3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
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This has been a strange problem that only happens when I drive on a puddle of water. There's a strong vibration under the driver seat and seems like the transmission was shifted to neutral as it does not accelerate. And the more I press on the accelerator, the stronger the vibration. It will stay like this for a good 5 seconds maybe more, before it runs normally again. THe car behind me would brake hard sometimes because I would slow down without braking.
I read an article at Edmunds.com regarding a 1997 test car they were reviewing/driving with a similar problem but they didn't know what the problem was.
Has anything like this happened to other owners? Does anybody have a hint of what's going on with the transmission? This has been mystery as people from Toyota never found anything wrong during service. Thank you for reading and hopefully you can comment and find a solution.
No. Imagine you're approaching a bridge at say, 40mph. Just before the climb there's a puddle or water on the road and drive thru it. After the water you start your climb (so this is the dry areas now), then you feel very strong vibrations beneath you and no matter how hard you press the gas, the vibration just gets stronger and you lose your speed because it's like the car is in neutral now and you start decelarating quickly because of the climb. Again, this only happens AFTER I hit the water that soaks the engine or something. I've experienced hydroplaning before and it's nothing like that.
"More troubling was an odd grumbling and vibration coming from beneath the car when it was driven on soaking wet roadways. We heard this on four different occasions during different times of the year, and never solved this mystery."
So this is a similar problem that I have but with mine, I lose the accelaration for a few seconds. Which could be scary when a Semi-trailer is close behind you.
at what speeds does this occur and how deep are those puddles?
It happens at different speeds but the stronger the vibration when faster, just like when you're trying to rev your engine when parked or neutral, the higher the RPMs the stronger the vibrations. The depth of the water varies as well. If it's enough to soak something underneath, that triggers it. So the feeling is like you accidentally switched to neutral and you are sitting on a massage chair. So I really think that, the water is soaking an area underneath causing the transmission to miss or something. What a weird problem!
interesting...does this only occur when going up hill after the water though?
and it almost sounds as though the engine is close to stalling from lack of air or a bad/no MAF reading and you try to press the accelerator to keep it alive
it could be possible that water is getting into your intake and your maf doesn't like it
if you get the opportunity to pick up a used maf sensor, you can try swapping that out. this is just a guess here.
what are the characteristics of the rpms when this occurs?
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Has this ALWAYS happened, or is it a new occurance? How long have you had this car?
I've had the car since 1998. But when it occured back then, the service department couldn't find anything wrong. There is something under the car that gets soaked that triggers this. It doesn't happen at every puddle I hit, maybe because the problem area doesn't get soaked all the time. A hit or miss.
interesting...does this only occur when going up hill after the water though?
and it almost sounds as though the engine is close to stalling from lack of air or a bad/no MAF reading and you try to press the accelerator to keep it alive
it could be possible that water is getting into your intake and your maf doesn't like it
if you get the opportunity to pick up a used maf sensor, you can try swapping that out. this is just a guess here.
what are the characteristics of the rpms when this occurs?
It could happen anywhere. The RPMs are just like in Park or Neutral. I try to accelarate but to no avail. So the needle would probably go up to 3K or even 4K. I was not able to really observe the gauge as my attention usually is on the road.
I'll check my intake for possibllity of water seepage/contamination. I'm sure it's a part that gets drenched only with a great amount of water splashing in the engine area.
interesting...does this only occur when going up hill after the water though?
and it almost sounds as though the engine is close to stalling from lack of air or a bad/no MAF reading and you try to press the accelerator to keep it alive
it could be possible that water is getting into your intake and your maf doesn't like it
if you get the opportunity to pick up a used maf sensor, you can try swapping that out. this is just a guess here.
what are the characteristics of the rpms when this occurs?
By the way, Eye8Pussies, the car doesn't appear to be stalling at all. Just like I mentioned, it's like accidentally shifting to neutral while driving but with vibrations getting stronger as you increase rpms.
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Camry Vibrations when driving on puddles
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