2003 Echo questions

[Feral1111]

Hello, i recently got an 03 echo and had a few questions about it.

First, I seem to have a slight problem with vibration in the car, when driving its smooth and no vibration at all, but when in drive,reverse, neutral, etc while idling, it vibrates, this problem also is amplified with the AC on. When in park most of the vibration goes away, but still a minor feel of it.

From what ive read, its the motor struggling while idle because the idling speed is too low, and increasing the speed will fix this, ive also heard it may be the intake for the AC is clogged and needs to be cleaned, or a broken engine mount.

Anyone else have this problem and know the remedy?

Im also interested in getting some sort of padding for the door's armrest, considering im one who usually has my arms up on these things all the time, and having just a cloth of hard plastic can be quite a pain, I was wondering if anyone knows of any good, but still decent looking solutions.

Ive also ordered a storage box/armrest for the middle, I was wondering if anyone else has anything similiar in their echo?

http://www.armrest-autoaccessories.c..._f60b5bbb.html

http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/P...up?Ntt=armrest

I am considering both, if anyone has any info it would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

[Damage82]

My wife's echo does the same thing, I always put it in Neutral when idling... I haven't got a fix for it, sorry.

[Stevo_Echohb05]

check for a hose or a wire loose near the air filter or near the firewall for the vibration, I've never seen a broken mount on this car and your idle speed is computer controlled. Your intake air meter might be dirty causing a rough idle, you can clean it by removing and cleaning with brake cleaner.

[ctgriffi]

I had the same kind of problem with my wife's 2003 Echo, and, from what I can tell, it's a fairly common occurrence. Like you mentioned, the vibration seemed to be quite a bit worse with the AC compressor engaged, and it quickly got to the point where it would even cause the dashboard to buzz!

We had just purchased the car from CarMax when the problem started, so we took it back to their service department immediately. They identified a few worn out motor mounts and replaced them - free of charge, since we were still within the 30-day grace period.

The repair seemed to help the vibration/buzz a great deal. It's still slightly annoying when you're sitting at a stop light, with the AC activated, but it's much, much better, to where you can live with it.

Obviously, you have to expect some of that with a very lightweight, econo car.