Toyota Repair: 97 corolla shaking like a blender, spark plug wires, engine vibration

Question
Hi,
Thanks in advance for taking sometime to answer my question. My Gf and I are trying to save some money and so I'm trying to not have to take my car to a mechanic if I can repair this problem myself. I'm Pretty handy and daring, but Don't work on cars much.
My Girlfriend owns a toyota corolla 1997 model. When she turns it on it just shakes like we're in a blender. The car turns on fine, but just shakes as long as it's on. It also makes a loud "BRRRrrrrrrr" sound like it''s working too hard. Obvioulsy it is. I'm thinking it can be the carburator? You're the expert, can you suggest what I should trouble shoot and repair?
Thank you,
Robert

Answer
I may need a little more information, first of all a '97 Corolla has no carburetor it is fuel injected.
The problem may be the front motor mount, the one located at the front of the engine, these are known to collapse and cause the engine vibration to be transmitted to the passenger compartment. There may also be an engine misfire, I can't tell from your description of the problem, check to see if there is an engine misfire and repair that first, misfires are mostly caused by worn out spark plugs or cracks in the distributor cap or leaking spark plug wires and/or bad spark plugs, a routine tune up may cure this problem.