Engine vibration at idle

Hi. I've got a puma thunder and it has developed a vibration at idle. You can feel the car shake which I really annoying to say the least. This is my fourth puma and gave never came across this problem. I have replaced the spark plugs and ht leads. Also the coil pack. Put in redex to clean fuel system and also cleaned the Maf. It's doing my head in. Has anyone any ideas. I have a drop in K&n filter. Wonder has any crap got into the throttle body?

Are the revs of your engine steady or they float around? If they are steady, I would look at your engine mounts. There are 3 of them. The main one, on the right side of the engine, near the cambelt. Most probably it has leaked oil and hence transmits the vibrations of your engine to the car body.
The second one is below battery holding the gearbox (which is bolted to the engine) in place. And the third is the torquelink next to the shifting rod which prevents swings of the engine under load.
All of the engine mounts can be had in aftermarket for not to serious money (I have FeBi on my car) and I would stronlgy suggest to go for the new, not a used one...

I considered the engine mount though there is no movement that I can see. I am sure there is a slight misfire even though the revs are steady. I was thinking about replacing the injector rail. Get them for 20 quid off ebay and are easy to install. Think its just a straight swap. I took the puma onto a quiet road to test for any performance issues and there is non its just that annoying vibration coming into the cabin from the engine... grrrr

jantyc said:

[post]355786[/post] and it has developed a vibration at idle. You can feel the car shake which I really annoying to say the least

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jantyc said:

[post]355798[/post] I considered the engine mount though there is no movement that I can see.

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A misfire or worn engine mountings would/could cause the engine to vibrate and so shake the car.

If your car shakes on idle and you can see no movement in the engine mountings, then the cause of your shake lies not in a misfire/engine mounts, but elsewhere?

Thanks for you're reply Frank. I was assuming an misfire, though you think the problem could lie elsewhere ?? What other fault could cause this then? what do you think of the injector rail idea>.

jantyc said:

[post]355800[/post] What other fault could cause this then?

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I would think the exhaust system and gearbox linkage could be worth checking. Minor 'rattles' seem to get amplified by the car body itself, so you could be looking for something pretty minor, rather than something wildly swinging about.

jantyc said:

[post]355800[/post] what do you think of the injector rail idea

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I think maybe get a OBDII reader on it first and see if any error codes pop up.

Don't rule out the rail or anything else at the moment though. The idea is to check all possible bases first and then eliminate them later on. Whatever is left will be the answer.

I put the cat in first gear with hand brake applied and let the clutch out slowly and seen that the engine was moving back a bit. Then the same process with reverse gear applied and the engine moved forward. So there is play in the mounts but which???

Is it possible that the timing belt has jumped? do you know when it was changed?

one tooth is all it would take and chances are you would only notice it at idle as engine will compensate as revs rise

Thanks for you're reply. I was told that the timing belt has been changed recently. I still do think there is a slight miss fire which is causing the shaking. Might buy a new Maf for her to see if there is any improvement. It's melting my head. Lol

Thanks for you're reply. I was told that the timing belt has been changed recently. I still do think there is a slight miss fire which is causing the shaking. Might buy a new Maf for her to see if there is any improvement. It's melting my head. Lol

Have the compression tested.
Check the plugs.