My car makes a weird noise/feel when I stop at lights or when we are going very slowly-- its like some motor inside is spinning weirdly-- off kilter-like. This only happens when in drive or reverse; when in neutral and I rev the engine, it doesnt happen. This used to happen only when I drove for long times (3 hours maybe)–and I often could “fix” this by just letting the car rest for half and hour. Now it is happening just after 40 mins of driving. My car is a 99 Toyota V6 Camry. Help!
Have you looked at the engine when idling in drive? Is it wobbling?
It just sounds to me like it is running a little roughly. It goes away in N or P because having it in gear does put more load on the engine than not.
How many miles are on it? How old are your spark plugs? Air & fuel filters? Lots and lots of things will make it run a little rough.
What Rod is aluding to is the possibility that you have broken motor mounts.
Even if you cannot see the engine moving excessively, you should have a qualified mechanic check the motor mounts, as this is a potential safety issue.
Do NOT take the car to a quick-lube place, as their employees would have no clue regarding what they should be looking at. Do NOT take the car to a chain operation like Pep Boys, AAMCO, Sears, Midas, Meineke, Monro, etc, as those places will try to sell you many other items beyond what you really might need. Take the car to a local independent mechanic with a good reputation.
Assuming an automatic transmission, perhaps the health of the torque converter needs to be evaluated…The relationship between the stator and the rotor or the level of fluid inside the converter may be an issue here…
Fairly easy way to check motor mounts is with a friend whom you trust 100% in the drivers seat, Ebrake set, foot on brake, car in gear… You are looking under the hood while standing next to the car (not infront of ), have your buddy hit the gas lightly in both forward in reverse… The motor will move a little if its normal, if it not you should be able to see it as it will kind of jump…
Hey all,
Thanks for these comments.
To answer some of the questions-- the car does indeed have a lot of miles on it-- 133,000. Its been a while since spark plugs have been changed (maybe 8 years? Is that too long?) I had another friend in town mention it might be something with the idle… I’ll take it to an independent mechanic and see whats up with it.
Again, thanks so much!
Here’s a good list of things to do:
- new spark plugs.
- I think these are “coil-on-plug” design, but if not also new plug wires.
- new air & fuel filters if they are similarly old
- cleaning of the throttle body, idle air control valve, and mass airflow (MAF) sensor.
- check for vacuum leaks
- obviously inspect the motor mounts
It would also pay to break out the owner’s manual and check up on anything else that is overdue.
I’d call it a “good” list because even if none of it gets rid of the funny idle, it is all a) relatively inexpensive and b) just good maintenance. 133K miles isn’t actually all that many. If you keep on top of maintenance with the help of an indy mechanic it will probably go another 100K.
It might be motor mounts, but my first thot is that the engine is missing on a cylinder or 2. Now several things could cause that but bad plugs or wires is a good place to check.
Now I know I’ll catch h— for this but unless an engine is missing, it won’t be wobbling even with bad mounts.
"Now I know I’ll catch h— for this but unless an engine is missing, it won’t be wobbling even with bad mounts. "
I won’t give you h—. I agree.
Yes, Lisa, 8 years is too long between spark plug changes on a car that’s averaging 15,000 miles a year. I’ll bet that if you get your maintenance up to date (look in your pwner’s manual)
- the shaking will disappear
- you mileage will improve
- you car will be more peppy.
MB
Do you mean to tell me that all of that maintenance stuff in an owner’s manual is actually necessary?
And, all this time, I was convinced that it was just a conspiracy to have me spend more money.
;-))
On a more serious note, I guess that I should not have started out with the assumption that the OP maintained her car properly when I responded a couple of days ago. By now, I should have known better!
It IS a conspiracy! The engineers have conspired with the tech writers to tell the owner what he/she needs to do to keep the car running well for its expected lifetime. I might argue that they shold have included a few MORE items.
Yeah, that “8 years” jumped out at me on first reading of Lisa’s response. I wish all lour OPs were that honest. .
I bet it’s engine mounts, mine did the same thing, those year Camrys and ES300s are known for it. Get it looked at soon, my bad mounts cost me a radiator because of the constant rocking flexed the coolant hoses where they attach to the plastic tanks, causing one to crack.
texases motor mounts will ALLOW an engine to wobble, but WHY is the engine wobbling in the first place?? Motor mounts won’t cause an engine to wobble, at idle, will it?
I have been driving 60 years and have never had bad mounts. However, I drive automatics, which are easier on mounts.
No engine runs perfectly smooth, and a bad motor mount on a good engine can allow it to shake when idling.
Engines contain various devices to mitigate the shake, including internal “balance shafts”, “harmonic balancers”, balance weights on the crankshaft, and even the mass of the spinning flywhell. But an engine operates via a string of constant explosions, with pistons, rods, and other parts flying up & down constantly, and the effects of that cannot be completely elimiinated. Take a can of soup and shake it up & down violently. That’s exactly what’s happening inside your engine…only much more violently.
What TSMB said. The motor mounts control much of the wobbling, when they go bad they allow too much to occur. My car smoothed right out with the new mounts.
OK. Lisa, run out and get your Motor mounts replaced!! The car hasn’t been tuned up in 8 years, but the first thing to suspect is the motor mounts!!!.
Engines contain various devices to mitigate the shake, including internal “balance shafts”, “harmonic balancers”, balance weights on the crankshaft, and even the mass of the spinning flywhell. But an engine operates via a string of constant explosions, with pistons, rods, and other parts flying up & down constantly, and the effects of that cannot be completely elimiinated. Take a can of soup and shake it up & down violently. That’s exactly what’s happening inside your engine…only much more violently.
I didn’t know any of this!!
Good point EllyEllis, first thing is to get the Camry current on all needed maintenance. If the wobble’s still there, THEN I bet it’s the motor mounts.
And TSMBs point with the can of soup is good. Use two and you can demonstrate the vibration from different motorcycle engine configurations (360 crank, 180 crank, and horizontally opposed).