2002 Toyota ECHO - Shakes

Hello!

I have a 2002 Toyota Echo with approximately 120.000 miles.

When I first start the car it idles rich of course but even after the engine has warmed up it idles rough when I stop at a traffic light for example. As soon as I apply gas to the pedal the shaking goes away and the car runs normal but for as long as I am still the car vibrates a lot. A few notes that might be helpful. If I put the car in neutral instead the shaking stops completely and the car idles perfectly. The A/C being on also makes the already rough idling worst.

There is another symptom that occurs while idling which may or may not be related to the rough idling problem but I will mention it in case it does help with figuring this out. At times, especially after a long sustained highway drive without stopping, when I come to a stop at a traffic light the car will idles rough as usual but also misfire. Or at least shake vigoursily for a very short time (2 seconds at the most) as if it misfired. I say “as if it misfired” because I took the car to AutoZone after that happened and no codes came up on the machine. It will do it once or twice and then not do it at all for a long time. Sometimes I drive on the highway for long stretches and come to a stop without that happening. This might not be relevant but I figured I’d mention it in case it helped somehow.

I should also mention that I tried to use fuel injector cleaner products in case that was the problem but didn’t help.

Let me know if you have any idea of what the problem might be or if you have any questions.

THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!

All the best,

Simo

Sounds like the idle air control valve has failed. It controls the amount of air the engine gets at idle.

If the car was actually running rich, the check engine light would be on and a code would be set.

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Hi thank you so much for the advice. I checked online and found that AutoZone sells an idle valve for $130 and eBay sells some for $30 that they claim are OEM and made in USA.

In your experience is this a part that is worth spending more money on? Would you suggest buying a Duralast from AutoZone or the $30 eBay one?

Thank you again!

Clearly that is an Ebay lie. If it works at all, it won’t work long.

I’d spend the extra money on the Duralast. At least it has a warranty and you know where to return it if it fails in 30 days.

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Thank you so much!!!

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