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6G Celicas Forums > 6th Generation Celica > Engine/Transmission/Maintenance
samir0189
Quite recently I've have this vibration, where the entire car shakes once I'm doing greater than 50+mph in gears 3-5(duh), ONLY during acceleration. Its really weird. I intend to get my wheel balances checked soon, although I have my doubts as this being the shaking stops if i coast/brake at the same speeds. There are no issues with turning etc, as I try not to at 70mph.

Also the problem sometimes disappears for short periods of time, and just that, the vibrating stops! Very odd.

I have had my motor mounts changed recently, for the record. Any suggestions?
Add45
i have the same problem except mines around 60mph
samir0189
QUOTE (Add45 @ Oct 27, 2008 - 8:35 PM) *
i have the same problem except mines around 60mph


Mines is anything greater than 50, i tested it today, up to 85-90 it still persisted. Its extremely aggravating, cause its just at highway speeds, and just when you need that little extra oomph to pass someone its like an earthquake in the car.

I'd also like to add there is no loss of engine power, just the annoying vibrating.
RickJamesBish
I was gonna say, something to do with the motor for sure. Unless some other part of the car takes a lot of stress during acceleration?
samir0189
QUOTE (RickJamesBish @ Oct 27, 2008 - 9:39 PM) *
I was gonna say, something to do with the motor for sure. Unless some other part of the car takes a lot of stress during acceleration?


I dunno, thats what I'm hoping someone can answer, if perhaps its an axle or some other suspension part i'm unfamiliar with.

I had once thought it was the motor, i had thought for a while it may have been "bad fuel" but after a few thousand miles i started to realize all the gas can't be bad. lol.
Add45
my car idles terribly as well
RickJamesBish
But if it was an axle, you'd be having this problem at any speed, just with less intensity. Your issue directly correlates to acceleration.
samir0189
QUOTE (Add45 @ Oct 27, 2008 - 8:47 PM) *
my car idles terribly as well


My car doesn't idle weird, I idle at 750. Maybe your issue is different? Or maybe you have the same issue plus an idling issue. I dunno really...

QUOTE (RickJamesBish @ Oct 27, 2008 - 8:50 PM) *
But if it was an axle, you'd be having this problem at any speed, just with less intensity. Your issue directly correlates to acceleration.


I guess you're right. frown.gif
95celgt
yea, have this too, i first changed the motor mount, no dice, i installed a brand new driverside axle, no dice, i have a brand new passengerside axle waiting to go in, if this doesn't fix it it might be a tranny issue.
CaliJeff
QUOTE (95celgt @ Oct 28, 2008 - 2:31 PM) *
yea, have this too, i first changed the motor mount, no dice, i installed a brand new driverside axle, no dice, i have a brand new passengerside axle waiting to go in, if this doesn't fix it it might be a tranny issue.


i'm pretty sure its a tranny issue. You might have a broken bearing in there, and as you accelerate, you spin it fast making the gears spin around with a kink.
RickJamesBish
I forgot about the tranny, and he's probably right...you'd probably feel stronger wheel/front shake if it was the engine, but a shaking tranny would be a centralized vibration.
Remy
If your car shakes going 50+ most likely you just need to balance your wheels.
samir0189
Yeah I really need to get the wheels rebalanced to make sure the just didn't mess it up or something last time. I initially thought it was wheel balancing but the thing that got me was that it was only when i accelerated. hopefully its not the tranny, thats ftl. frown.gif Thanks for all your input guys.
nutmeg
I had a problem like this for almost two years, but mine started around 40 m.p.h. and it was loud too. It drove me nuts! (aw man, what an awful pun..) I took it everywhere, replaced my wheel bearings, had my axles rebuilt, rotated, balanced, and replaced tires: all with no luck! Recently I had my transmission and differential replaced and now the noise and the vibration is gone. My friend who did the work said one of the bearings where the axle goes into the differential was all crazy kinds of worn out. But come to think of it, the vibration did get worse with acceleration and was way fainter while coasting. Just a suggestion, I hope you get it worked out!
CaliJeff
Once again, like nutmeg said and I said, i think its the tranny. Many shops where I am located will inspect and diagnose the problem for free. Check out your area and see what deal you can get. Don't procrastinate with this issue. Once your bearing explodes, it could weld itself onto there and then you will have to buy another tranny which is even pricier. Get it looked at this weekend.
GotToyota
Get them balanced and go from there. That is the first thing I would suspect.
samir0189
I had the wheels balanced today. the problem still remains, although the issue has been reduced to 50-75mph. anything over 75 and its smooth like it should be. I watched them balance the wheels to be sure, and everything "zeroed" out correctly. I'm kinda hoping its not the transmission, however i'll look into finding a place that does that sort of thing.

It may be a bit of a long shot, but, a few weeks ago, perhaps around the time this issue has started, I went over a railroad track that wasn't very smooth at all at a kinda high speed, it was my first time down that road, so i didnt know. Do you think it could maybe be a busted strut? Ive had some kind of an oil leak recently too, are those oil filled?
GotToyota
Have you considered that it could be the motor mounts?
Batman722
QUOTE (samir0189 @ Oct 27, 2008 - 9:24 PM) *
I have had my motor mounts changed recently, for the record. Any suggestions?


QUOTE (GotToyota @ Oct 30, 2008 - 9:21 PM) *
Have you considered that it could be the motor mounts?

does it vibrate/shake more or less if you turn to the left or right ?

do you hear any noises when you start from a complete stop ? any click, pop, anything ?
Bitter
test for motor mounts:
jack engine up slightly with a block of wood placed between engine and trans

if engine gets smoother its mounts, if not its engine.
samir0189
The mounts were changed really just recently, within the last 15-20k miles, i don't know exactly when it was. I plan on having a look at them again, but i surely doubt its them, i really try to baby this car, i know shes got extremely high miles and I want things to last as long as possible til i can get the funds to either swap the engine out or rebuild this old 5s, with more power of course.

I try really hard not to do hard launches or shifts or anything that would bust the mounts but i will check again.

The shaking only happens on the highway between 50-70mph, there is no noises during turning,

and well actually, there is a clunking sound coming from the rear still, i thought i had solved it, i thought it was a little rubber thing on the caliper pin but it persists. The noise is a clunkity clunk clunk from dead stop, til about 20mph, from the rear left. could some suspension thing be loose back there and vibrating at highway speeds?

The only thing that gets me is, why does it smoothen out at 70+mph? What could be so selective as to only bother during 50-70?
samir0189
A bit of an update i guess:

Today i had a 4 wheel alignment done @ goodyear, everything checked out fine, had some things a little out of wack but its all good now, so that eliminates it from being a suspension problem i guess.

About the tranny, i dunno where around here to really take it, and i also have a question, though i dont know much about transmissions so please correct me if im wrong, but wouldn't all the gears have a problem, or wouldn't they all vibrate at a certain rpm? or something? why just on 3-5 and at between that speed value of 50-75ish?

another question, can rims be bent? would they take a correct balance if they were? cause the balance was fine on all wheels. How can i check this?
samir0189
Well guys, I did some extensive research and i've learned its quite possibly the CV joints. A large number of resources online have stated that CV joints don't necessarily have to click, but a sign that they are bad is also that during highway speeds (45-50mph+) the CV joint can vibrate annoyingly as mine is.

Tomorrow I will be going under the car to check if the boots are busted and if this is in fact my issue. If anyone has any input to confirm this or any experience changing these please don't hesitate to post!!
Remy
^^^ yes thats true your boots don't have to be torn to tell you that you have a bad axle, internal damage cannot be seen or heard sometimes same goes for your transmission.
samir0189
woot.gif +1 so far.
CaliJeff
update?
samir0189
QUOTE (CaliJeff @ Nov 4, 2008 - 12:22 PM) *
update?


I was just in the garage actually, i jacked her up, but i could only see the left side cv joint by the tranny, and it doesnt appear to be busted, but i couldnt really see the other side well at all, my jack wont go high enough, ill have to think of some other way to get it up higher.


ooh and i checked the motor mounts JUST in case to rule them out, and they are fine, 100%. biggrin.gif
nnesto
I had a similar problem a few years ago it was only when accelerating at higher speeds around 75mph. My cv joint were fine, had new tires balanced and nothing. I realised that it stopped when I pressed the clutch so I put in a new clutch and had the flywheel machined and it went away. Also recently it happened again and I thought the clutch was going but I took my car in and had all my fluids toped off and I must have been leaking transmission oil because it was really really low, after it was filled back up the vibrating stopped. I'm not sure if the fluids (lack of) were the cause this time or if my clutch is just going again(real cheap clutch, couldnt afford better at the time). Anyway hope this helps, if nothing else it gives you something else to cross off the list.
samir0189
QUOTE (nnesto @ Nov 22, 2008 - 11:36 AM) *
I had a similar problem a few years ago it was only when accelerating at higher speeds around 75mph. My cv joint were fine, had new tires balanced and nothing. I realised that it stopped when I pressed the clutch so I put in a new clutch and had the flywheel machined and it went away. Also recently it happened again and I thought the clutch was going but I took my car in and had all my fluids toped off and I must have been leaking transmission oil because it was really really low, after it was filled back up the vibrating stopped. I'm not sure if the fluids (lack of) were the cause this time or if my clutch is just going again(real cheap clutch, couldnt afford better at the time). Anyway hope this helps, if nothing else it gives you something else to cross off the list.


Thanks for your input, but I'm fairly certain its not the clutch. I only have about 50k miles on it and it grabs great. My problem does go away when i step on the clutch too BUT i think thats only cause i'm removing the stress of the engine on the joints. I also changed my gear oil a few thousand miles ago and everything was okay there.

I'm going to have my axles changed sometime next week I hope, I'll update if that solved my problem after i get it done.
samir0189
WOOT! I fixed it guys! I had both my CV drive axles replaced a few hours ago, and the vibration is gone!!!! The car is as smooth as butter, I remember why I love it so much. biggrin.gif

So to sum this up i guess, if you have a vibration that is not poor wheel balancing, check your axles!

For the record, these were the original axles i replaced at 241,100 miles, and the boots weren't busted! Isn't that amazing?! But they were worn pretty bad and obviously they were due for a change.
Cutrara
QUOTE (RickJamesBish @ Oct 28, 2008 - 8:17 PM) *
I forgot about the tranny, and he's probably right...you'd probably feel stronger wheel/front shake if it was the engine, but a shaking tranny would be a centralized vibration.


What??? This would make sense if the Celica was RWD.
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