1996 Camry V6 Problem - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

redracer_13 · 05-15-2007, 01:21 AM

Hi,

I currently own a 1996 Toyota Vienta (the 4cyl were called the camry & the vienta was the V6 in aus) Auto.
In australia we never got the 1mz-fe engine on the gen 3's we were left with the 3vz-fe.

Well, the problem started a few months back......Sometimes i will start my car, put it in drive and every once in a while we may feel a small jerk/thud.. this happens when we are stationary at the lights, moving very slowly...i think its only 1's gear this happens but once i shift from drive to neutral then back the problem seems to go away msot of the time.

Everytime the car thuds the revs drop very slightly and then return. Sometimes the thud is harder than usual and other times it is quite frequent.

The car has done only 160000kms and we have cleaned the fuel filter and serviced the tranny (flush, etc.) and given it is general service within the last 1000kms.

Im hoping we dont need a new transmission or something & hope its only a small problem.

Any help will be appreciated

dc_98_cam · 05-15-2007, 02:24 AM

Thudding reminds me of engine mounts .... worn, broken, loose. ... Not sure where they are located on the V6, but you might inspect/shake/shift around and see if anything is obviously wrong

redracer_13 · 05-15-2007, 02:26 AM

well thanks for the quick reply.

i will have to tell the mechanic this weekend 2 have a look.. i let everyone know after...

davemac2 · 05-15-2007, 01:02 PM

When you say you feel a small jerk or thud, it sounds like maybe you are experiencing a rough downshift or even late downshift since you feel it when stationary. It may be in the transmission itself, or it may be a sticking throttle pressure cable, sticking shift solenoid, etc. Other things to have checked would be the TPS (Throttle position sensor) or the vehicle speed sensor in the transmission. Is the O/D light blinking at all? If the problem cannot be found, the next thing to do is a full trans diagnosis including road test, stall test, line pressure test.

dave mc

redracer_13 · 05-16-2007, 03:03 AM

hey thanks 4 the quick reply

well i dont think its to do with downshifting or upshifting..even if im slighly rolling forward 30 seconds later or have been sitting stationary for 10 minutes it still jerks at random times. i also noticed it jerks in reverse, neutral & drive...i dont know if this makes much difference.

Someone also told me it could be the transmission or engine mounts.. is this completely wrong or is this possible.

thanks for ur help

***ASG14*** · 05-16-2007, 11:25 AM

Check the front center mount (Under the exhause header), and the Dogbone mount that connects to the strut tower. Those are the common ones.

~Adam

Venom_5 · 05-16-2007, 12:45 PM

if youre saying the thud happens when you put it into drive, it could be the tranny shifting ...

my friend has a car that does this [its much worse when he puts it in Reverse]

otherwise, yeah - could be some shot mounts

redracer_13 · 05-17-2007, 12:53 AM

Well it seems 2 shift properly into drive, reverse etc..... it just randomly occurs while the car is running at a low speed or stationary until i stop the car

redracer_13 · 10-12-2007, 06:54 AM

Hi Again,

Well a few months later the problem is fixed... There was a crack in one of the spark plug leads which was causing a short. The mechanic replaced the leads, new spark plugs etc. now it is running like the day it left the production line.

Well thanks for all your feedback over the past months....

Unco · 10-12-2007, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redracer_13

Hi Again,

Well a few months later the problem is fixed... There was a crack in one of the spark plug leads which was causing a short. The mechanic replaced the leads, new spark plugs etc. now it is running like the day it left the production line.

Well thanks for all your feedback over the past months....

that's great that the problem was found and it was a relatively cheap fix. thanks heaps for letting us know. most people don't bother posting back with the final outcome.

cheers

xtremeskier97 · 10-12-2007, 10:42 AM

I had a similar problem on my 92 Accord...except I was getting the jerking and stuff when I would step on the gas hard (more spark going through at WOT). Took me forever to find out what was causing it...but it ended up being a spark plug wire. There was a 'crack' in it that you could barely see, and the crack was down in the plug tube..so the spark was coming out of the wire and hitting the tube wall...instead of going to the spark plug.