So, to try to make a long story short, a friend of a friend of my dad's moved to Mexico from the States and evidently, you can't register your out-of-country car there if you want to get a permanent visa -- or something like that. So he sold it very cheaply to my dad's friend who got quite a bit of work done on the car down there in Mexico and then sold it to me for my kids who are just starting to drive. The car was in worse condition than I was led to believe but I think I'll be able to get it up to snuff and it will be good enough for a 1st time car.
Here's what was done:
Anyway, halfway through my dad driving it up from Mexico to Texas he said it started to develop this loud grinding or vibration sound when accelerating. Once he got it here I took it for a spin and found that it does indeed make a rather loud sound and/or vibration but only during the initial takeoff/acceleration and only when given a decent amount of gas during takeoff, if you accelerate slowly it doesn't happen.
Some other things I've observed is that it doesn't seem to happen very first thing in the morning when it's cold (we've had some cold nights recently -- at least for Texas). It doesn't happen in reverse. The noise and vibration is very minimal if you let the car kind of roll forward on its own and then accelerate it doesn't happen or at least it's much more muted to where it's almost not noticeable. And it only happens when accelerating from a complete stop or if you are going under 5 to 10 MPH then if you accelerate VERY hard you will feel it but really just from a complete stop. Also it's really only noticeable inside the car, from outside it's much more muted and not very noticeable even with the hood up.
I took it to the mechanic I usually see and he couldn't find any obvious reason for the noise but he believes it could be that the motor mounts that were recently replaced are of low quality so it's excess vibration when accelerating but he can't say for sure. I also took it to my friend who, while not an expert, he does do all his own repairs for his family's 6 cars. He at first thought it might be the transmission slipping so we checked the fluid and found it to be the incorrect fluid so we replaced it with Toyota WS and will do it again next week. However, after playing around and looking around he now also thinks it may be low quality motor mounts but recommended I do some research before we get into replacing them with OEM as they are quite expensive.
I tried to record the noise but it came out way too muffled so I'm going to try again in the morning and will post that if it comes out better. In the mean time, I just wanted to see if anyone has any thoughts on what it might be and what to check? Or if anyone has experienced anything like this and if so if you ever found out what it was and how to fix it?
If if does seem to be the motor mounts is there a specific one or two I should start with replacing that would definitely help? I realize that it's best to use OEM but seeing as I don't have a lot of money to spend and these are already installed and while not good quality are at least new I'd rather only replace what I have too and what will make the biggest difference if that's at all possible -- at least for now.
Please forgive me if I went on too long. Thank you for any thoughts or ideas you may have!
Here's what was done:
- Front and Rear shocks and struts (KYB)
- Front swaybar links
- Rear trailing arm bushings
- All 4 rotors turned and front brakes replaced
- Front, Rear, and Front right motor mounts and transmission mount
- Alignment
- Transmission fluid and filter replaced
Anyway, halfway through my dad driving it up from Mexico to Texas he said it started to develop this loud grinding or vibration sound when accelerating. Once he got it here I took it for a spin and found that it does indeed make a rather loud sound and/or vibration but only during the initial takeoff/acceleration and only when given a decent amount of gas during takeoff, if you accelerate slowly it doesn't happen.
Some other things I've observed is that it doesn't seem to happen very first thing in the morning when it's cold (we've had some cold nights recently -- at least for Texas). It doesn't happen in reverse. The noise and vibration is very minimal if you let the car kind of roll forward on its own and then accelerate it doesn't happen or at least it's much more muted to where it's almost not noticeable. And it only happens when accelerating from a complete stop or if you are going under 5 to 10 MPH then if you accelerate VERY hard you will feel it but really just from a complete stop. Also it's really only noticeable inside the car, from outside it's much more muted and not very noticeable even with the hood up.
I took it to the mechanic I usually see and he couldn't find any obvious reason for the noise but he believes it could be that the motor mounts that were recently replaced are of low quality so it's excess vibration when accelerating but he can't say for sure. I also took it to my friend who, while not an expert, he does do all his own repairs for his family's 6 cars. He at first thought it might be the transmission slipping so we checked the fluid and found it to be the incorrect fluid so we replaced it with Toyota WS and will do it again next week. However, after playing around and looking around he now also thinks it may be low quality motor mounts but recommended I do some research before we get into replacing them with OEM as they are quite expensive.
I tried to record the noise but it came out way too muffled so I'm going to try again in the morning and will post that if it comes out better. In the mean time, I just wanted to see if anyone has any thoughts on what it might be and what to check? Or if anyone has experienced anything like this and if so if you ever found out what it was and how to fix it?
If if does seem to be the motor mounts is there a specific one or two I should start with replacing that would definitely help? I realize that it's best to use OEM but seeing as I don't have a lot of money to spend and these are already installed and while not good quality are at least new I'd rather only replace what I have too and what will make the biggest difference if that's at all possible -- at least for now.
Please forgive me if I went on too long. Thank you for any thoughts or ideas you may have!
