I'm buying a private owned 99 LE-NEED HELP diagnosing shaking issue-esp when AC is on

[LedHendriani]

Hello,first time poster here!
There is an unbelievable amount of SALVAGE cars in this area, but I finally found a decent Camry LE at an affordable price!

2 issues that came up when checking out the vehicle:

It was 7:30 at night in the Sacramento area and when the car was first started up for me it ran at a high idle for what seemed to me to be too long of a time. I was told that the car had not been started for about 5 hours, but it seemed odd that it was so high for about 4-5 minutes. When it did lower the idle as it warmed up, it eventually got to about 1/2 way between 0 and 1000 rpm's (or about 500 rpm's by my guestimate, which seems too low - I remember something about 650 to 700 being a good idle speed) and had a bit of a shake to it. It is a bit colder out here than it normally is this time of year, but the car was in the garage for about 5 hours.

It drove great and had no excessive sounds that i could hear, even when driving forward and reverse near a wall and driving on the road next to a wall. I did feel a bit more of the road than I remembered in my 88 Camry but have been driving in leather seats for a while now that are a bit more cushiony.

The second issue (or more pronounced #1 issue) happened when I turned on the A/C.
At idle it it definitely MORE shaky with the air turned on. Not that it thrashes you about, but there is an issue that needs addressing.

I am going to run a compression test tomorrow to make sure that all 4 cylinders are within specs, but was wondering if I should actually take it somewhere to have a full diagnostic done to catch something I may be missing.

ALSO: Is ABS supposed to work in reverse? It did not on this car - it fully locked up. (Then I forgot to check them in the forward motion - because of the rubber on the pavement I wasted!)

What is your experience with the shakiness?
Thanks in advance!
Your quick replies will be most appreciated!

[toyomoho]

Your idle speed may be a little low. I think it should be something like 750 +/-50 with A/C off for a 4cyl. With A/C on, this should jump up to say 1000. This engine will shake if the idle is too low.

[ghettosled]

my idle dips down to about 500 and the car still runs smoothly. i think its a little low as well, but its been doing this when temperatures are above 60F for as long as i owned the car. in terms of the shaking, how do the engine mounts look?

my car doesnt have abs, so i cant comment on that part.

[dna59]

^Yeah I would check those engine mounts.

[LedHendriani]

Motor mounts:

Is it as simple as revving the pedal pretty strongly a few times and seeing the engine surge excessively, or does it not show up as easy as that?

I have been poring through past posts to see what I can find and I see that a clogged EGR valve will cause issues too.

I remember hearing some sort of light pumping sound near the drivers side, near the three or so hoses there , and I tried to see if they were cracked or loose, but all seemed ok.

They did say that they have all the records. I could check those out in detail. It has 95k and at 90k they replaced the timing belt and water pump.

It would seem to me that they would have most definitely have taken it in to diagnose this issue already, so maybe I need to prod a little more so that I can save some money on a full diagnosis price.

I also read that A/C condensor is an issue with the 99, but the shake is there without the A/C being on....

Again like I said, it drives wonderfully , it is at idle speed that it is shaky. I can't help but think that there is an easy fix!

Thanks to all who reply!

[LedHendriani]

DID NOT PURCHASE

[jpbear]

Originally Posted by LedHendriani

DID NOT PURCHASE

Sorry to hear that. How much were they asking for it?

[LedHendriani]

7K
but he kept saying that a lot of people wanted to see it, and I was sort of feeling pressured and rushed. He said that neither himself or his wife had felt any shaking at all so they never got it diagnosed for that issue, and since it was so self evident to me - I passed. There were also a few paint issues, and a front tire had a tad too much wear on the outside for only 3k miles on them, so I figured that I waould have to be out too much by the time I took care of all of the little things.

I am going to buy my first new car.

I am tired of always having to buy a used car for less and then deal with all of the issues that usually the people know about but forget or neglect to say.

I would love to have a new Toyota, but the only thing I can afford is the Yaris, what with Matrix starting at 17K

I looked at the Fit by Honda and it just doesn't fit ME somehow.

Civics start at about 17k I think.

Don't remember the price on the Corolla, but it was a lot more than the Yaris!

Price wise and because of their ever growing reliability rating and even better growing quality rating I am still looking at an Elantra GT 5 door (hatchback). Leather, Sport tuned suspension and steering, and extra room when you fold down the rear seats (the rear deck is not in the way in because of the hatchback. Sort of looks like an older Saab. With automatic: 24-32 MPG

One day I will own a nice Camry again!
Thanks