Just got my '92 XLE back from the mechanic.. strut problem.

[Comasleep]

Left my car with my mechanic for a week and picked it up today. I had them replace some leaky gaskets, a brake line, the timing belt, some shit with the cams, and had them install new struts, hoping to help alleviate some of the squeaks in the ride. Anyway, before these repairs I hadn't driven the car for almost a year (had literally ~10% brakes left on each wheel and ended up moving away and didn't need a car, but I installed new rotors and pads on all four corners a few days ago).

Anyway, I had the car towed to them and they did all the repairs and installed the new struts, and as soon as I got in the car and started to leave I noticed a loud knocking in the rear-right side of the car when I go over bumps. Sorry to sound like a retard but I'm assuming it has something to do with the struts? When I get out and push the rear right corner of the car up and down I can hear the strut making the same sound. I'm calling my mechanic tomorrow and taking the car back in to have them fix it, but I was just wondering what exactly they did wrong? Was something not seated properly or what? Because when I push down on the other side of the car it's perfectly quiet. And it doesn't sound like the strut itself so much as where it meets the mount, if that makes sense. Just curious.

It's also way more slow to accelerate than it used to be, but I think it's had the same quarter tank of gas for atleast 9 months AND it needs a new air filter so I'm hoping that's a big part of why it's not performing very well. I'll be replacing the filter tomorrow, changing the oil (in case they tell me they didn't), cleaning out the throttle body, and checking the trans fluid too for good measure. Any other suggestions?

[BMR]

The clunking could be a lot of things. They might've forgotten to reattach the sway bar links, a brake line, sway bar bushing bracket.

And it doesn't sound like the strut itself so much as where it meets the mount, if that makes sense.

That could be a loose strut shaft nut. Read this thread

[Comasleep]

Wel I justgot back from the shop, they said it sounds like a busted strut mount so theyll replace it for free. But as for the acceleration issues and bad vibration between1 and 3k RPM range, I thought maybe it was fue to dirty ATF so I got that flushed and the filter replaced. Car runs a little smoother but it still does it. So I got the front end aligned and tires rotated and balanced today too. Still no.luck. any idea what could be causing this annoying-ass front end vibration? Its REALLY bad when im accelerating from a stop or low speeds and turning at the same time, sounds like my tires are gonna explode. Im about to drive 1000 miles north and dont need to be dead on arrival haha. Could it be a busted CV? Ive taken it to numerous mechanics and auto places, so I assume they wouldve let me know in hopes of having me spend what little money I have left if anything like that was wrong. Please help! Im really desperate for a solution to this but Im out of possible ideas.

[fenixus]

busted CV joint usually "clicks" on the opposite side you are turning into.
e.g. a busted passenger side CV joint will make a clicking noise when turning left.

what kind of vibration are you feeling or hearing?

you mentioned the shop was replacing the timing belt and seals around camshafts, correct? does the car feel significantly weaker than it was or just a little bit? I hope they set the timing correctly, because if the car is very weak, it could mean the timing belt is one tooth off or so.

[BMR]

Originally Posted by Comasleep

But as for the acceleration issues and bad vibration between1 and 3k RPM range, I thought maybe it was fue to dirty ATF so I got that flushed and the filter replaced. Car runs a little smoother but it still does it.

Does it still have the 9 month old gas in the tank. That could cause it.

So I got the front end aligned and tires rotated and balanced today too. Still no.luck. any idea what could be causing this annoying-ass front end vibration? Its REALLY bad when im accelerating from a stop or low speeds and turning at the same time, sounds like my tires are gonna explode. Im about to drive 1000 miles north and dont need to be dead on arrival haha. Could it be a busted CV?

Yes, it could. Does it get worse the sharper the wheels are turned?... That's a symptom of bad CV joints. Does it do it in both directions?... or just one? If noisy turning left, it's the right-hand CV, and vice-versa. Often the outer CV boot tears open and spews grease all over the inside sidewall of the tire; check for that.

[matt1mzfe]

My guesses for vibration - broken engine mount, they perish over time especially with heat / oil on them. I assume your car is about 10 years old

2, sounds like car has been sitting still for a very long time - tyres could be perishing - the rubber decays over time especially if outside in the sun. Just sitting in one spot for 12 months could (mabe) deform the rubber?

3, CV joints would not die while tha car sits still so they are unlikley to be the problem unless they were already an issue before the car sat still for 12 months.

Poor accelleration - After a 12 month sit I would change engine oil, use all the fuel in it and refill with a premium fuel and put a bottle of injector cleaner through. 12 months is a long time for things to sit still and for fuel to break down... not surprised that it dosent have as much power as before.

If you dont need to drive for a long time it is worth turning the car on and driving far enough to warm everything up about once a week just to preserve the car.

[matt1mzfe]

Vibration : Possible solution found for vibrations at idle?

[Comasleep]

Originally Posted by matt1mzfe

My guesses for vibration - broken engine mount, they perish over time especially with heat / oil on them. I assume your car is about 10 years old

2, sounds like car has been sitting still for a very long time - tyres could be perishing - the rubber decays over time especially if outside in the sun. Just sitting in one spot for 12 months could (mabe) deform the rubber?

3, CV joints would not die while tha car sits still so they are unlikley to be the problem unless they were already an issue before the car sat still for 12 months.

Poor accelleration - After a 12 month sit I would change engine oil, use all the fuel in it and refill with a premium fuel and put a bottle of injector cleaner through. 12 months is a long time for things to sit still and for fuel to break down... not surprised that it dosent have as much power as before.

If you dont need to drive for a long time it is worth turning the car on and driving far enough to warm everything up about once a week just to preserve the car.

Ok in regards to the CV joint, I don't hear any clicking of any kind, but the worst vibration tends to be when making right turns. Maybe that's just because most of my turns are right turns though. So I can't completely rule out CV joints, but I didnt find any CV grease on the inside tire walls or fenders.

It's not the tires because they were in pretty good shape before I had them replaced, but I actually bought new tires today and the vibration was still there.

I checked my engine mount and it's definitely in need of replacing. Everything sounds and feels fine in the car at almost any speed aside from when Im between the 0 - 15mph range, but the inside rubbery-part of the engine mount is torn and stuff. How much would this be to replace? Im assuming labor might be kinda pricey, wont they have to hoist the engine in place while they replace it?

As for fuel, I should have just run the last quarter tank of old fuel til it was on E but instead I just ran it down to about an eighth of a tank before I gave in and just filled it all the way back up with fresh fuel. I only used regular unleaded too, not premium. I dont think it could hurt to toss some fuel injector cleaner in just for good measure so Ill be doing that too.

[Comasleep]

Are there any sure-fire ways to test whether or not it's the motor mount specifically causing the problems? Ill be replacing it anyway, but I'd really really like to get this problem fixed, instead of just fixing something that needs replacing but still having the problem.

Someone said one way to test to see if it's the motor mount causing the low-rpm vibrations is to "grab the motor while car is off and rock it back and forth, should not make any clunking sounds or move that much." But I've never done this before to begin with, so I don't really know what I'm looking/listening for. I've watched my motor while its being revved and it always moves typically, but would I be able to notice any considerably different movement/sound if I watched it again but with a busted motor mount?

Sorry for all the clueless questions! Thanks for all the feedback so far guys.

[fenixus]

you can test engine mounts kind of, by opening the hood and looking at engine through the narrow opening from the cabin while you shift gears P->R or P->D and then hold the brakes (and e-brake pulled up for safety) and press on gas pedal. of course that's easy to do on automatic, but it's quite challenging with manual transmission (make sure you have tight e-brake first!).

if mounts are bad the engine will jerk violently when shifting gears between Park vs Drive or Reverse. I forgot which one points to which, maybe somebody else remembers that. you can also try prying on the front mount to see how it moves (shouldn't).

to test the engine torque rod (aka dog bone mount) press on brakes firmly and on gas pedal gently, if engine moves a lot then this needs to be replaced too.

there is also a transmission mount too. honestly it's best to replace them all at same time for best results if that's the case, but it can get pricey on V6 because of hard to do rear mount, others are easy (dog bone is super easy). leave ti to local shop except for the dog bone which can be done in 5 minutes (there is no engine weight on this one).

I would add some strong fuel system cleaner to this new tank of fuel, e.g. Chevron Techron 20oz bottle of concentrated fuel system cleaner.

when you have a sort of banging noise when turning right, then maybe it's just a loose sway bar end link or bushings for stabilizer bar in front? CV joints make quite distinct clicking noise, hard to mistake it for anything else.

other than that it could be a bad wheel bearing (front left) which is under stress too when making a sharp turn right. hopefully this is not it, it's a pain to replace.

[tmauldin]

im late but
type in 92-96 camry motor mount on youtube
that should be your vibration problem

[Comasleep]

Well I took the car to the shop again this morning, and initially one of the mechanics changed their story from last time about the knocking in the rear being a busted strut mount, and said that instead the rear-right brake was locking up. They also said this was to blame for the vibrations at low acceleration and turning, but does that make sense?

[Comasleep]

Update: Fixed the clutching RR brake issue, but the knocking near the strut was still there. Got a call from my mechanics today, apparently the rear sway bar bushings are shot, so I ordered two new ones.

If it was just busted sway bar bushings, that would explain the rattling, but not the heavy thumping or steering vibration under heavy turns, right? Wouldnt the latter would be from a worn out center bushing?