Vibration at or around 1500 RPMS... (1 Viewer)

[billybronco]

Afternoon folks..........I'm confounded by this recent issue. I'm terrified that it's my transmission; however, there's no real hesitation persay or long slow slipping as if the gears aren't grabbing.

It's an intermittent (yet increasingly more constant) phenomenon. From a dead start, I run up through 1st and into 2nd and between 1000 and 2000 RPM's there's a weird vibration that lasts about a second......Sometimes it'll disappear and pop back from another fraction but then it's gone as the gears progress.

It MIGHT be my rear driveshaft but I've been lubing it every oil change for years. It MIGHT be by CV boots as I threw a lift on about 18 months back but I replaced the clamps and they stopped spitting grease. Plus, I understand that it's more of a "knocking" noise and most notably when turning.

Any ideas? Engine or transmission mounts?

Haven't tried it in N yet.....

HELP!!!

 

[SammyT96LX450]

Afternoon folks..........I'm confounded by this recent issue. I'm terrified that it's my transmission; however, there's no real hesitation persay or long slow slipping as if the gears aren't grabbing.

It's an intermittent (yet increasingly more constant) phenomenon. From a dead start, I run up through 1st and into 2nd and between 1000 and 2000 RPM's there's a weird vibration that lasts about a second......Sometimes it'll disappear and pop back from another fraction but then it's gone as the gears progress.

It MIGHT be my rear driveshaft but I've been lubing it every oil change for years. It MIGHT be by CV boots as I threw a lift on about 18 months back but I replaced the clamps and they stopped spitting grease. Plus, I understand that it's more of a "knocking" noise and most notably when turning.

Any ideas? Engine or transmission mounts?

Haven't tried it in N yet.....

HELP!!!

What kind of vehicle what year how many miles.....need more info

 

[billybronco]

2007 FJ. Automatic. 125,000 miles. I changed the rear diff fluid not long after I got it. Say, 70,000 or so? I doubt it's the rear diff chattering though.

 

[SammyT96LX450]

Few things. I would Google drive shaft clunk. Lots of info on the blue room. Two I would contact a local Toyota dealer and have them run your vin number for 2 things rear diff recall and transmission recall and see what they say.

 

[1911]

In my experience, a vibration that only happens in a certain rpm range is almost always a rotation problem, that is a rotating mass (tires, wheels, drive shafts, u-joints). If it were an engine or transmission problem, it would be much more likely to be constant or at least over a much broader rpm range.

Try the simplest and cheapest things first, starting with making sure that there is no mud caked on the inside of any wheel. One of the worst cases of periodic vibration I ever saw and fixed was due to that. Next is tire balance - could have thrown a weight, tires could have worn unevenly. Have them re-balanced.

If your drive shaft(s) have not been removed this next one is not possible, but if they have been removed and then not installed with the u-joints in phase, that will give you a nasty vibration. Likewise, if a u-joint is worn (usually as a result from operating at too acute of an angle - Toyota u-joints are extremely high-quality and can last nearly forever if greased) it will vibrate at certain rpm's. Finally, drive shafts are balanced and there are often small weights welded on at the factory. If you've really scraped a drive shaft on a rock, it's possible that a weight could have been knocked off but I've never seen this happen on an FJC - most people just do not wheel them that hard.

That's what I'd try first. Good luck finding it.

 

[Mtbcoach]

Well done again Lee, well thought out troubleshooting path.

I'm in agreement, eliminate the easy/simple stuff before jumping into the bigger, more remote, what-ifs. On a trip, I chased a vibration from my Exped trailer, to the FJC, looking for and worried about the worse, leaving me stranded on the trip, Simple solution...torque cracking on my SSR had me lose a lug, causing the vibrations.

After you go thru Lee's list, then you'll be putting it on a rack/jack stands. I've also used a long handle screwdriver to "listen" to parts to help find noises/vibrations. Good luck...

 

[billybronco]

roger. thanks for all the replies. it hasn't been in any mud. always dry when I go trail riding. nitto terra grapplers just installed. only 4K on 'em. still, I reckon they could have thrown a weight. drive shafts never removed. I'm having them rotated Friday. will have them rebalanced, as well. start there. thanks fellas.

also, a quick search after I posted this pulled up all KINDS of similar instances. most feel it's "flex lock up from the torque converter". so many similar diagnosis, I fear that this may be the culprit. plus, everybody stating that the entire transmission must be replaced rather than simply the TQ.

???

 

[Dirtdiva]

roger. thanks for all the replies. it hasn't been in any mud. always dry when I go trail riding. nitto terra grapplers just installed. only 4K on 'em. still, I reckon they could have thrown a weight. drive shafts never removed. I'm having them rotated Friday. will have them rebalanced, as well. start there. thanks fellas.

also, a quick search after I posted this pulled up all KINDS of similar instances. most feel it's "flex lock up from the torque converter". so many similar diagnosis, I fear that this may be the culprit. plus, everybody stating that the entire transmission must be replaced rather than simply the TQ.

???

I have a '09 smurf and had what you may be experiencing. I noticed slight vibrations between 1200-1500 rpms. No other issues with gear slipping. Regular maintenance and seldom in mud. Read up in the Blue Room and went to the dealer...after holding my smurf hostage a couple of days, they confirmed it was the tranny. Lucky for me it was warrantied.

 

[BMThiker]

Read up on how to drop the trans pan and add new fluid. The job is a bit messy, but not difficult. I had similar vibration issue (felt like driving over a rumble strip) and I could usually just add more throttle to "get out" of it. It became more frequent and so I opted to just drop the pan, clean the metal screen filter, wipe down the valve body, reinsert filter, bolt pan back on. Then added about 6 quarts of World Spec trans fluid back to it. Been running fine since then and results were immediate.

 

[billybronco]

Yep......BMThiker. That's it. Precisely. Dealer has it as I'm typing this. Asked that they do a COMPLETE flush. They mentioned a full 16 quarts of World Spec being used. My mechanical prowess is limited to oil changes and driveshaft lubing. Hoping this works. At least for time being. Will keep above process in mind. Thanks everybody.

 

[billybronco]

Fingers crossed. Hope it doesn't make matters worse.

 

[BMThiker]

Hope they don't muck it up worse than it is. Some "flushes" will push debris into the valve body and you end up with more problems. Most people recommend the passive type of fluid change for this reason. If you transmission is new enough, a flush may not harm it at all. It's the ones over 50-60K you have to proceed with caution if a flush was never performed on it before.

 

[BMThiker]

At least it's still under warranty, right?

 

[billybronco]

Great. No.

Not good.

 

[billybronco]

115K miles

 

[billybronco]

I'd imagine any issues would manifest themselves fairly quickly, no?

I mean. I'm not ignorant to the fact that something could get stirred up later and lock something up but a throttle body issue should present itself pretty soon right?

Thinking about cruising the lot a few times before I roll out.

 

[BMThiker]

Yeah, I'd even go so far as to make a service writer go on a ride along before you sign off on the repairs.

 

[billybronco]

Good call. I did just that. I can't believe it. Truly. However, I think I made the right decision. Rumble gone. Hopefully forever. We'll see. Thanks again everybody.