The influence of cylinder liner vibration on the lateral motion and tribological behaviors for the piston in an internal combustion engine is investigated using an extended secondary motion equation for the piston. By solving this equation and other associated equations with the Broyden algorithm and finite difference method, the vibration effect on the piston behavior is revealed. Numerical results show that the cylinder liner vibration can result in fluctuations in the dynamic and tribological performances of the piston, especially at the expansion stroke of an internal combustion engine. The fluctuations decay with increasing mass, stiffness and damping of the cylinder. There exists a critical rotational speed of internal combustion engine changing the above fluctuations. In addition, the averaged friction power assumption for the piston skirt increases due to the vibration.