Vibration when in drive and foot on brake - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Z-Thrizzle · 07-11-2010, 06:26 PM

When I would stop at a light the car would vibrate. The vibration is not extreme but I don't think it's normal. To avoid this vibration sometimes I put the car in neutral at stop lights. What might be causing this? The camry is a 4 cylinder.

ps_outrage · 07-11-2010, 06:40 PM

need more info, is it the engine vibrating or the front end like maybe it the rotors or brakes, im confused. If you believe it has something to do with engine, clean TB, and check vacuum lines

khanhstar · 07-11-2010, 08:31 PM

Pooor guy id hate to be the one breaking this to you...
minor vibrations while on stop means either two things.
Your MAJORLY low on oil or BLOW HEAD GASKET! DOH!

its one or the other. i bet when u start from cold theres no shakes just it happens randomly sometimes right? check your radiator theres probably oil residue in there aswell. BL
(btw i know this because i did it aswell and same exact problems hahha bl bl)

Chris Crash · 07-11-2010, 08:37 PM

Check your dogbone mount.

ps_outrage · 07-11-2010, 09:26 PM

blown head not always the case, there could be a 100 reasons why it vibrates. bad engine mounts could cause vibration, vacuum leak, clogged EGR, blown intake gasket. and more...
ive seen about a hundred posts on here relating to vibrations. I had a 89 camry once that vibrated alot and a never found out what causes this, but it was not a blown head. Ive noticed with toyota that after time they lose stable idle, or begin to vibrate.
At OP, if you have a blown head one other way to find out is to watch you RPM gauge to see if it idles up and down alot, also check coolent and oil, check to see if your oil looks like a milk shake. White smoke from tail pipe is another sign.

Mike Gerber · 07-12-2010, 09:33 AM

Some vibration at idle is normal for this generation (1992-1996) Camry 4 cylinder 5SFE engine. Unless the vibration is extreme or came on suddenly, when it didn't vibrate before this, I would consider it normal. I am the original owner of a 94 Camry 4 cylinder 5SFE engine and the car has had a slight vibration at idle since new. When new I complained to the dealership back then they had me drive several other new Camry 4 cylinder cars and they all did it once they warmed up and the idle settled at it's normal warm idle.

Mike

the_professional · 07-13-2010, 05:48 PM

Its good to be in the neighborhood again, Mike & Chris of course holding things down here.

You have nothing to worry about. Definatly not a Blown Headgasket, that car would be getting air in the coolant = Overheating. Low Oil of course would increase valve train chatter, but it would not be selective to transmission gear position. What the fellas said, the 5SFE is rock solid reliable but, due to the design of the 4 banger (any in general), it is not balanced, like say a V6, in which the 6 opposing cyl. balance out their vibrations. The 5SFE will vibrate in drive positions (eg. L,2,D,R), and this somewhat remedied with a larger dogbone on the Gen 4 Camry. Your engine mounts may be old, if your anal about it, switch out your mounts. Your Cam is fine.

***fenixus*** · 07-13-2010, 08:46 PM

i agree with Mike. those cars (even gen4) start to vibrate mostly around engine after warm up when they get older (more and more miles)... i found at least 4 sources (resonator hooking bolt, air cleaner box mounting bolts, worn engine mounts, leaking vacuum hoses and restricted/stuck EGR valve) causing clunking/vibrations under hood due to increased vibrations at idle from engine and just recently found another one (missing top front bumper support as a result of collision 2 years ago, and another one is a metal splash shield under radiator with missing/broken bolts).

since i still got the problem (since like 2 years haha) i consider it normal, but as i'm anal per comfort i try fixing what i can. my suggestion would be to replace all vacuum hoses of EGR system (3mm ID, 2mm wall) and the one going from TB to the VSV for EVAP (6mm ID, 2mm wall). those bastards start leaking air/vacuum after some time due to excessive heat from engine (another feature of 5s-fe

)

one thing for sure, V6's do not have this problem thanks to a totally different engine design which runs smoother and cooler.

besides that don't worry it's normal on older 5s-fe. probably nothing major (no HG problem, no oil problem, but you can change oil soon for peace of mind) as Mike said even new gen3 5s-fe had this problem (gen4 had a different dog bone mount dampening some more of those engine vibrations)...

I would also say if you oil looks clear and good, and coolant looks clear also and you have no leaks, then it is a cosmetic problem .. though it takes a while to get it fixed hehe...

oh and it might be wise to check if your throttle plate fully closes at idle too (or go ahead and clean that together with IAC holes, there is a DIY on that in FAQ section of this forums) ... anyways there like a 100 things adding up to vibrations at idle

Z-Thrizzle · 07-13-2010, 11:33 PM

Thanks for the insight. I'll start looking into those things to see if it gets better. The good thing is that I know the oil looks clean. Though for the next oil change I will send a sample out for analysis.

One odd thing has been happening lately. When I put the car in reverse, sometimes the engine would sound like its struggling and would shut off.