1997 LX450 vibration during acceleration

[pnolanIH8MUD]

I hear you on the vibration. 60000 is curiously near a tire lifetime of mileage. When I bought my 97, it had a nasty vibration. My tires were shot.

Also is your vibration more tied to speed or rpm's? Depending on your resources check that you haven't thrown a few tire weights. As my doctor says, keep it simple and do no harm. What is likely to happen is most likely the problem.

I've got 220k on mine. When I put the truck in neutral there is some vibration as the engine is relieved of the load. I also note that the smooth zone of operation at highway speeds on my car is between 65 and 70 mph. this is 2500-3000 rpm.

Any torque converter failures on these cars at this mileage. Any mud in the flywheel area? Just some ideas.

 

[lndcruz]

My 80 vibrated a lot at idle and revving the engine in park. Turned out all the rubber exhaust mounts were broken.

Probably not your problem but it would be a cheap fix.

 

[Bryan72880]

Well after what I just saw, I'm DONE with dealers. Especially Toyota dealers in Langhorne, PA.

I had the 60K service performed at Toyota about 5,000 miles ago and I asked for everything to be checked and changed, belts, etc. I just looked at the receipt and everything I asked for was itemized and I paid for it.

I was just at my mechanic and walked in to him replacing the drive belts and A/C belt. They were worn and cracked and looked ancient. So clearly Toyota didn't touch the belts and who knows what else. I asked my mechanic to check the spark plug gapping to make sure Toyota didn't mess that up too. Well, the plugs weren't even tight. In fact, he unscrewed one without using the wrench handle... barely hand tight. So now he's checking EVERYTHING for me.

Back to the vibration issue, we are replacing all the motor mounts and tranny mounts. The large rubber intake hose from the air cleaner to the intake manifold is rock hard and is tranferring a lot of vibration thru to the air cleaner housing and frame. I'm assuming this large tube should be somewhat soft so we made the decision to replace it.

Once we isolate the engine from the body by replacing the rubber, mounts, etc., we are pretty much at the end of the troubleshooting.

 

[Kernal]

Are you saying you paid for new belts but they didn't change them? Those belts should only be replaced with Toyota belts if you want a quiet engine; the two alternator belts come as a matched set from Toyota; most aftermarket belts will make noise. The rubber air intake hose does become hard and brittle with the heat of the engine then cracks often on the underside between one of the pleats during a tune up when it's lifted from one end. You can often save a bundle if you get your parts from one of the vendors here on MUD who give a discount.

 

[Bryan72880]

Yes, paid for new belts and they didn't change them.

 

[Kernal]

Get new Toyota belts; the alternator belts come as a matched set.

 

[pnolanIH8MUD]

We get ourselves into trouble when we bestow unearned greatness and awe upon any human being or dealership. Cdan and Benno being the only exception.

 

[Bryan72880]

Well we've exhausted almost everything at this point. New u-joints, balanced drive shafts, new engine mounts, new air intake tube (old one was rock hard), and transfer case and diff fluid.

On Tuesday we're going to separate the transfer case from the engine and run up the engine to see if the vibration is originating from the engine itself. Has anyone run across an instance where the torque converter is out of balance? That's about the last thing left to rule out at this point!!

 

[Broncoboy2020]

Low Idle Vibration

I dont want to sound like the odd man out. My low RPM vibration was due to a head gasket. Vibration was getting little by little worse after about 4 weeks or so the gasket gave way. Classic cylinder 6 leakage into the combustion chamber. I could never see a leak from the gsasket. I was convinced that my vibration was from the drivetrain untill I read one post about a guy that had same issue. Dont know if it helps, but another avenue to check.

 

[Stylo07]

Did you ever find the culprit?

 

[Czar]

Before going on a complete teardown and spending a fortune on repair work I would go ahead and drive someone's FZJ80 to make sure it's not just "normal". FZJ's are great vehicles, but it's not exactly a 2012 E550, nor was it ever supposed to be. For instance, my muffler mount hits the frame at idle, and again at 1600-1800rpms (Bosal system). Check all your exhaust clearances and make sure there is enough room for "play". Could it be something more serious? I suppose, but I seriously doubt you have an issue with an unbalanced TC or a faulty engine damper. I had a slight vibration upon idle, more like a tiny hiccup which went away after my head-gasket repair. Your situation sounds like a metal to metal vibration.

How about the wires? Distributor cap and rotor?