Rough Idle.. I Think <-- Help

[Spiike32]

Hello everyone,

My 2000 ES300 is acting kinda funny as of late. When I'm stopped at an intersection the steering wheel vibrates and you can feel the car vibration through the seat. But this is only in drive. If I am stopped at an intersection and put it in neutral then the vibrations are damped. I had an oil change, timing belt change, transmission fluid flush, and transmission belt change all done this past fall. The car was never like this in the past 7 years of car ownership, and has started this winter. I did a search on hard idle and many people post that the idle control valve which I believe is the same as the butterfly valve needs cleaning.

Thing is, this happened on my old camry and first we replaced the engine mounts (spring like mounts that hold up the engine) which solved it for awhile and later just sold the car cause it got so bad.

So is this problem what is meant by hard idle? Or is there a different term? And would the cleaning of the valve be the correct solution?

[blk_on_blk]

I don't think this is an ICV problem. That usually presents itself in an inability to start and obtain an idle (the engine just keeps dying). A constant rough idle could be a leaky injector, a MAF going weird, a leak in the intake duct after the air filter, a vacuum line leaking, faulty spark plugs, or weak ignition in one of the cylinders. It could be a lot of things.

I doubt the vibrations get 'dampened' when you put it in neutral, they are just more isolated when you take it out of gear (but they are still there). Plus, the problem is probably still there as your drive at speed, but it's just masked in the higher RPM.

For some reason, my gut instinct says to look at the injectors... but checking all the intake ductwork, the spark plugs (looking for fouling and degredation), and vacuum lines are the easiest things to check first.

[Spiike32]

Thanks for the fast reply blk.

Maybe dampened is not the right word, but there are decreased vibrations when the car is out of gear.

Your post however almost gave me a heart attack cause there are so many things that could be wrong. I'll check what you listed after work tonight. Are fuel injectors a hard install? I looked at the service manuals and the change doesn't look that hard. It looks like a pricey replacement though.

[blk_on_blk]

It sounds more daunting than it is. Most of the checks are pretty easy. Changing the injectors out isn't not that hard, but it is kind of costly. Intake hoses should be pretty obvious if one has slipped off or is cracked. Checking the spark plugs should give indicators if you've got a system wide problem, or if it's cylinder specific.

You should have a better feel for what's going on after a little inspection. Rest easy... i'm sure it's something minor.

Here's a link you might be interested in reading... sounds like similar (yet more extreme) symptoms, and this was fix: http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...=34199&st=0

[Spiike32]

Do you guys know of a reputable place I can get fuel injectors that wont cost a grand for 6? Also are remanufactured injectors ok?

[92Lex]

http://www.fiveomotorsport.com/Injector_SetsMODS.asp