Carib BZ-R shudder under acceleration

[Bugalski]

Hi - i'm looking at a Carib BZ-R, which looks pretty tidy but has had a few mods (cold air box, heat-wrapped extractors, lowered springs) and it's a fresh import so there's no history to speak of and i'm a bit concerned that it might be, well, shagged out.

Anyway i took it for a test drive and when accelerating above 80-90km/h at higher revs (4th gear, i think) there was a pronounced shudder from the front end which settled straight down when i eased off and upshifted.
The car is running mud & snow tyres (what's with that?) and has about 85,000km on the clock.

It *seemed* fairly tight otherwise apart from a slight graunch on upshifts while the gearbox was cold. Has anyone else noticed these problems? Any thoughts or comments on the Carib BZ-R in general?

[TRDWGN]

Maybe just an engine mount or exhaust mount which are not uncommon minor issues.....

Get a mechanical warranty and what can go wrong really!!! I have had a carib for 9odd months and love it!!

[dazzag]

hmm sounds like it could be one of two things... 1 being a miss fire.. 2 a wheel balance problem.


fresh import... is it from a dealer??? if so could be that its been groomed lately and they have steam cleaned the engine bay and its got into the spark plugs or ht leads causin a miss fire under a bit of load on the engine. ive seen it happen lots just after a car has been groomed.

the way to tell if just a wheel balance problem is to take it for a drive again and get to about 100kms and see if its vibrates all the time even in neutral or low gear.

[Lloyd]

May not seem worth it now, but get a pre-purchase inspection done and tell them what the worries were and if they notice anything that could be causing it.

Shuddering around 100kms as said is usually a wheel balance thing, you dont tend to get the shudder under 80kms if its a slight wheel balance issue

[Bugalski]

Cheers for the advice- yes, i'm going to get Toyota to check it out, and i'll definitely get a warranty from the yard. There was no vibration or shudder when cruising at 100, but we'll see. Could be a misfire, the engine did sound like it might be pinking a bit, too (probably 91 in the tank, i hear that's a no-no). Hard to tell above the racket of the cold air box... might put it up for swap if i buy the car, keep you posted. I'll post it here first if i do.

Hope you guys are right, and it's nothing serious.

[dazzag]

take it back to theplace where you brought it and complain they should sort it out for free. unless it was aprivate sale ofcourse