Engine vibrates in Drive at stop lights makes me nots

[bigal6030]

Someboby please tell me why the engine in my 96' camry vibrates in drive when I am sitting at a stop light. In park it's OK, in nuetral it's OK, while driving it's smooth. I have changed 3 out of four engine mounts and still vibrates even worse with the new mounts. It is making me nuts.
I changed the rear mount, the trans mount and the dog bone mount.

[Mike Gerber]

Some vibration in drive at idle is normal for the generation 3 (1992-1996) 5SFE 4 cylinder engine. I am the original owner of a 94 with the 5SFE engine and the car has vibrated since it was brand new. Mine is more noticable with more electrical items on, like the headlights and the blower motor. Cleaning the throttle body thoroughly may help somewhat, but there will always be some vibration.

Mike

[bigal6030]

Thanks mike, it drives me nuts, other than that the car runs great even at 200,000 miles

Al

[jdmccright]

Try this...pull the distributor cap off and clean the terminals inside as well as the metal edge of the rotor. After many miles, these metal parts experience oxidation that builds up and increases the resistance. Cleaning off this encrustation should help smooth things out somewhat. But make sure that you blow out any loose particles of crust or metal, as any of those little particles flying around inside the cap isn't good.

Also, pull, clean and regap, or replace your spark plugs. Gap distance increases with mileage as they will erode about 0.001" per 2k miles.

A bottle of good fuel system cleaner wouldn't hurt either...SeaFoam or Chevron Techron. But as Mike said, some vibration is inherent.

You might even see a little bump in fuel economy, too. Hope this helps!

[ProMan]

Engine mounts don't vibrate. So if you feel the vibration, it's definitely not caused by the mounts.

I suspect not all the cylinders work. It may have one cylinder not firing. The vibration is more noticable at idle with gear in position.

Try to pull out the plug wires one by one at idle. As you pull out the wire, if that cylinder is working, your engine should jerk and run a little different and shake more since you disable that cylinder. If it's the case, put back the plug wire and try next one. If the engine doesn't respond as you pull out a wire, that cylinder doesn't fire. And you can pin point the cause from there. The most common problem is either a bad plug or an open wire. Good luck.

[Mike Gerber]

jdmccwright,

I just changed the cap and rotor on my 94 5SFE engine at 88,000 miles as preventitive maintanance. I used Toyota OEM parts. It didn't change the vibration in drive at all. I was actually hopping it would.

Mike

[bigal6030]

Thanks for all the help I will try all these things. 200,000 miles and I still expect it to run like new.

Al

[jdmccright]

Originally Posted by jdmccright

A bottle of good fuel system cleaner wouldn't hurt either...SeaFoam or Chevron Techron. But as Mike said, some vibration is inherent.

As I conceded in my last post, I didn't say it would fix it completely, but it did work for me somewhat. Quite a difference actually (did I really let it get that bad?), but I guess everyone is different.

BTW, most aftermarket engine mounts aren't nearly as good...I've gone through countless dogbones and one set of engine mounts, but they're lifetime warranty, do a reasonable job for the cost, and are an easy swap.

[Mail Clerk]

Originally Posted by bigal6030

Someboby please tell me why the engine in my 96' camry vibrates in drive when I am sitting at a stop light. In park it's OK, in nuetral it's OK, while driving it's smooth. I have changed 3 out of four engine mounts and still vibrates even worse with the new mounts. It is making me nuts.
I changed the rear mount, the trans mount and the dog bone mount.

bigal6030,

My car/engine vibrates in my 89' right now so it's the usual indication the mounts are due for replacement. In your case it's possible that the 4th mount may be the culprit you need to fix the situation. Since you replaced every mount possible except for the 4th mount I suggest you replace that one too and see what the results are. IF it's beyond you then I suggest a trip to the Toyota dealership is in order. At least you gave it a good fight.

Good luck and let me know what happens.

Mail Clerk

[Brian R.]

3rd generation 4 cylinder Camrys all vibrate in gear at idle. Unless is it is very uneven, I think you will have to live with it.

[jdmccright]

It's also more noticeable in the winter when the mounts become stiffer from the cold. If you park outside, try parking in a garage and see if it is reduced...makes a difference for me.