QuestionI have been attempting to determine the cause of severe engine vibration in a 1995 Toyota Corolla for a friend of mine.
Problem: Severe engine vibration, in all gears, at all rpm's. Lessens somewhat when car is warmed up.
She took it to a repair shop about a month ago; the mechanic determined it had a broken transmission mount (the one below the air filter assembly), which he replaced, for over $300. That just made it worse (he said that is normal - sure!). The Toyota dealership bluntly told her she needs a new transmission for $4,000. They did not even test drive it, just listened to it idle and charged her $35 for this diagnosis.
I have drained & replaced the transmission oil, looking for anything unusual. The oil, other than being dirty, did not contain anything out of the ordinary (it had about 70,000 miles on it). The engine oil also looks fine, nothing unusual.
The car idles fine, seems to have plenty of power, transmission shifts like it is supposed to. It slams slightly when putting it in Drive, but I believe it has always done that.
At this point, I have no idea where to even look, whether it is an engine problem, a transmission problem, or something else, maybe a bad alternator bearing or something like that. I am not a mechanic, just a do-it-yourselfer. Other than maintenance procedures (oil changes, brakes, starter & alternator replacement), I have a limited amount of experience with car repair.
I have told her not to drive the car until we can get this taken care of. Since we are all broke, a repair shop is a last resort.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Heiko Scherrer
AnswerHello Heiko, welcome to my expert page.
I need to ask a question before I can try to make any kind of recommendation, is there vibration when the car is put in gear but not moving, or only when driving? If so, check the CV axles, especially the inner cv joint, move the axle up and down if there is a lot of movement the cv joint is the problem.
