have an 04 xA...74k miles

while in drive at a stop, there is an annoying vibration that i can't kill. i have searched around some and the fixes for some people i don't think apply to me.

for one, yes the airbox rattles all to hell, but if i put my hand on it, i still feel the vibration, even though the SOUND of the airbox vibrating is gone. and the vibration is present even with the hood up, so that seems to eliminate the hood as a source.

is this a sign of bad (or worn) motor mounts? the main thing that supports this theory (to me anyway) is because when put into drive from park, the engine flexes (some obviously is normal) what i estimate to be about 1/2 to 3/4 inch, which in turn i observed makes the exhaust shift just a tad. does this seem like TOO much flex?

of course, as soon as it is shifted into N or P it goes away. also, i rule out poor idle as a cause because if i bump the revs up at a stop in gear to say, 1k, the vibration is still there just at a higher frequency because the engine speed is faster. if it were idle problems, i would think the vibration would die if i revved it up.

thoughts? advice? sorry for the long post. TIA.

 

04 xB with a few more miles automatic... same exact issue so I'm interested in what you guy have to say!

 

Both mine do the same thing sometimes stopped at a light with the AC on. I personally think it's the airbox rattling around.

 

the vibration is present with or without the a/c on.

and like i said, i don't see how it can be the airbox because if i put my hand on it to silence it, you can still feel this vibration in the car.

 

Are you talking about the whole car shaking/vibrating, or a noise of some type of rattle?

 

the whole car...it's not a rattling sound.

 

Here is what mine does, I think it is the same..

 

I just took my car in for new brakes. I told them to replace the brakes, tighten the e-brake because it took way too many clicks to hold, rotate tires, and also look into the same issue you describe... the vibration.

My car will vibrate with or without the A/C on. No noise, just a very harsh vibration at idle. My car is automatic so if I were to shift the car into N it would lessen the vibration but not eliminate it.

When I took the car to Toyota several months back they blamed the Injen air intake. Then they said a throttle body cleaning would solve the issue. Well the cleaning did nothing, and my brother had a stock tC that was a year older than mine and his car vibrated the same way. He solved his problem by selling it.

When I took my car into HONDA, they immediately informed me the motor mount was cracked and was causing the vibration. He fixed it by doing something but did not replace it. The vibration has gone away but I don't know for how long. If I were to replace the motor mount completely it would cost $300+. I will probably have to replace it but I will see. I think it is ridiculous that HONDA catches this and not toyota. Whatever the case, after extensive research on this topic and eliminating all other possible problems (using full synthetic oil, spark plugs are rated for 120k miles, properly installed intake), the problem of a vibrating tc with no clicks or rattles is more than likely going to be the motor mounts. I can't speak for the xA/xB but it is safe to assume the same. I believe the spark plugs for the xA/xB are only good for 36k miles.

 

yep, your problem sounds identical to mine.

except for the use of synthetic oil, i believe i have eliminated all possible problems. i think the manual suggests changing the plugs every 30k, but even doing that made no difference. it's not due for an oil change yet but i probably will switch it to synthetic soon.

a cracked mount would make sense as it still somewhat functions but not as well as it should. any idea which mount was giving you problems?l

 

and as a side note, i think the reason the airbox makes such a racket is because the back side hinges get broken over time and replacement of air filters. i found by putting duct tape around the hinge i could nearly silence the noise, it only makes a very faint sound now. much better than before.

 

I don't know which motor mount was cracked. I don't know what his "fix" was to the problem. All I know is that he said it was only cracked but not completely broken thus he didn't see the need to replace the mount. The guy must be telling the truth if he is trying to save me about $300.

Changing to synthetic motor oil is a good choice regardless of any present problems. Keeps the engine looking young on the internal sections. But once you switch to synthetic, you must continue to always replace with synthetic. It is possible that if regular oil is put in later, it can cause problems, but nothing major, just things that would bother someone who cares about the long term life of your engine.

I would at least get your mounts checked by a professional and change them if they need to be changed.

 

Mine has fresh oil, air filter and plugs and that didn't affect the vibration in any way. I am changing the motor mounts soon anyways so I'll let you guys know how that goes and what if any affect it has. Of course I am putting in poly mounts so it will either get better or worse...gotta love those odds!

 

rattling intake? my intake use to rattle a lot..
zip tie it to somethin.

 

These are the stock airboxes shouldn't need to mess with it they have the 3 rubber mounted bolts to the tranny and a nice rubber hose to the throttle body plus the intake rattle is just the symptom of the vibration, stop the vibration stop the rattle it is the whole motor shakin'

----but I am never opposed to zip-tys they are my friends!

 

haha sry i didnt watch the vid til after i posted..hmm..zip tie ftw!

 

xB

I noticed the same sound ... and i found a low tech solution to the problem.

It was extremely embarrassing to roll up, fresh coat of wax, sparkeling rims and a rattling that says "my car looks good buts a piece of ____"

Anyway, it is the vibration of the engine shaking the hood. My latch that keeps the hood down has a gap of about 2 mm. So the vibration shakes the hood up and down causing the sound.

Solution: Where the hook on the hood comes down to the latch under the hood, i took a trusty Wienerschnizel napkin on the latch and closed the hood. Problem solved. It has enough thickness to close the space.

 

**UPDATE**

I haven't posted anything recent on here but felt obligated to update anyone who cares about my current vibration issue.

I tried doing everything possible to fix my vibration and nothing seemed to fix it. I went into a toyota/scion dealership service department and had a talk with the head technician. He explained the vibration at idle was coming from my throttle body assembly. He showed me how the butterfly valve plate had been damaged due to buildup from dirt. The plate looked clean with a nice gold shimmer but the outer most edge of the plate inside the throttle body had a thin black line along the entire edge. Almost as if someone had burned it with a lighter. He told me he can't blame it on the Injen Cold Air Intake but he said hes never seen it happen to a car with a stock intake before. I have to assume the intake caused this damage the the throttle body.

So i wasn't sure if i should remove the intake and install the oem one or not but he then continued to tell me that a replacement throttle body assembly is $850. It was then I realized I should try to remove the injen intake and see if the vibration stops.

Solution: Extensive throttle body cleaning and put the OEM intake back on.

Result: NO MORE VIBRATION.

Final thoughts: I think the vibration came about after the throttle body had suffered enough torture. I didn't do the recommended throttle body cleaning every 15,000 miles and I believe this coupled with lots of high revs and high miles basically hurt the engine. If you choose to have an aftermarket intake, you should clean the throttle body every 10,00 miles to aviod permanent damage.

 

cleaning the throttle body is easy just a few bolts and a nut and some screws to get every thing apart and a can of TB cleaner

 

i have a 2004 xa and i have been having the same problems i just changed the motor monts to the energy suspension mounts and now it viberates even worse im lost im about to give up now my strering wheel and everything rattles

 

heh