2005 Corolla Cold Engine Vibration

[Mikey D]

I have a 2005 Corolla LE with A/T that just reached 139000 miles. I put a lot of highway miles on it daily and I keep it maintained. I have noticed this year, that there seems to excessive engine vibration after staring in cold weather (below 32F). The vibration tends to lessen as the engine warms up while driving. I have noticed a few threads mentioning belt tensioners. No warning lights are on and the cars seems to perform fine aside from this noise. I had a Saturn that had similar vibrations and after some worn engine mounts were replaced the engine vibrations were eliminated.

Have other owners with higher mileage experienced this issue? If so, what seems to be the likeliest cause? I don't want to pour big $$ on this if I am going in the wrong direction. I will be getting an oil change (Max Life Synthetic) and a tranny flush in about 5K miles so I would like to point the techs at the garage that I go to in the right direction. Thanks for your help.

[new echo owner]

Is it a vibration or a noise; you started off mentioning a vibration when cold and then you indicated it as a noise? The belt tensioner doesn't usually cause a vibration that you can feel, it is more of a noise that you can hear. With 139k on the car, it is also possible that it could also be a chain tensioner inside the engine causing a rattling sound during cold start until the engine warms up to allow proper oil flow too. Whatever it is, you will probably have to do some investigation to determine or narrow down what it is causing your concern.

N.E.O.

[Mikey D]

Thanks for the reply. It isn't a vibration that I can feel from inside the car, but more like a vibrating sound I here coming from under the hood. I will have the garage check the belt tensioner and perhaps let them keep the car until they can sold start the engine to hear the sound I am talking about.

[new echo owner]

One of the easiest way to verify that is temporarily remove the serpentine belt before a cold start. If the noise is gone, you have your confirmation that the noise is related to the belt tensioner. Could be anything that the belt drives, but the tensioner is most common cause.

N.E.O.