PMK Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 I would appreciate any thoughts on the possible cause of a minor engine vibration which recently appeared in my Vios which has 25,000 KM on the clock. The vibration is the same when stationary or moving. It's not caused by the engine fan or aircon, and it is slightly more noticeable when first starting the engine cold. The Toyota SC mechanic says it's normal, - no surprise there, and while it is minor, it is something new so minor or not, there's got to be cause and a fix. If you've experienced something similar or have any ideas what the cause might be, please let me know. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transam Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Engine mount or stabilizer. OR, something on engine touching body/chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJIC Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Engine mount or stabilizer. OR, something on engine touching body/chassis. Yep! never had any vibration on my Vios (bought from new) so it's going to be trial and error locating the nuisance sound.I would start with clearing literally everything out of the Boot,including Jack,spanners,and even spare wheel. then you can cross that area off the list. Remember sound travels,so what may seem to be coming from one area,may come from somewhere completely different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianinbangkok Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 How old is the car, I have had rubber mounting blocks holding the engine and exchaust go hard over time causing them to no longer dampen the normal vibration to be passed on and causing noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinpeter Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Hi There/. Have you changed the fan belt recently? I had a simliar thing on my vois, belt looked old at 3 years old and done 21k, so got service to change it. (it runs on both sides) Had bad vibration and squeak sometimes then (more from cold) but noticeable when hot. Took it back service, was not tightened enough, it has to be very tight, with very little slack (seems to tight) but cured the problem. Have you had, engine bay cleaned? by Toyota, maybe something problem after? otherwise? cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMK Posted January 20, 2013 Author Share Posted January 20, 2013 Thanks, guys. I thought of engine mounts but at 25,000 KM? Seems unlikely.To answer the other questions/comments, the car is a bit less than 3 years old, and it is a vibration, not a noise. It just appeared on it's own - not after a service or anything. I will have a look at the belt in any case. Any other thoughts on this would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transam Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Thanks, guys. I thought of engine mounts but at 25,000 KM? Seems unlikely.To answer the other questions/comments, the car is a bit less than 3 years old, and it is a vibration, not a noise. It just appeared on it's own - not after a service or anything. I will have a look at the belt in any case. Any other thoughts on this would be appreciated. Have seen engine mount rubber separate from it's metal, on low mileage stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VocalNeal Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Can you define the vibration a bit more? It runs rough or you can here some sound, more of a rattle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMK Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 Can you define the vibration a bit more? It runs rough or you can here some sound, more of a rattle? Sure. There is no sound whatsoever, just a soft vibration which can be felt through the steering wheel, gear shift, pedals, etc. I would not call it running rough. No engine hesitation or anything like that, no unhealthy sounds, no misfiring, no degradation of performance - just the vibration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VocalNeal Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 First rule of troubleshooting. What has changed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmpaLumpa Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 had a noise in the past, especially when we hit bumps, finally they discovered it was a rubber from the hood that was badly positioned.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEVUP Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Could be a mount 25000 km means nothing I had front wheel beerings go at about 100,000 km Also checked with aussies (& mechanics ) not usual I thought that they should of maybe been covered by warranty but got hit 600 bht Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMK Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 First rule of troubleshooting. What has changed? Thanks. Absolutely nothing has changed. The car has not been serviced in any way. Driving habits haven't changed. Haven't been up country-or on particularly bad roads - didn't even drive over any majorly bad potholes. I usually use standard gasahol but tried straight petrol as well. No difference.I checked the fan belt and it seems okay - anyway there was never any noise or slippage from that. I know engine mounts are still a possibility, and if I can't come up with anything else will get them changed. Searching the 'net I saw a few people with a similar problem in Malaysia and some responses from a site that is associated with Toyota Malaysia. A few things listed as possibilities are: IAC (Idle Air Control) valve / motor MAF (Mass Air-Flow) sensor I have absolutely no idea what those are - I think they are controlled by the ECU. Is it hard to get a Toyota tech to check the ECU? (I'm in the Pattaya area). Also listed was spark plugs. Any thoughts on all those? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Songhua Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 In basic terms, the MAF sits between your air box and the engine. The sensor sends a signal to the ecu which adjusts fuel intake to match the airflow to give the right mixture. So, a faulty MAF (sensor) will cause rough idle and running but it'd have to be pretty far gone to alone cause serious 'vibration', Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMK Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 In basic terms, the MAF sits between your air box and the engine. The sensor sends a signal to the ecu which adjusts fuel intake to match the airflow to give the right mixture. So, a faulty MAF (sensor) will cause rough idle and running but it'd have to be pretty far gone to alone cause serious 'vibration', Hey, thank you. Just to be clear, this is not a "serious" vibration. It's noticeable, and therefore annoying, but that is about the extent of it. The idle is smooth and performance is good. From your explanation, I think I can rule that out. Actually, going by the name, IAC (Idle Air Control), doesn't sound like a likely candidate either. Spark plug(s), though, I wonder about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VocalNeal Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Also listed was spark plugs. Any thoughts on all those? Now I always go for a cheap chemical fix attempt first, then work from there. So bung a can of fuel system cleaner in the gas tank and if that doesn't do anything change the plugs. I find it hard to believe the MAF is dirty after 25,000. But if you are handy you could spray some carburetor cleaner into the intake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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