Bad fuel economy/shaking low rough idle?

Tiny
SHYLAJENNINGS
  • MEMBER
  • 2009 TOYOTA COROLLA
  • 1.8L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 190,000 MILES
This is going to be detailed. I’m having this problem where when I’m at very low speeds but mostly stopped at like a light (not in park), my RPMs go down to 500. My car then kind of does tremble or shake. It’s not super aggressive, but a passenger even can feel it a little bit. However, then my RPMs will go back to 1000 and then kind of repeat that process until I drive. It’s kind of inconsistent. Sometimes it does it, other times not so much. Sometimes it’s a little shake, other times it’s more aggressive. I am also getting poor fuel economy. I’m not sure what my car specifically gets, but it’s getting 20 mpg on the dash. A question was, “Well, maybe the dash is wrong.” But honestly, I can tell my gas mileage is bad. I have to fuel weekly to a full tank when all I do is go 5 miles to work and back, so I don’t think it’s wrong. Those are the symptoms. Only those two. With that being said, when I first got the car (2 months ago), I cleaned the battery with a baking soda and water solution. The next day, a check engine light came on code P0607 indicating an ECM problem. I cleared the code because I thought it was just because of me cleaning the battery. The code is yet to come back on. I was doing research on what could be causing these problems because my car isn’t misfiring. I’m not stalling. Acceleration seems fine. Everything seems normal except for those two symptoms (poor gas mileage, rough shaky idle). Since then, I have cleaned the throttle body, cleaned the MAF sensor, checked for vacuum leaks, and checked the engine filter. And it has been none of those, and I just can’t seem to figure out the problem. And I’m not sure if someone could even help me, but if anyone has any knowledge that could help me, that’s greatly appreciated.
Thursday, April 3rd, 2025 AT 7:07 PM

1 Reply

Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 54,144 POSTS
I have seen a stuck open EVAP purge valve cause this, also when the MAF is bad enough to clean, cleaning it will not help, you need to replace it. Also, I would check the PCV valve and the hose going to it.

P0607 - Control Module Performance

I would also drive it more to see if the check engine light comes back on and if you get this code you will need to replace the ECM. You should not be able to blow through the purge valve once it is off of the engine, here are the locations. Check out the images (below). Let us know how it goes.
Was this
answer
helpful?
Yes
No
Friday, April 4th, 2025 AT 11:51 AM

Please login or register to post a reply.