Just bought a used 2001 4r and need some advice on a few things..

Although I had a detailed test done on the car, I find the shifter shaking when i drive,,
Secondly, is there a way to increase the brightness of the panel..it's really dark!

 

Welcome to the board.

Dimmer switch for the dash lights..?

Shifter shaking, depends.. Most likely bushings in the shift or its not really shaking that much. I take it is a manual correct?

 

Thanks jtimsports,

It is an automatic, the 4wd shifter moves if I press the brakes and rev up.

Dashboard lights switch is fine it's just the level of illumination seems very dim compared to other cars...this is my first Toyota.

 

I wouldn't worry about it. Auto tranny shifters are electrical controls, so you don't have to worry too much about mechanical problems with it. Unless it gets sloppy enough to cause the tranny to jump out of gear. Or thetheshifting gate "teeth" get so worn down you can shift the tranny w/o depressing the switch first.

When you press on the brakes and rev up, this puts the entire drivetrain under stress. The drivetrain is mounted on flexiblemounts to permit stuff like vibration, otherwise your mounts would crack and the engine drop onto the pavement. Ever notice that when you look at a running engine and someone depresses the throttle, the whole engine rocks just a bit? The flexible mounts allow for that. When you apply the engine and depress the brakes, the engine wants to move the car forward but since you aren't allowing that to happen by stepping on the brakes, its going to torque and load the mounts instead. The stall rating of your torque convertor allows this to happen, instead of your actions killing the engine. Since the floor shifter is actually mounted to the tranny which is bolted to the engine, it is going to move a bit along with the tranny.

 

Thanks Kamakura Kid, that makes a lot of sense.. Just worried that it'd fall off when I'm driving ! LOL