96 Camry, 4cyl, automatic with 154K miles. Well maintianed, just had the following maintanence done:
Timing Belt
Water Pump
Plugs, Dist Cap, Rotor and Wires
Fuel Filter, Air Filter
Valve Cover Gasket and Cam Shaft Seal
Oil Pump Seal
Crank Shaft Seal
Front and Rear Hydrdalic Motor Mounts, Dog Bone
EGE Valve, Throttle Position Sensor
Car continues to have an engine vibration felt around 2k rpm. Power is ok, car runs very well, just this dam vibration at the 2k rpm range. Would very much appreciate advice on what might cause this. We also tried replacing the crank pully/harmonic balancer...no help.
I have a 97 Camry 4 cyl (5S-FE engine) automatic, and it also vibrates at 2000 to 2200RPM. It is very annoying, since this RPM corresponds to 60-65mph cruising speeds with the torque converter locked up. Here is what I have tried without success. The dealer changed engine mounts and wanted to change cv axles only becuase they thought they were "old" even though they had no free play or clicking noises while turning.
Changed front hydrualic engine mount and dogbone - didn't help.
Adjusted exhaust mounting bracket that sits on the front cross member - didn't help.
Changed plugs and wires thinking it was a misfire - didn't help, but should have assumed this since under heavy throttle it runs smooth.
I also read somewhere that c.v. joints could cause this vibration at 60mph, however I disagree, since I can reproduce the vibration in park and rev to 2000rpm so it is not a symptom of the output shaft side of the powertrain.
I personally think that it might be the engine output flexplate or torque converter are a bit misbalanced and it is resonance at 2000rpm. These two items are the last rotating element when revving the engine in a parked condtion. My other guess is that it is something related to the exhaust piping. I have kinda given up trying to figure it out since I've had this condition for 2 years and 20,000miles without any signs of it getting worse and nobody can figure it out, short of wanting to throw parts at it.
By the way, my strut mounts are shot, so I will be replacing these shortly. Could be naturally occuring 4banger engine resonance is creeping through, which falls inline with my thought that an exhaust mount or other engine isolator is transmitting vibration into the chassis.
I have a 97 Camry 4 cyl (5S-FE engine) automatic, and it also vibrates at 2000 to 2200RPM. It is very annoying, since this RPM corresponds to 60-65mph cruising speeds with the torque converter locked up. Here is what I have tried without success. The dealer changed engine mounts and wanted to change cv axles only becuase they thought they were "old" even though they had no free play or clicking noises while turning.
Changed front hydrualic engine mount and dogbone - didn't help.
Adjusted exhaust mounting bracket that sits on the front cross member - didn't help.
Changed plugs and wires thinking it was a misfire - didn't help, but should have assumed this since under heavy throttle it runs smooth.
I also read somewhere that c.v. joints could cause this vibration at 60mph, however I disagree, since I can reproduce the vibration in park and rev to 2000rpm so it is not a symptom of the output shaft side of the powertrain.
I personally think that it might be the engine output flexplate or torque converter are a bit misbalanced and it is resonance at 2000rpm. These two items are the last rotating element when revving the engine in a parked condtion. My other guess is that it is something related to the exhaust piping. I have kinda given up trying to figure it out since I've had this condition for 2 years and 20,000miles without any signs of it getting worse and nobody can figure it out, short of wanting to throw parts at it.
By the way, my strut mounts are shot, so I will be replacing these shortly. Could be naturally occuring 4banger engine resonance is creeping through, which falls inline with my thought that an exhaust mount or other engine isolator is transmitting vibration into the chassis.
I completely agree with your observations. I've chased this dam vibration for quite awhile, car runs perfectly, I'm just living with it now. I tend to agree, it may be a Torque Converter balance issue, yes, I too can reproduce the symtom in neutral/park. Just for the record, I already changed CV/Axels(OEM Toyota Parts), plus all struts not that any of those items shold be suspect of this issue. Only engine mount I haven't repalced is the one under the trans. Was about to change that too, then decided to have the Toyota dealer give it another shot at solving. Service mananger is good guy, took the car into service bay, spent some time with it, came out and said "leave it alone, drive it and ignore, car is fine". He asked if I ever replaced the flex-pipe, answer is yes, I had it replaced by his dealership couple of years ago. He said he's heard/felt worse. So thats where I'm at. He didn't feel I should bother with the remaining trans-mount. Most frustarting though. Only comment he had was the power steering pump sounded a bit whinney, said they've had some occurances of roughness caused by a bad pump. He didn't feel it was worth chasing more parts-replacing. So thats where I'm at. Beatifully running 96 camry(158K miles), great mpg, reliable, comfortable, all good things but the dam 2krpm engine vibration. Burns no oil, in fact just returned from the shop a few minutes ago, had oil & filter changed.
Thanks for your comments, some consolation that someone else is dealing with exact same issue. I'll make a pledge, If I get to the bottom of this I'll report back...please do same if you nail this first. Ok?
My Camry also makes a whine when the engine revs past 2500rpm. You can only hear it with the windows down in a quiet neighborhood or next to a wall when you first take off from a stop light. I suspected one of the belt driven devices, and removed the alternator/crank pulley/AC belt and the noise was still there in park. I didn't want to jack the car up to get to the PS pump belt, so it could be the power steering pump or maybe the timing belt. I plan on changing the PS fluid after I get some lines rigged up to my portable vacuum pump (so I don't have to worry about bleeding the system). You really have to take off from a stop light to hear it, so 95% of the time, you would never hear it. From what I can tell in the shop manual, there is no tensioner adjustment bolt, just a locking bolt on a curved slot, so I have no idea how to check or adjust belt tension.
My Camry also makes a whine when the engine revs past 2500rpm. You can only hear it with the windows down in a quiet neighborhood or next to a wall when you first take off from a stop light. I suspected one of the belt driven devices, and removed the alternator/crank pulley/AC belt and the noise was still there in park. I didn't want to jack the car up to get to the PS pump belt, so it could be the power steering pump or maybe the timing belt. I plan on changing the PS fluid after I get some lines rigged up to my portable vacuum pump (so I don't have to worry about bleeding the system). You really have to take off from a stop light to hear it, so 95% of the time, you would never hear it. From what I can tell in the shop manual, there is no tensioner adjustment bolt, just a locking bolt on a curved slot, so I have no idea how to check or adjust belt tension.
I haven't tried eliminating the power steering pump as the culprit by loosening the belt as test. Let me know if If you do so.
Update:
I removed the alternator and A/C belt and the vibration is still present. I did not do the PS pump belt, though. I changed the struts and mounts and while the road induced vibration was greatly improved, the 2k rpm vibration is still present.
I still suspect the exhaust as 2k rpm vibrations can fall under this source and I am reading that it is common for problems in the balance shaft or timing, also. My vibration started about 6 months after a timing belt change. I didn't suspect timing belt since they usually manifest right away, but I am running out of culprits. It isn't too much work to remove the upper cover and check the timing at TDC, so I might as well look into this and overall belt condition.
I'd be very interested in hearing what you discover regarding the Timing Belt positioning. My vibration issue began after the timing belt was replaced. The servicer said they double checked it...I'm still dubious since this all began after the work was done. Note my original post...lists "all" that was done.
By the way, here more info: Not only do I get the vibration at 2krpm range, but if on a highway and I decelerate by taking foot off accelerator, as the speed drops through the 2k rpm range the vibration and sound is felt. Subsides as car drops below 2krpm range. All while with foot off the accelerator. Also, I can actually play with the sound by just slightly feathering/stepping on the acceleator in this range. I still get excellent gas milage, burn no oil, car runs fine...just makes me nuts!
Your manipulation of the vibration and tone is exactly the same as mine. It faintly starts at 1800 and is annoying between 2000 and 2200. At 2400 it is again more normal or at least bearable. This means that cruising between upper fifties and sixty mph is horrible for extended periods of time.
I have also noticed that at 60-65mph, the engine runs at 2000 to 2200rpm and the vibration (or noise) is the most annoying under cruising throttle. However, with the torque converter locked up, I can depress the accelerator to the point where the torque converter stays locked up but the engine is lugged while trying to accelerate. Under this lugged condition at 2000-2200RPM, the noise is not as bad. Maybe it is just my perception since the engine and exhaust will sound a bit louder.
Maybe I will just change the timing belt with a gates or dayco brand belt and swap out the tensioner as well. Maybe the belt whinning sound is not coming from the PS pump belt, but rather the timing belt or a bad idler/tensioner bearing. I suspect it might be a worn out belt tensioner, since this one has 130,000miles at the time of the change and is original to 3 timing belt changes.
96 Camry 4Cyl, 2Krpm vibration
Linear Mode
