Kangaroo!

[SyCelicaGT]

Hi All,

I was hoping some of you would be able to help me with a small problem I have had for quite a while now but never been able to find a fix.

At very low revs between about 1-2K when the clutch is fully engaged and I take my foot off the accelerator pedel the car feels very gerky and almost like it is kangarooing. Now I kept this quiet because I was not sure if my driving was kack, but as as I suspected other people who have driven my car have the same problem.

Has anyone got any suggestions on what to try?

I have tried:

Re-setting ecu

changing spark plugs to platinum ones

Please help this has been buggin me for ages.

Cheers.

[GTForbes]

have you checked for error codes or setting the base idle with the diagnostic terminals bridged?

[andrewl41]

Perhaps soggy engine mountings?

Play in the drive train some where?

[SyCelicaGT]

Cheers Guys,

GTForbes: I have already had it hooked up to the diagnostics and it came up with no errors when I took it in to get my oil light diagnosed.

I had considered that the engine mounts may be loose but when I have had cars in the past with that problem it made a clunking sound.

I will try and get some of these suggestions looked at but they are quite difficult things to check. Do you know of any simple checks I can perform to diagnose the fault???

[andrewl41]

A clunking sound from engine mounts occurs when they have hardened or broken up to the point of metal touching metal. They can also become soft, or break up a little allowing the engine to move too much without acutally bumping / vibrating on the chassi.

I'm sure it could be many other things as well though, it's just a thought :) :)

[GT4 BOOSTER]

mine did this , i guess they dont like stopping , they have so much power it just snaps back at ya when you lose revs.

[SyCelicaGT]

Firstly I appreciate everyones comments, but...

GT4 booster, I am sure you get that all the time with (probably) over 230bhp but with under 200bhp and at low revs unfortunatly I don't think that is it, although I would not mind a problem like that though!

Has anyone any idea how I can troubleshoot it? the car is in with my mechanic today/tomorrow getting some respraying done so this is the perfect oppertunity to get him to look at it.

I will get him to look at the engine mounts. but has anyone got any other ideas what it could be?

Cheers all.

[frodo]

Mine does the same. Not sure why.

[andrewl41]

How many miles has your car done?

The more I think of it the more it sounds like ware in the drive train some where, possibly gear box? I'm only guessing though really, I'm no expoert :D

Andrew

[GT4 BOOSTER]

GT4 booster, I am sure you get that all the time with (probably) over 230bhp but with under 200bhp and at low revs unfortunatly I don't think that is it, although I would not mind a problem like that though!

i was refering to my old st202 , it did this all the time , just blip the throttle and it used to kangeroo every time , only way to stop it was to just rip it in first up to 25 mph ish.and not !Removed! foot about.

my st205 however dont do this at all . weird.

[andrewl41]

GT4 booster, I am sure you get that all the time with (probably) over 230bhp but with under 200bhp and at low revs unfortunatly I don't think that is it, although I would not mind a problem like that though!

i was refering to my old st202 , it did this all the time , just blip the throttle and it used to kangeroo every time , only way to stop it was to just rip it in first up to 25 mph ish.and not !Removed! foot about.

my st205 however dont do this at all . weird.

←

Now I come to think of it, in slow traffic where your trying to creep along and a steady slow speed, mine actually has a habbit of Kangarooing slightly as well. I find I have to drop the clutch to clear it. Forgot all about it actually until you said that GT4 BOOSTER. Perhaps it's just a trait of the car that manifests itself differently depending on driving style?

[SyCelicaGT]

Yeah this is a weird one, It sounds like exactly the same problem as you are all discribing. It has done it ever since I brought the car and it doesn't happen when I drive other cars, so I do not belive it to be cause by my driving style. The car has done about 94K so that may have something to do with it!

It could be a gear box issue but that is sounding expensive and hard to diagnose. Damb! I was hopeing you guys would just say: "yeah rip this out and replace it with that and it will be fine", oh well suppose it will just have to be one of those things that I put down to the age of the car.

[GT4 BOOSTER]

you could try turning the adjuster on the throttle cable thus making it slacker , so the pedal would have to pick up the slack and then apply revs.?? just a thought.

[SyCelicaGT]

GTbooster - Not a bad idea, bit of an Ad-Hoc solution but hay if it works who cares. will get the spanner out at the weekend. To adjust the cable is there just a bolt or screw to lossen at the engine end of the cable?

[GT4 BOOSTER]

2 locking nuts if i remember right , 1 either side of the cable , you then simply screw the cable or push it .----------it will be apparant when you come to do it.

[mikeb]

What gears does this happen in?

A worn engine mount sounds like the obvious candidate. I doubt the gearbox is at fault, but it might be worth jacking the front up one side at a time and checking for excessive free play in the front wheels whilst the car is in gear.

I can't see the throttle causing it, once it's closed it should stay closed. It could be the throttle position sensor not giving the IDL signal correctly - either a faulty switch in the TPS or it might need adjustment.

It's a long shot but, you could check that the ECU is getting the STP signal from the brake pedal. I think that's unlikely to be the problem.

It sounds like a common problem though, maybe the GT4 doesn't suffer because ot the 4wd or lower compression ratio.

[sotal]

Just to add in my 1.8 maybe does the same, but possibly not quite as bad.

It only happens when I haven't got any revs on at all, and am rolling along in gear. The speed I am going at should just keep it going smoothly, but it tends to *****, so I have the choice of putting the clutch in or putting some revs on. If I put revs on it goes faster (normally too fast) If I put the clutch in it slows down too much, so I usually have to alternate between accelerating and then roling, which then makes it a bit jerky any way!!

It's worst when going really slow espicially in 1st gear. Also it never happens in the focus

[SyCelicaGT]

What gears does this happen in?

A worn engine mount sounds like the obvious candidate. I doubt the gearbox is at fault, but it might be worth jacking the front up one side at a time and checking for excessive free play in the front wheels whilst the car is in gear.

I can't see the throttle causing it, once it's closed it should stay closed. It could be the throttle position sensor not giving the IDL signal correctly - either a faulty switch in the TPS or it might need adjustment.

It's a long shot but, you could check that the ECU is getting the STP signal from the brake pedal. I think that's unlikely to be the problem.

It sounds like a common problem though, maybe the GT4 doesn't suffer because ot the 4wd or lower compression ratio.

←

Cheers mike/sotal,

Like sotal says it is worst in 1st and it happens faintly in 2nd and only at very low revs when you are almost rolling along just above idle revs.

If the gt4 don't suffer but the st does then I would imagne it is a gearbox or Front wheel drive issue. Also it only happens in gear and not when the car is in neutral. Oh no sounds expensive!

[ozzy666]

that happens on mine i've only had it 2 weeks and its only done 64k sounds like its a common thing :)

[andrewl41]

Yup,

I've been out in mine today and played around a little and mine definatly sufferes from the same thing (94K too). The more I think back , the more I remember it anoying me when I first got the car, I guess I've just gotten used to it over time.

The fact that sotal experiences the same problem in the ST at least narrows the problem down to a common part! I wonder though if it was a problem from new?

Andrew

[SyCelicaGT]

I would not think that it is a problem from new, I would have hoped the original owner would have sorted it under warranty.

But I do agree that it is probably a common part, unfortunatly there are a few of these on the various celica's. I have a feeling that this will be really impossable to troubleshoot unless anyone on the forum has found a fix for this problem in the past. May have to just carry on with the clutch/accelerator pedel juggling to keep it smooth!

[Carrera_C]

I've got the same thing with my ST, I usually just try and roll along in neutral as long as possible to stop the 'jumping'.

The only bit of usefull advice I can offer is that it's definately NOT the clutch that causes this as mine was replaced about 10k ago.

[daktari]

Don`t know what the situation is with FWD Celicas but the GT4`s rear engine/gearbox mount is stuck in a very inhospitable place - succeptable to heat and oil from the engine/exhaust/gearbox (If there are leaks) and is therefore liable to premature failure. Might be worth investigation... Just a guess.

[sotal]

If it's any use, My motorbike does it a bit (or something similar), but hasn't always done it. The bloke at the yamaha garage said it was a common thing and the carbs need balancing. I've just got to make a carb balancer and I'll sort that myself.

Only problem on the Celica is the lack of carbs I guess

[Carrera_C]

I shoved some injector and valve cleaner into my car and it seems to be helping this.

So it may be worth trying for the rest of you.