Hi guys,

Need some advice. My car (well ... actually my mum's car which I've been using) has been vibrating for some time now and every mechanic I take it to has been giving me a different diagnosis. After driving for at least 10 minutes,when I stop in a jam,leave the gear at drive and step on the brakes to immobilise it,the car vibrates like a helicopter inside.

Some of the diagnosis I've received are as follows:


the plugs are wrong (I use BRK double pin)
the car is too high (It sits on 14s and 7 coil springs)
the throttle body needs adjusting (has never worked even after adjusting)

Has anyone ever encountered this or know what the problem and remedy would be? It is a 1998 AE110 and I don't want to think the problem is very big!

Thank you in advance!


Immorality: The morality of those who are having a better time!

Damaged eng mounting; and if the plugs r ok,maybe some of the leads r kaput hence unbalanced combustion .U can also tell this by abnormal fuel consumption. Btw dnt leave the gear at D for long.

Can silence be misquoted?

@Sasha: If the car is starting and driving smoothly,then u dont have to worry about the internal engine systems. As the others have adviced,get the engine rubber mountings checked. One sign of failed mountings is an obvious 'fwd or reverse jerk' when you change from N to D or from N to R while still pressing the brake pedal. In normal cases,this kind of jerk is small and smooth,and becomes quite pronounced as the mountings get weak. Another way to check is to open the bonnet,ask someone to change from N to D while still pressing the brakes. Look at the engine behaviour. If it appears to be moving/ tilting forward in a pronounced manner,the mountings are done. Btw,mountings can look intact visually but the rubber material has lost its elasticity....

if you apply brakes while on D,you are simply braking and restraining the car from motion. The engine is still fully engaded. Its just like putting a big stone infront of the wheel. Good practive is to get to N when not moving for sometime. You wil save on fuel.

All the best.



Life is worth living cos God planned it to be so.

@extrablessed: Thank you very much. The car actually jerks when I move from N to D. I will have those mountings rechecked today in my presence.

@Much Know: What do you mean by this 'Have transmission fluid (ATF gearbox and CC for transfer cases checked level)'?

Immorality: The morality of those who are having a better time!

Sasha,there are two transmission fluids.
ATF - Automatic Transmission Fluid,pink in color is poured inside the Automatic Transmission case.
Gear oil - Colloquially known as cc in Kenya,heavy fluid put in the Transfer case(next to engine) and the differential (it is also used in manual gearbox)

Low cc will not be an instant cause but would mess the automatic transmission in the long run if you have been running low,eventual result in most cases is automatic transmission problems. Again the automatic transmission problem could result from many other factors including ECU failure and driving in rough terrain for long periods (especially Toyota),have someone sniff your ATF.

Niône mwisho ya mwezi pliz!