STeering Wheel shaking on idle

Idrees

Banned
Is the car idling low? I guess so? It should be idling at 900rpm, are yours revs dropping below that on idle?
 

Idrees

Banned
Hmm. Not sure then, could be your engine mount as you stated but I don't know. Mine used to idle low and the steering wheel would shake until the car was revved. Turned out that was the only problem.
 

Toby@ToyTuning.com

Banned - DO NOT BUY FROM TOYTUNING
Worn engine mounts will cause excessive steering vibration if the car is stationary. Worn ball joints and track rods will also cause excessive movement and so will a shot steering rack. If your moving and it's vibrating then the wheels are out of balance and need re-weighting.

Tobs
 

thomllee1981

Member +
Worn engine mounts will cause excessive steering vibration if the car is stationary. Worn ball joints and track rods will also cause excessive movement and so will a shot steering rack. If your moving and it's vibrating then the wheels are out of balance and need re-weighting.

Tobs

Tobs can you clarify whether the ball joints track rods or shot rack is when stationary or moving as i also have this issue but with mine being an auto not sure what my revs should be at when stationary.
 

chinaone

Member +
Mines does that too, some time it stays at 600, and sometimes it drops way below and comes back up, normally when i see that happens, i rev it back up, and its all fine, what can i do to make the idle steady?
 

Toby@ToyTuning.com

Banned - DO NOT BUY FROM TOYTUNING
Adjusting the idle is a temp fix you need to really find out why the idle is so low in the first place, I would check the idle control valve first and ensure that the car is well earthed. The elecrtical systems on the Starlets are weak, coupled with a small battery and years of driving they soon pitter away. Alternators are also a big cause of problems we end up re-furbning most that come in as they have seen better days especially as most add quite a few power sapping gadgets.

If ball joints are worn you will see movement in the steering wheel from left to right at slow speeds, over 60mph and it will be less due to the inertia created by the wheels. Track rods will evoke steering play and so will worn rack bushes. If the rack bushes are really gone then you will feel vibration but worn engine mounts will be a major cause. How much vibration are we talking? Obviously if the idle is low it will cause excessive vibration but if runniung a normal idle then you need to look else where. Don't forget adjusting the idle screw effects the base timing so be a little wary of just adjusting it to suit.

Tobs
 

sx_turbo

Lifer
if you have worn engine mounts, or TRD engine mounts or stronger ones, then you will suffer from your steering wheel shaking.
 

Toby@ToyTuning.com

Banned - DO NOT BUY FROM TOYTUNING
I was going to say that with uprated engine mounts you will feel more vibration on the car in general not specifically through the steering wheel, if it's just the steering wheel then I would say there is excessive movement somewhere. You can easily test the mounts, get a friend to watch the engine, put the car in 5th gear, gently bring the clutch out when stationary, not enough to stall just enough to load the engine you will know if it's moving excessively. I used to have a video of this showing what it would look like with buggered mounts but can't find it think it was on the old PC.

T
 

Elaine

Lifer
My Steering wheel shakes for a past time so does the rest of my car, I put it down to my TRD engine mounts????
 
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