andynoel78

Hi all:

I have a 2003 SC430 with 170,000 miles on the odo. When at idle, the car shakes a little. I notice it the most when at a red light. But if i put the car in N, the shaking goes away. It happens with the most severity when in D and with my foot on the brake.

I'm assuming the shake is normal for a car of this age and mileage, but i'd like to eliminate it. Anyone know what i can do to fix it?

Thanks in advance!

kjcole

1. Tune-up is a good start (plugs, plug wires, air filter, PCV, MAS cleaning, etc). Assuming no engine codes being thrown
2. Inspect engine and transmission mounts

FLYCT

You likely have a bad engine and or transmission mount.

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

engine mounts

430keeper

How much $$ to have the engine mounts replaced ?
( assuming you have a toyota dealer to it )
Does the transmission have to be dropped ?

MH6

Agree, most likely engine mounts. Our 02 was doing the same thing, took to dealer and motor mounts were bad and trans was good. Replaced at dealer under 3rd party warranty. Smoothed things out great. Very smooth ever since.

To the best of my knowledge, no trans drop, just minor engine lift and replaced easily without issues. For sure cheaper at Toyota. Dont recall cost off hand.

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

the best motor mounts are the Megan Motor Mounts

andynoel78

Thanks for the replies!

Something i wanted to add...

I had been noticing a nasty exhaust smell (the typical exhaust odor that old cars emit), and it was suggested to me that i try a fuel system cleaner. So, for the last two "fill-ups", i added the "Lucas Fuel Deep Fuel System" cleaner. Not only did the exhaust odor decrease in potency, but the idle vibrations have decreased in strength and frequency. HOW IS THIS SO?

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what might be going on? Thanks again!

paige

Tranny mount is a DIY..

Motor mounts after I got parts from sewell was 125 bucks for install. its tight under there. That is one of those jobs you can do but better off paying someone who has a lift.

the rest of the shakes:

MAF
Air filter
Throttle body

All those are Fun DIY's

have fun.

andynoel78

Just wanted to update:

I took the car to my local Lexus dealer to get this stuff fixed.
They said that one of the engine mounts is BROKEN, and the other is very worn. They said the transmission mount has "collapsed."

They also noticed that my oil o-ring is leaking.

At the same time, i'm having them replace all of the spark plugs, to. My service adviser said it would be about $1500 for everything... I'm just gonna go ahead and have them do it. This way if anything happens down the road, it'll be in their computers that it was done at Lexus.

I'll update when it's complete!

grottoman

I have the same idle shaking, until/unless I put in neutral.

But I can see the RPM's creep up from maybe 600-700 up closer to 1000 when I do that.
So it seems to me it's idling a little too low; when I put it in idle, the rpm's go up, and everything is smooth and no vibrations / no shaking of any kind (and still super quiet).

I did replace the motor mounts already (which had apparently cracked/failed/compressed), and that really didn't address this issue.

Mine is also an 03, with ~110k miles, and it's had a tuneup.

I've not done the cleaning of the MAF (?) sensor, which is the only other thing I've seen that might relate.