96 Camry Vibration @ Idle In Gear

Just recently bought this car, 96 Camry 2.2L Auto, 83K miles. The previous
owner seems to have taken good care of the car, the service book is filled
in to at least 60K.
Car runs great, and good MPG.
I pulled the plugs, they look old, there is metal deposited on the ground
electrode. All other service items look OK. Not sure if the valves have been
adjusted, but they sound good.
My problem is at idle, in gear, the car seems to vibrate and shake more than
I would expect. This is based on how the car feels at idle, in park.
Any suggestions on this? Any known problems with engine/trans mounts? Could
one of the upper mounts been installed backwards when the timing belt was
changed?

--

Ralph Shapiro
Senior Telecommunications Analyst
Rohnert Park, CA 94928

"Ralph Shapiro" <ralph.shapiro RemoveThis @sonoma.edu> wrote in message
news:AiG6h.27$Q4.7180@okeanos.csu.net...
> Just recently bought this car, 96 Camry 2.2L Auto, 83K miles. The previous
> owner seems to have taken good care of the car, the service book is filled
> in to at least 60K.
> Car runs great, and good MPG.
> I pulled the plugs, they look old, there is metal deposited on the ground
> electrode. All other service items look OK. Not sure if the valves have
> been adjusted, but they sound good.
> My problem is at idle, in gear, the car seems to vibrate and shake more
> than I would expect. This is based on how the car feels at idle, in park.
> Any suggestions on this? Any known problems with engine/trans mounts?
> Could one of the upper mounts been installed backwards when the timing
> belt was changed?
>
> --
>
> Ralph Shapiro
> Senior Telecommunications Analyst
> Rohnert Park, CA 94928
>

4 cylinder Camry's tend to have more vibration at idle in gear than in park
or neutral. There is a spec for idle speed in gear, it may be printed on
one of the labels in the engine compartment. Check to make sure idle speed
is correct and not fluctuating. If the idle speed is not to spec, check the
idle air control motor to see if it is working properly.

Look for stains on the motor mounts - I believe that they are fluid-filled
and the fluid, which has the consistency of molasses, may have seeped out.
Before you spend too much time chasing the cause, I recommend that you have
someone from a Toyota dealer service department sit in the car and tell you
if it is normal or not. I suspect that it is.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)