willingwelli

Somebody please help me, I think their is seriously something wrong with my car. It doesn't run like I first bought it at all. The rpms shift really hard around 3,000 rpm, but not when you rev it high around 5,000. It's really bumpy, even on a new road I can tell that I'm running over rocks. I did just have my tires balanced and it said I had two flat spots, but I'm not sure if they fixed it. I've gotten my oil changed every 3,000 miles. And sometimes the response is slow when I push the gas. I'll push it, and it'll kind of lag, then go, then sometimes it doesn't do it. Help me, somebody give me some suggestions.

CuRiOuSfIsH

flat spots on tires can be fixed?

willingwelli

I honestly wish I knew anything about cars to know if they can be or not.

sosgal721

did you get in an accident or did you almost get in an accident? Because flat spots only happen when you lock up the brakes. It cal also happen if you leave the car sitting for a long time
How many miles are on it?

shifty_capone

Check your muffler bearings...they can cause a lag when you accelerate.


And flat spots can also be caused by the alignment being off, not just by locking up the brakes. I thought all tC's came with ABS anyway.

io333

You are not being very descriptive. Slow down and very carefully try to do the best you can to explain what you mean by "the rpms shift very hard." That means very little to people that know automobiles inside out. Perhaps you could have a friend who understands mechanicals a bit better write the description.

willingwelli

I apologize. Only 6,300 miles, so yeah, fairly new. What I mean is, when I press on the gas pedal sometimes, I can feel the engine kick, but then sometimes I can't. Or lag, like you said before. I constantly run the A/C. Could this be part of the cause?

willingwelli

Take a look at it from my perspective, when I say they shift hard, I mean, I can feel them when they shift, and I know for a fact that everyone on here who own's a tC that they shift very smoothly, because it was like that when I first had my car. And I know the engine is okay, I take great care of it, and plus I've had it checked out by the dealer, ECU is ok, and all pistons are set accordingly. I'm just beginning to think I have something wrong with my shocks or struts or maybe my suspension.

Somnambulated

Take it back to the dealership. If it has that little milage on it, and you even THINK something MIGHT be wrong with it, take it back and ask them. If you've asked, ask again. Tell them something doesn't feel right.

Otherwise, if something is wrong, you could end up spending time and money trying to diagnose and fix something that's probably covered under warranty.

You can also call the number in my signature, since you've already been in, and the dealership doesn't seem to have taken any time to diagnose the problems.

willingwelli

Thank you, next oil change at abotu 9,000 miles I'm going to tell them and ask them to check it out, because the car just isn't as comfortable as it used to be.

shifty_capone

Well the a/c compressor does put a good load on the engine. If you've run the a/c just about everyday since you've owned the car, I'd say yea, that could be causing the "lag." Run it without a/c for a week. See if there's a difference. I'd wait until you go in for your next oil change, which shouldn't be until 10k miles anyway...the owner's manual (in the 07's) says oil changes are recommended every 5k. Regardless, wait a little bit and see if there's a huge difference in performance w/o the a/c on all the time.

Prototype_xB

Prototype_xB

Alignment can only cause uneven wear, not flat spots. Excess +/- camber or toe.


_______-----------





Flat spots only caused by skidding along the road. Causes an obnoxious roaring sound when driving.

shifty_capone

I see...I thought that improper alignment could cause it too. I wasn't 100% on that anyway. Thanks for the smack to the back of my head...lol

willingwelli

The problem i'm havign, might be with all scions, just somethign different in the car. Sometimes when i'm in 2nd 3rd or 4th gear, and i'm cruising on the street, i'll step on the gas and the rpm's will go up, but sometimes it will stahl for like a quick second and it feels like it jumps a little bit. I don't feel this in ANY other car I drive. I don't think it can be my engine because i had it checked out and they said everything is ok. Would resetting the ecu help any? And also, when i'm driving on the highway around 70 mph, the rpms are at like 2700, but when i let go of the gas they drop to about 2200? I'm not sure if that's normal also. And cold starting is also really bad, when I cold start it, and put it in drive, it kinda shifts hard. Some advice would really help.

shifty_capone

Sounds to me like it's being a typical automatic. Normally, cold starts don't really affect modern cars. Used to be, back in the day, you had to sit and wait 10-15 minutes for your 76 Pinto to warm up, as was the case with lots of cars back in the days before electronic fuel injection.

I don't know a terrible lot about automatics, but I do know from experience that if you start your car in temps below 40 and go straight to driving, the auto tranny tends to jump a bit. I don't have an auto in my tC, but in the Prelude and Altima I used to drive, that happened quite a bit during the cold winters up in Ohio.


As far as the RPM's dropping to 2200 on the highway, that sounds about right because the car isn't shifting into neutral at 70 mph. It's going to let the engine wind itself down, and then begin to downshift, just as you would in a manual when you let off the gas. It's still in gear, it's just letting the motor do the work in slowing the car down.


Honestly, I think you're worrying about nothing. You're getting worked up over some quirks that a new car has. Every car has it's own personality. That's one of the joys of owning a new car, you have to get used to what she wants to do. Until your check engine light comes on, or you can't shift gears at all, I wouldn't worry.


In the meantime, let your car warm up about 5 minutes before driving in the cold. You'll notice as soon as you start your car the RPM's jump to about 1500 or so. There's a reason for that. It's the ECU telling the engine to rev higher so it can warm. Don't rev it higher, don't start driving. Just let it do it's thing, and you'll be fine.

bcnu_702

Wow, I wish my car's rpm's were below 3000 while driving at 70mph. Mine are usually up over 3000, to about 3200 or 3300rpms. Is this normal for 5speeds with the camry motor? Not trying to change the subject or nething.

web

Yes, it's due to our low gearing. Causes the engine to rev much higher. Gives us great low end torque though..




I would say that the hard shifting could just be due to the car still "breaking" in. When you bought the car, how did you drive it? The first 1-2K miles will set the pace for the life of the vehicle basically. You should drive a new car just like you drive any other car. DON'T BABY THE CAR ALL THE TIME! You must run it hard a bit, drive it normally a bit.....multiple types of driving scenarios allow the motor to "get used" to your driving and not be shocked when you all of a sudden floor it after never doing it ever.

If you've run the A/C from day 1, that could have added excess strain on your engine during the break in period. I would drive it without A/C and crack the windows a bit and enjoy the fresh air. Try this, as stated above, for about 1 week and see if the engine doesn't react differently.

About the ECU reset.........you really can only disconnect the battery for about 2-3 minutes and then reconnect it (just the negative side is fine). Then start the engine and let it idle for about 5 minutes. It might choke when you try to start it up, but just wait a second and try again. After it has idled for about 5 minutes, take it for a drive for about 20-30 minutes. Try to do different types of driving (highway, city...).

Oh hey, check your air filter too. Depending on the area you're in, this could cause your engine to feel like it's lagging as well.