Do I Have an Issue?

[Neicy]

Hi to all,

I have noticed that sometimes the whole car shakes when the ICE shuts off. Sometimes when it is running while in P it seems to jump. At first I thought maybe it's me or just my unfamiliarity with the car, but our 2003 does not seem to do that. When it is in gears it is fine. It has under 3000 miles and is 3 months old. I'm open to suggestions. Wanted to run it by you experts before I call my salesman - who has been excellent for my last 4 cars BTW. And I still love it though and wouldn't want to have to part with it. Thanks for any ideas you can give me.

Denise

[seasalsa]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Neicy @ May 9 2007, 02:49 PM) [snapback]438569[/snapback]</div>

Hi to all,

I have noticed that sometimes the whole car shakes when the ICE shuts off. Sometimes when it is running while in P it seems to jump. At first I thought maybe it's me or just my unfamiliarity with the car, but our 2003 does not seem to do that. When it is in gears it is fine. It has under 3000 miles and is 3 months old. I'm open to suggestions. Wanted to run it by you experts before I call my salesman - who has been excellent for my last 4 cars BTW. And I still love it though and wouldn't want to have to part with it. Thanks for any ideas you can give me.

Denise
[/b]

Totally normal and seems to go away over time.

[Jack Kelly]

Normal; don't worry. Sometimes more pronounced/noticeable than others, depending probably on exactly what position a piston was in when the ICE turned off.

[daniel]

Normal. It does not go away with time, but you get used to it. I speculate that it's because it's the only car you've ever had (the only car most of us have ever had) that shuts off its engine whenever it feels like it. As much as you learn that this is what it does, you're never quite ready for it when it does. By comparison, on other cars, the engine only shuts off when you turn off the ignition. Because it is your explicit action, you know the exact moment it's going to happen, and the shudder is not as startling.

It can be a bit annoying. I actually find it most annoying when it takes longer to shut off than I think it should. The solution is an electric car. Then you have no engine. Just an electric motor that is never going unless the car is moving.

[qbee42]

Normal, not to worry. It will get better with time, but will be worse in cold weather.

Tom

[dmckinstry]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ May 9 2007, 06:15 PM) [snapback]438721[/snapback]</div>

Normal, not to worry. It will get better with time, but will be worse in cold weather.

Tom
[/b]

And to add to the thread, if it does that depends on how long the car has had to warm up before in a situation where it can shut itself off. At least in colder weather, if I start it up and then come to a stop light within a minute, it is more likely to be noticeable. I don't remember details, but I believe it has to do with the "stages" of operation.

Dave M.

[chinalfr2]

My car also show the symptom as you listed. Mostly happen when I powered up the car and the ICE start the warmup process. The car jump a bit. Car also jerk/shake when the ICE shutting down while travelling on the road.

I would suggest to take it to the toyota dealer and have a mechanic check on it. It might have a defective part such as engine mount.

For my situation, I will continue to monitor the car. If the symptoms is getting bad, I'll have the car checkup.

p.s. toyota will not issue a TSB unless more owners complaint.

[SomervillePrius]

As others have said, during the warm-up period (~ first 5 minutes) the ICE will shut down roughly. I'm not sure why that is. You will also have a tough time stealthing while in this "state".

Once the car has warmed up (seem to happen faster if you are able to go >35mph at sometime during the 1st five minutes) the car will shut down the ICE smoothy and you can now get into stealth mode easier.

You can also get back into "shudder" mode if the cars cools down to much. This happens to me on my commute as I can pulse/glide quite a bit.

If I notice that at a stop the car "shudders" when shutting down (again) I know it will need to use the ICE for some time to heat up again. To accomodate this I don't try to glide as much for a few minutes.

So I use this shudder to tell me in what state the car is in.

[Neicy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SomervillePrius @ May 10 2007, 11:21 AM) [snapback]439104[/snapback]</div>

As others have said, during the warm-up period (~ first 5 minutes) the ICE will shut down roughly. I'm not sure why that is. You will also have a tough time stealthing while in this "state".

Once the car has warmed up (seem to happen faster if you are able to go >35mph at sometime during the 1st five minutes) the car will shut down the ICE smoothy and you can now get into stealth mode easier.

You can also get back into "shudder" mode if the cars cools down to much. This happens to me on my commute as I can pulse/glide quite a bit.

If I notice that at a stop the car "shudders" when shutting down (again) I know it will need to use the ICE for some time to heat up again. To accomodate this I don't try to glide as much for a few minutes.

So I use this shudder to tell me in what state the car is in.
[/b]

Thanks. As most have said it is when I first start it after it has been sitting a while. Good to know others have experienced it. Was having flashbacks of times when my older cars would deisel when you turned off the key. I appreciate the replies.

[daniel]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SomervillePrius @ May 10 2007, 08:21 AM) [snapback]439104[/snapback]</div>

As others have said, during the warm-up period (~ first 5 minutes) the ICE will shut down roughly. I'm not sure why that is. You will also have a tough time stealthing while in this "state".
[/b]

Maybe it's running a richer mixture to warm the system faster? Could that make the shut-off rougher?