Idle Vibration

[pauljcl]

I had the same problem on my old RX300. Dealer said it was 'normal, they all do it'. In fact, I suspect it is the motor mounts which were worn and did not absorb the lower frequencies any more.

[teammootracer]

I had a very similar problem. The vibration (and sound) would disappear either at Neutral or when I turned on the lights. The dealer replaced a gasket of some sort, and voila, the problem went away. The car is so much quieter now.

I just changed my motor mounts, and I swear its almost made the vibration/low tone worse. It also could be because it's summer and the a/c is always on. Do you know what gasket they changed? I've only owned the rx300 for 6 months, so far i'm not impressed. My 1996 Acura 3.2TL is whisper quiet at idle, this thing is so loud I don't even want to drive it.

[NJerseyDan]

It's been several months since my attempts to get rid of the annoying idle vibration. Here's the things I've done, in this order. 1 Cleaned IVAC, 2 Oil Change, 3 Air filter change, 4 Can of Seafoam, 5 Injectors professionally cleaned, 6 Transmission fluid and filter changed, 7 Had diagnosed at Lexus-again. Cleaned rear ABS sensors at their suggestion, 8 changed two engine mounts and one transmission mount, 9 Had exhaust system checked out at an exhaust specialist- they said my system was fine, 10 taken to two independent transmission shops- they say it is not being caused my the transmission or TC.

I've tried about everything that's been suggested to me. This vibration is really annoying though, and I'm gonna try again to get rid of it. My license plate rattles against the body very loudly when it really starts vibrating. It's very 'un-lexus' to me. :)

So. let me ask you guys this. Lexus had said the ABS system is causing this vibration. So, I only cleaned the rear sensors, and now I'm planning on doing the fronts. But, can the ABS system cause vibration while standing still? Anyone out there know this? If someone tells me that it can, then my next step will be to pop off the hubs and inspect the reluctor rings. And replace if any are broken. But I won't do this unless someone convinces me that ABS can cause vibration while standing still.

Here's how it happens with my car. I will stop the vehicle at a light or stop sign, and it is smooth idle for 5-10 seconds, then it begins vibrating and slowly increases over a few seconds to it's full power- enough to vibrate license plates and antenna. If I turn the steering wheel a little bit, the engine will speed up slightly and smooth out. Or if lightly tap the gas it will smooth out fine. One of the transmission shop suggested to me it may be related the Variable Valve timing. ?? help me out lexus owners!

[pauljcl]

It's been several months since my attempts to get rid of the annoying idle vibration. Here's the things I've done, in this order. 1 Cleaned IVAC, 2 Oil Change, 3 Air filter change, 4 Can of Seafoam, 5 Injectors professionally cleaned, 6 Transmission fluid and filter changed, 7 Had diagnosed at Lexus-again. Cleaned rear ABS sensors at their suggestion, 8 changed two engine mounts and one transmission mount, 9 Had exhaust system checked out at an exhaust specialist- they said my system was fine, 10 taken to two independent transmission shops- they say it is not being caused my the transmission or TC.

I've tried about everything that's been suggested to me. This vibration is really annoying though, and I'm gonna try again to get rid of it. My license plate rattles against the body very loudly when it really starts vibrating. It's very 'un-lexus' to me. :)

So. let me ask you guys this. Lexus had said the ABS system is causing this vibration. So, I only cleaned the rear sensors, and now I'm planning on doing the fronts. But, can the ABS system cause vibration while standing still? Anyone out there know this? If someone tells me that it can, then my next step will be to pop off the hubs and inspect the reluctor rings. And replace if any are broken. But I won't do this unless someone convinces me that ABS can cause vibration while standing still.

Here's how it happens with my car. I will stop the vehicle at a light or stop sign, and it is smooth idle for 5-10 seconds, then it begins vibrating and slowly increases over a few seconds to it's full power- enough to vibrate license plates and antenna. If I turn the steering wheel a little bit, the engine will speed up slightly and smooth out. Or if lightly tap the gas it will smooth out fine. One of the transmission shop suggested to me it may be related the Variable Valve timing. ?? help me out lexus owners!

As (I guess) most RX300 owners, I had the same issue and took the car in to the dealer shortly after I purchased it, used CPO. They told me it was 'normal' - all RXs did it. But - as noted by you and others, it is a function of the lower RPM at idle in gear. When out of gear in idle, or when the idle is slightly faster than set in gear, the vibration disappears. The only other car on which I had had a similar problem once was a MB190E2.6. Changing the motor mounts re-established the original smoothness.

In response: I do not believe the ABS sensors have anything to do with this at idle, stopped. I had tried cleaning the injectors and the air temp/density control valve, but that made no difference. A fellow owner described a similar issue solved by cleaning the IACV

(see: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=30723 )

but you said you did it and it did not resolve the issue.

On a conceptual level, the issue is not - in my opinion - due to anything related to ignition. Thus, it is related to fuel or to insufficient damping of vibrations. I had been unable to convince myself that any irregularity in fuel supply (or computer programming) caused the issue, because the transmission to 'no felt vibration' is quick and does not evidence any 'hiccup' when accelerating very very slightly. I therefore concluded that the motor mounts were the issue - either they were badly 'tuned' or had become a little harder (lost absorbability of vibrations). Since Lexus was unwilling to admit to a problem, and since I was not prepared to pay for new motor mounts on my own, I let vibrations be.

However, you mention that you changed the motor mounts and a transmission mount, to no avail. Thus, I am back to thinking that it has to do with the richness (or lack thereof) of the fuel / air mixture. I don't know how the VVTiming system operates, but that could be an issue - or else something as simple as a vacuum hose leak.

Sorry: not much help. Let us know. I empathize. Good luck!

[TomC]

http://www.goss-garage.com/ - call Pat Goss on the phone during regular work hours and ask him if there is a solution. I believe a similar issue came up on his weekly TV show.

Good luck!

Tom

[NJerseyDan]

Paul- thanks for the input man. I'm thinking it's probably something with the fuel/air too. Thing is, when I first stop the vehicle it idles fine. It's smooth. So the motor mounts are doing their job fine. But then it slowly starts to vibrate and quickly increases.

So that says to me it could be one of two things. 1- someone else on here said maybe the mounts are just tuned poorly, and maybe the increasing vibration is caused by the idle naturally slowing down at a stop, and it's hitting just the right frequency to vibrate. ??? maybe. 2. Or it's something out of whack with the fuel mapping, and when I stop it just becomes more apparent. My fuel economy does suck even when I drive like my grandma. I've got a Scanner that gives me all kinds of Live data coming off the computer- including fuel mapping. But, it's just numbers to me! So yours is still doing this too?

[NJerseyDan]

Tom C, I just spoke to Pat Goss. Nice guy. He didn't have an answer for my specific vehicle, but I told my situation and everything I've done to my car. And he says it's probably something with the timing. I had my timing belt changed a year ago, and he says if they put it just one tooth off then it cause what I'm seeing. I've also got a OBD reader that also gives all the data coming off the vehicle computer. he's saying I can get the values that I should be seeing on there off the internet, and then compare them with what I'm seeing. So thanks man. You gave me another door to try:) Here goes

[pauljcl]

Paul- thanks for the input man. I'm thinking it's probably something with the fuel/air too. Thing is, when I first stop the vehicle it idles fine. It's smooth. So the motor mounts are doing their job fine. But then it slowly starts to vibrate and quickly increases.

So that says to me it could be one of two things. 1- someone else on here said maybe the mounts are just tuned poorly, and maybe the increasing vibration is caused by the idle naturally slowing down at a stop, and it's hitting just the right frequency to vibrate. ??? maybe. 2. Or it's something out of whack with the fuel mapping, and when I stop it just becomes more apparent. My fuel economy does suck even when I drive like my grandma. I've got a Scanner that gives me all kinds of Live data coming off the computer- including fuel mapping. But, it's just numbers to me! So yours is still doing this too?

I don't think the mounts are tuned poorly because everyone commented on how smooth and 'soft' the idle was when the car was new. My RX would become what was in my opinion more 'diesel-like' at slow idle (i.e. with gear engaged). I don't have the car anymore, so I'm speaking from memory. On the other hand, even when in gear, until the motor was quite warm, the idle seemed to be at the same RPMs as later, but the mixture was obviously richer, and I did not have the 'shake'.... I wish you luck!

[NJerseyDan]

For those of you interested,

I just spoke to the mechanic foreman at Cherry HIll, Lexus(NJ). I was going to ask him if he could give me the default values to look for on my scanner. But, he told me that if those values were off even a little it would trip and CELight. I told him about the diagnosis I received there back in the summer- about the dirty speed sensors causing vibration while standing still. He completely agreed that's incorrect. I'm glad he didn't try to defend the diagnosis just because it came from his shop. So, he gave me his email address and told me he'd ask around and see if he could figure it out. So I wouldn't hear from him til next week. So. Lexus is back on the case. fingers crossed. If he tells me it's warped rotors I'm never going there again :)

Update November 29, 2010.

So Frank, the Mechanic Foreman of Cherry Hill Lexus emailed me back. Here's his reply.

"I have had complaints about that idle vibration, as has Lexus, but no fix at this time. I will save this email, if I hear about anything that could fix your car, I'll let you know."

I've seen other people say they have gotten this response from Lexus, I just couldn't believe they would say this to me. Lexus is openly admitting that they just don't know how to fix this!! Unbelievable.

Update January 27, 2011

I've given up on Cherry Hill Lexus helping me. So I took Rex to my local TiresPlus where I've gotten my past two oil changes. I had mentioned the problem and the guy there told me their head mechanic was a wiz at diagnosing. They had my car for two days and couldn't figure it out. So instead of charging me for the full $100 diagnostic package, they only charged me $20 for some basic inspection package, because they felt bad about not being able to help. Thats the TiresPlus in West Berlin, NJ. So after that I decided to go straight to the source. I emailed Lexus through their website two weeks ago. They wanted me to take Rex back to Cherry HIll Lexus for a Physical Inspection. I told them about the bad diagnosis I got from them last time I was there. The latest email I received from Lexus this Monday said that they will be contacting Cherry HIll and pursuing the matter further and will contact me within five business days. I've got this fantasy in my head that they contact me and say that for all my trouble they're just going to give me a new RX450H. And what color would I like? Ha ha. a guy can dream, huh?

[chiks]

And the saga continues.....

I have a 2001 RX300 purchased 5 years ago CPO. Had only 40K on it.

However, like you all observed, I did too get to experience the annoying vibration at idle, when in D.

The vibrations would worsen if I stepped on the brakes, putting a load on the system.

The vibration is annoying, but the low frequency hum associated with it drove me nuts, so much so that I literally *BLEEP*ed off Lexus Customer service. Well that is what they deserve for *BLEEP*ing a customer off. They had the same answers what everybody is getting..."Lexus has no fix for this". According to them, the engine mounts are great, they replaced the IAC valves, and also the passenger side engine mount. No difference.

Email after email, and some threats and suggestions later, I get this response in Jan 2007:

Due to the nature of your circumstances, we would prefer that one of our

claims representatives handle your issue and answer your questions over

the phone.

Please contact us at 1-800-448-1505 for proper assistance with your

agreement questions. Please have available your Agreement, Application or

Vehicle Identification Number so we can locate your account when you call.

Any ways, what I suggested to Lexus it to do something to negate the bad hum (booming sound) associated with the vibration, and we finally decided to attach some weights to the exhaust system to be covered by Lexus if it helps even a bit or I will pay for the parts and labor. Here is an excerpt from the email communication I received after the call.

After reviewing your claim it was determined that even though this would be a non-covered repair, LFS will authorize up to $400.00 toward the addition of weights to your exhaust system to eliminate the rattle.

I was right on the money on that one. Don't know the cause of the vibration, which is still there, but the low level mind numbing hum associated with it is now gone.

So much for the "world class" engineers at Toyota.

Hope this helps a fellow out here.

[chiks]

*UPDATE*

Over the years, I had the feeling this idle vibration issue is due to the idle speed. The dealer even changed the IAC but no difference.

I even used techron and gumout numerous times to clean the engine up with no success.

Last month, I happened to be at the Goodyear store and saw BG-44K engine cleaner. I got it and dropped it in with 10 gallons of Premium Gas.

After a weeks worth of driving, the crazy idle vibration dissapeared. There is still some vibration on the steering wheel, but not any that vibrates the whole vehicle.

Holy *BLEEP*. Toyota engines and carbonization seems to go hand in hand. Even my 2008 IS250 which had idle issues got resolved after cleaning the engine.

[AlexRich]

I had a very similar problem. The vibration (and sound) would disappear either at Neutral or when I turned on the lights. The dealer replaced a gasket of some sort, and voila, the problem went away. The car is so much quieter now.

Could you try and find out what the gasket was that the dealer replaced ? This would help us all.

[lenore]

I suspect it was the flex pipe in the exhaust or the gasket before the rear Catalytic converter...