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I need to take my vehicle to a mechanic to diagnose a problem with a rough idle. How do I translate this term, "rough idle" to Spanish?

Explanation of "Rough idle"

Have you ever been told your car’s engine idles rough? Not exactly sure what that means? It’s likely you’ve experienced a rough idling vehicle – which just means the car feels rough and bouncy when the engine is running

Source: COMMON CAUSES OF A ROUGH IDLING ENGINE

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  • If the mechanic were Argentinean, you should tell him: "Hace ruido al regular."
    – Gustavson
    Commented Jan 22, 2019 at 18:50

4 Answers 4

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In Spain, "idle" is often translated as ralentí. Your car's condition could be translated as:

  • My car has a rough idle. -> Mi coche tiene un ralentí ruidoso. / Mi coche vibra cuando está al ralentí.
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    nunca había escuchado esta palabra... definitivamente no se usa en todas partes.
    – jachguate ♦
    Commented Feb 18, 2013 at 23:11
  • No es palabra usual en Argentina.
    – leonbloy
    Commented Oct 1, 2014 at 18:30
  • In regions where 'marchar en ralentí' isn't used, the phras 'marchar en vacío' may be an alternative.
    – jacobo
    Commented Jan 22, 2019 at 17:08
  • @leonbloy En Argentina se usa "regular" como opuesto a "acelerar". En los dos casos el motor está en marcha (no parado). El ruido o la vibración puede observarse cuando se regula o cuando se acelera.
    – Gustavson
    Commented Jan 22, 2019 at 17:43
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Unas búsquedas en Google revelan que una expresión común es también «ralentí inestable».

  • Ralentí inestable: 30.300 resultados.
  • Ralentí irregular: 5.100 resultados.
  • Ralentí ruidoso: 72 resultados.

Las búsquedas sobre «vibración» y «ralentí» también tienen muchos resultados, pero gran parte de ellos se refieren a vibraciones molestas de alta frecuencia del motor, las ventanas, la carrocería, etc. Me parece que Flimzy se refiere a que el contador de RPM del motor no se mantiene estable al ralentí, sino que oscila entre dos valores.

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I would say something like:

"El coche vibra cuando está parado."

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"Ralenti" is French, so no wonder the term is used in Spain where there is strong neighborly influence (even though Spaniards will deny it).

In Mexico I would use "neutral", and my guess is that this is quite generic. Automatic transmissions have "Neutral", but it is used also for stick-shift: when the engine is not engaged, you say "está en neutral".

I would suggest a descriptive approach when talking to your mechanic: "el coche hace ruido cuando está en neutral". This sound better than a word-by-word translation like "tiene una neutral ruidosa".

One last point. In Spanish the stress in "neutral" is in the last syllable: "neuTRAL" as opposed to English "NEUtral".

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