Vibration

[lionheart03]

I have a 1991 Camry, 3SFE, automatic, 212K miles, with a vibration that has been getting worse over the last few months.

The vibration is there all of the time, to the point where the car makes annoying rattling sounds in the interior, especially when accelerating.

A little background info about car:

-Two motor mounts were replaced a year ago, the front one by the radiator and the mount by the timing belt. The replacements were purchased from Autozone.

-New spark plugs were installed recently,

-Motor seems to run real smooth, no misfires or anything, and the transmission shifts pretty good

- Motor idle is a little over 600 RPM.

More info about the problem:

-Has the same vibration at idle and at driving speeds, seem to worsen when accelerating.

-No strange noises other than the suspension is a little noisy when going over a bump.

-There is a very noticeable difference when switching the car from drive or park into neutral. The vibration is greatly reduced when in neutral.

-The vibration does not seem to be related to speed, it is the same from park to highway speeds.

A few things that I may try:

-Sea Foam the intake and vacuum hoses. Has been a long time since I did this, and I can recall that it made a big difference in performance and motor vibration when I tried this before. Last time was in 2009.

-Ignition timing, could this possibly be off?

-Worse case, I end up changing out remaining motor and transmission mounts. If I go this route, what is the best brad to buy?

I am open to any comments or suggestions! Thanks!

Jeremy

[Grego 92]

Did you inspect the rear motor mount and transmission mount (if you have them)? seems like you got the front and passenger side covered already.

The rear one for me (v6 - 2vz-fe) was the one causing the most vibration during acceleration.

[Doctor J]

I had the similar situation before I discovered a center motor mount nuts were not installed
Make sure that the exhaust is not touching the body.
I am also questioning a quality of cheap motor mounts

[lionheart03]

Doctor J, which motor mount is the "center" mount?

I am going to try the cheap and easy things like the Seafoam first to rule out a engine problem, and will inspect the other mount when I have the car in my friends garage this weekend.

[Grego 92]

Oh yeah..the ugly center mount, that one was a bad one for me. Check this link, it looks the same on both engines. You also have a rear you should check also.

Center Engine/Motor Mount 90' 2.5L V6

[lionheart03]

Hmmm. I recall looking at that transmission mount this spring while doing some exhaust work, and remember making a comment about how rough it looked. I may go ahead and replace it just to be safe.

Best to stick with OEM for motor mounts? The cheap and available solution would be from Autozone down the street, any experience with these cheap mounts?

[Grego 92]

Remember the transmission mount is different than the center mount.

You have a right side, front, center, rear, and transmission mount (left).

Go to toyotapartseast.com and look up your car, then choose "mounting" and click the button that brings up the image. It will display an image of all your mounts.

[lionheart03]

Replaced the center mount, it came off in two pieces!



The car is a bit quieter now, but it still has a nasty vibration. Going to keep working on it today and try to get this thing riding smooth again