about to break down. What's wrong? When I start to accelerate, the car seems to run okay, but the second I let go of the accelerator, the car makes loud grinding noises, some of which are random, and others seem like it is coming from the tires. The car did sit with no fuel in it for about a week. Basically, it just seems like the car is having trouble driving, but I was able to drive it back home without it breaking down, and can drive at any speeds, so long as I don't let go of the accelerator. That's when the car starts making noises and vibrating. It's a 1997 with 135,000 miles on it.