating and it was really hard to gain any speed.

Hm,then it might be a spark plug or an issue with one of the pistons.

That's a tough call.

Though to be fair, if the issue IS one of those problems you might have issues getting it started again.

I don't know if it could be related, but my AC stopped working about 2 weeks ago. I just don't use it that much so I thought I'd get that fixed when inspection time came around.

The light can go off for any number of reasons, it really just tells you something is messed up in there. If it's jerky and resistant when accelerating, basically it's likely that something is slowing down

the internal combustion process

which could be a spark plug thing, a fuel line thing, a fuel injector thing... if you're not familiar with cars, you're definitely going to want to get someone who is to look into it

But the likely reasons for that kind of behavior aren't catastrophic enough that it's unsafe to make the drive to work or anything? I'd say it's most likely fine to go about your day, and

get it looked at soon but not this instant

I was mostly worried about whether it might break down on the way. Or that driving it might make the problem worse.

(The AC could be a separate problem, unless the whole problem is basically electrical)

Yeah, I get that. I wouldn't think it'd break down too immediately after getting the warning from the light, but I'm not a professional or anything,

...Question. Do you know how long it's been since the air filter was changed?

That was actually done last year.

Huh. Okay, that's one common explanation for that kind of problem ruled out :|a

I mean, unless you drive really a ton or in really dusty conditions or something

Not in the least. I actually really hate driving so I pretty much just drive locally and only when I have to.

/nods

Work is the farthest place I usually go.

But yeah, I guess tl;dr from what I know is "something's off with one of the elements necessary for combustion, could be more or less any of them, it's almost certainly safe to drive for now but get it

checked out soon if you can"

Hope it helps; like I said, I'm definitely a layman here, just one whose dad was insistent about us helping him do routine maintenance and stuff so we'd know how to

I still appreciate the advice. Thank you!

Just the check engine light by itself usually doesn't indicate something catastrophically wrong but we should probably drop it off tonight for service

You don't want to let it go like that for too long

Might be a good idea to call the dealership before you leave today and let them know we're dropping it off, even

I'm thinking I might call my parents and see if they can drive me to work. The way it was struggling to accelerate, I'm not too confident it'll make it that far.

Yeah that's probably a good call

You could actually have one of them take your car to Kia while the other drives you to work

Then they might be able to start working on it today, and if they need parts they can overnight them and have them tomorrow

guys at work who know cars think it might be the transmission, get it checked asap

or maybe the catalitic converter, don't risk driving it, breakdown is probably emminent

flutterpony: Let me know if your parents aren't available. If I really need to, I can take you in to work today.

okay

Call me if you need me

It sounds like transmission. I had a vibrating, hard to gain speed car the other day cause I knocked it down into a gear shift.

It makes the rpms spin out of control if you go to fast, if that gauge is in the red, most likely that

FullOfBees: It's fine. My dad is going to drive me.

Can you pick me up tonight though?

Okay!

See if they can get your car to Kia today too

Thanks! I'm done at 9pm

flutterpony: You need me to pick you up tonight?