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Repair Topics / Auto
Vibrations / Auto
Vibrations-1
Auto Vibration Problems This
category contains featured questions as
examples. They relate to most vehicles.

Question: 1998 Chevrolet Astro, mileage: 139,881. Two years ago
the engine was replaced in my van.
Immediately this problem started. It run and
rides smooth when moving, but when I apply
the braked at a full stop and sit with my
foot on the brake peddle to keep it from
moving such as at a stop light, it vibrates
so hard that it shakes the whole van. When I
take my foot off the brake and accelerate,
the vibration stops. Then, when I stop
again, it starts again. You can even hear
the vibration. Help, no one seems to
know what is causing this. I first was told
it was the motor mounts, but that was not
the case.
Answer: Your engine is equipped
with an internal balance shaft. The
vibration is likely caused by an improperly
installed balance shaft.
Question: 1998 Honda Accord,
mileage: 133,400. Sudden acceleration from a
full stop causes loud and violent vibration,
shake or wheel hop sensation. This is
especially likely if wheels are angled even
a bit. This stops as soon as you get off the
accelerator. Drives beautifully otherwise.
The dealer found no problem on a test drive,
but I don't know how thorough the drive was.
Answer: Your problem
sounds like a CV joint has failed on one of
the drive axles.
Question: 2001 Ford
Explorer, mileage: 135,000. There is a
vibration that happens when I hit 2000 rpm.
It doesn't matter what gear the trans is in
or how fast the car is moving. The only
thing that matters is the load. Going up a
hill the vibration is worse. It is felt
through the gas and brake pedals and
steering wheel. The dealer changed the
muffler, realigned the engine and trans, and
says that's all they can do. Called Ford and
they said "its a known problem with no known
fix"
Answer: It sounds like
a engine miss-fire, scan the PCM for trouble
codes to tell you which cylinder is failing.
Question: 1997
Plymouth Grand Voyager, mileage: 55,000.
Steering wheel vibration at 70 mph. Brought
the van in 3 times for wheel balancing but
vibration still exists when I reach 70. Last
time in for balancing they told me that they
saw some tire feathering and that perhaps I
needed new struts and shocks. Is this
possible with only 55,000 carefully driven
miles?
Answer: CV joints that
are starting to fail will cause a vibration
like what you are experiencing. Your struts
and shocks are not the cause of the
feathering. Improper wheel alignment can
cause tires to feather, however. There are
three adjustments for wheel alignment,
caster, camber and toe in/toe out.
Question: 1997
Chevrolet 1500, Mileage: 143,000. Lately, I
have been experiencing a light shudder
(vibration) at speeds of about 35 mph to 60
mph, but usually at between 50 mph and 55
mph. I have not done any work to the front
axles or tranny, but I had to replace the
original engine because of a mechanic
messing up the original engine. And that is
an other story, a long one. But this
vibration worries me in that something might
go "BOOM" and that I may have to replace the
engine again. The new engine and repairs
cost me approximate $4000.00. It all started
with that mechanic replacing the fan clutch
and the intake manifold, which was leaking.
I think he may have installed the
distributor wrong, that is, not seated
properly. I drove it for about 30 miles
before I noticed that the temperature was
getting up above 250 degrees. I stopped,
called a wrecker, had it towed to the
mechanic's shop. After he checked the oil in
the crankcase he/they found particles of
metal in the oil. After the new engine was
installed, I had to take the truck back to
them because it kept getting hot. It turned
out that the new engine was not properly
timed. After driving with the new engine and
after about 400 miles I started to feel the
above-mentioned vibration. This vibration is
felt throughout the cab, steering wheel,
seats but I do not seem to feel a vibration
on the tranny shifter.
Answer: Try to isolate
the source of the vibration. With the truck
stopped and the transmission in park, rev
the engine to the rpm that you normally get
the vibration at. If there is a vibration,
then it is in the engine and not the drive
train.
Question: 2000 Nissan Maxima
3.0 v6 mileage: 2,600. I purchased the car
in August 2000. The first week I had it back
to the service dept for a pull to the right
and had an alignment done. That solved the
problem, but noticed a light vibration
through the steering wheel, gas pedal, and
front seats. This is most noticeable at 60
mph+ and only on a really smooth road. To
make this as short as possible, the
dealership denies any vibration. I had a
firestone shop balance the tires, then
rotate, with no difference. I took it to
firestone again to rebalance and there was
found to be a tire out of round. These are
Toyo 215/55/16's. I sent the tire to toyo
and rcvd one in exchange. Balanced and
mounted, but still have the problem. A
Firestone technician drove the car and
noticed the vibration. Two new Bridgestone's
were then installed in front, which took
some of the vibration out of the front
seats, but overall the vibration was still
present. I had the original tires remounted
and suppose the next step is to call Nissan.
This vibration is a bit difficult to notice
at first as it feels like it may be the
surface of the road being transmitted
through the car (normal road feel). On the
interstates in my area, it is not noticeable
at first (not the smoothest around) but on
the smoother repaved roads I travel on
daily, everyone who has driven the car
(again, service dept being the exception)
readily notices the shake/vibration. Could
this be a characteristic of the toyos, as
the Bridgestone's that were temporarily
installed on the front seemed to help a bit?
The service dept said 'everything' had been
checked out, but on the other hand says
there is nothing to check (no problem), as
they were not able to replicate what I said
was happening. This is with me in the car at
the same time, telling the service mgr I can
feel it while he was driving. Again, this
occurs on all roads but being more easily
noticed, the smoother the road is, at 60
mph+.
Answer: It would
appear that your alignment may not have been
done correctly.
Question: 2002 Oldsmobile
Silhouette, mileage: 148,000. If been having
a problem with my minivan that at first
appeared to be cv joint problems, at about
35-40 mph when accelerating the van vibrates
a little and makes a knock or clonking sound
but stops if I let off the accelerate or
press down harder, I took it in to the shop
but was told the cv joints were fine and
possibly had torque converter problems. At
the tran shop apparently after driving the
vehicle I was told the would have to pull
the trans and check it out the damage or
repairs could be minimal but can run up to
$1500. I wont say I don't trust the shop but
the van really doesn't seem that bad to me
and maybe I can do something to prolong the
life of the transmission instead of spending
so much at this time to fix it. Questions:
do you think I need to get this check as
soon as possible or can it wait? (2) My van
has a computer that tells me when something
is wrong and I haven't been alerted to any
problems. (3) If need be what can I expect
to pay for labor and rebuilding of my
transmission (worst case).
Answer: With 148000
miles, if the CV joints or the transmission
has not been replaced, your problem could be
either one. Although you had the CV joints
inspected and found them to be okay, we
would suggest taking a real close look at
the CV joints again as it sure sounds like
CV problems to us.
Question: 1993 Chevy Astro
van 4.3 mileage: 93,000. Have an all wheel
drive with a vibration at between 60 and 75
mph. It gets worse when I put the engine
under load, and smoothes out when the load
is decreased. I have balanced the tires,
rotated them, had both drive shafts taken
off and inspected, and am now being told by
a mechanic that the transfer case might be
causing the vibration, at least a 70%
chance. His recommendation is to replace it
with a new GM factory built. I have been
told that some vibrations are never found,
at least not very easily. What would you
recommend?
Answer: You mentioned that
you had the drive shafts taken off and
inspected. Were the CV joints looked at? We
have found vibrations like the one you
described, are usually caused by worn CV
joints.
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Question: 1999 Volkswagen
Jetta 2.0 mileage: 121,000. I bought a brand
new 1999 Jetta. Put custom alloy wheels on,
and started noticing a vibration in the
steering wheel. I thought maybe a poor
balancing. After rebalance, same problem.
Took the vehicle to Volkswagen stating my
problem. They said they identified the
problem with a bad tire on the front. I
rotated the tires and did notice a slight
difference in the vibration. Vibration
characteristics: Sometimes more during
acceleration 50 - 75 MPH, sometimes more
when releasing accelerator 50-75 MPH.
Sometimes no vibration however seldom.
Replaced both front tires just to be
sure...Same problem. Back to Volkswagen:
This time a bad wheel defect. Replaced that
wheel... Same problem. Replaced it again,
possibly bad casting: same problem. This
time changed all custom wheels to different
type and make: ... same Problem. What else
is there to do?
Answer: The only suggestion
we can make is to try stock rims and tires.
Hopefully, this will cure your problem. If
so, the obvious culprit would be the after
market wheels. The offset on the custom
wheels may be different from stock wheels.
Question:
1999 Honda Accord LX 4Dr. 2.2 liter mileage:
69,500. The Honda is an automatic.
When I put the car in reverse and hold my
foot on the brake the car vibrates badly.
It does not do this in drive however.
Could you tell me what the problem might be?
Thank you
Answer:
Without actually “seeing” your vehicle and
driving it, it is difficult to diagnose the
problem. We are guessing you may have
some bad motor mounts.
Question:
1999 Mitsubishi Galant 2L mileage: 110,000.
The car has a vibration at idle and then
when the engine hits 3000 rpm (70 mph).
We got the car from my mother in law who
said that it started when she had the belts
changed at 60,000 miles. I suspected
the silent shaft belt wasn't set right so I
changed out the belts and followed the
procedure in the manual for the car.
This didn't change it. I still think
that the shaft is set right but I could not
locate the hole to check the silent shaft
position, as the diagram in the book is
confusing. Can you tell me where this
hole is supposed to be so I can check this
again? Do you think it could be
something else? I saw a listing in
Service bulletins that said something about
replacing the oil pump to cut down on engine
noise. I really don't want to have to
take this to the Mitsubishi dealer, as I
know if I can find an answer, I can fix it.
Thanks for your help Greg
Answer:
The vibration idle may be caused by the
motor mounts failing. Also,
check with your local parts supplier, there
should be a kit available that disables the
silent shaft. The engine runs the same
with or without the silent shaft.
Question:
1993 Mazda 626 lx 4.0L mileage: 105,000.
I'm getting some vibration in the front end
of the car when I reach speeds around 50
mph. I went to my local mechanic
and he said my motor mounts were shot and I
need to replace them. He quoted me
$750 dollars and I think this is too high.
Can you tell me what the motor mount is made
of and is this a reasonable price.
Thanks, Michael
Answer:
The $750.00 price sounds a little high.
Check with your local Mazda dealer for an
estimate for the work mentioned. The
motor mounts are fluid filled, not the
normal rubber you would expect.
Question:
1999 VW Passat vr 6 mileage: 116,000.
There is a sound like driving over a grooved
surface, but no vibration. The sound varies
with car speed, and is not affected by
engaging or disengaging the clutch (gear
doesn't matter either). The sound gets
very loud at highway speeds. I raised
the car and spun each wheel. The right
front wheel makes a rumbling sound when I
spin it (the left front and the rears are
silent). I think that I have a
wheel bearing problem, but am not sure if I
can change it myself or if I will need to
pull the hub and have a machine shop press
out the old one and press in the new one.
Also, if I have to pull the hub, will I need
to have it re-aligned? Any advice
appreciated!
Answer: If you do not have a
press yourself, you will have to have a
machine shop press out the old bearings.
You should not have to have a realignment
done if you pull the hubs

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Vibrations-1
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