Car front end vibration?

Tiny
MICHAEL AYERS
  • MEMBER
  • 2014 CHEVROLET SONIC
  • 1.2L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 120,000 MILES
A vibration in the front wheels when I come to a rolling stop at stop signs, why?
Thursday, September 25th, 2025 AT 5:59 PM

5 Replies

Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 15,233 POSTS
Where do you feel the vibration? Is it in the brake pedal? Steering wheel? Any sounds with the vibration? Vibrations like those can be from rusted brakes, ABS activation or loose steering parts. Noises and pedal activity can help track it down. You could shoot a video of it and upload it as well.
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Thursday, September 25th, 2025 AT 6:15 PM
Tiny
MICHAEL AYERS
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Vibrating sound feel it from brake pedal.
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Friday, September 26th, 2025 AT 1:48 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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Okay, if it's a BRRR type sound and your foot feels like it stepped on a buzzer, it's most likely the ABS activating as you stop. The common reason is rust jacking. The wheel speed sensors go through the cast iron of the hub and read the speed of the vehicle from a reluctor wheel that spins with the axle. When everything is clean the sensors create a nice signal with a high voltage the ABS can read. Over time the iron corrodes and as it does it lifts the sensor up and away from the reluctor wheel. This causes the signal to get weaker. At first this isn't a big issue because they still all read the same. As it gets worse one or more of the sensors starts to drop out as the wheels slow down. So now the ABS reads that 3 tires are still turning at say 5mph, but the last one reads 0 mph. The ABS doesn't care why it reads 0 it just knows that 3 moving one stopped while you are stepping on the brakes means that wheel is skidding and activates the ABS to release the brakes and give you back control. Many vehicles do it as they age but for some reason GMs seem to be the most well known for it. The repair is sort of simple, you go to each wheel speed sensor, remove it and plug the hole, then knock the rust away from the mounting location. Then apply some grease and reinstall the sensor. The catch is that many times the rust doesn't just lift the sensor, it also squeezes it in the bore and makes it impossible to remove the sensor and you end up breaking the sensor off and then changing out the hub or knuckle as the repair.
If you google "GM low speed ABS activation" you will find tons of information and videos on the problem. Many about the trucks but it happens on the cars as well. The best way to verify that it's the issue is to use a scan tool that can read the live data from the speed sensors. As you watch them and slow down one (or more) will abruptly read zero, even if the car is still moving. The other item that can cause this is if the tone ring or reluctor is damaged, that will cause the same issue and signal drop out, but usually the repair is a new tone ring.

This video shows what I mean, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIaCGAY1AoM as does this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiYsshGE_ks

They also show the repair better than the images I can post about the issue. This shows replacing the sensor but it's usually not a bad sensor but the rust.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-replace-an-abs-wheel-speed-sensor
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Friday, September 26th, 2025 AT 3:54 AM
Tiny
MICHAEL AYERS
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Thank you very much I'm a senior and you just helped me immensely.
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Friday, September 26th, 2025 AT 6:33 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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You are welcome. This is a very common issue and there is a lot of info out there on the repair. If you have access to a scan tool it makes it much easier to find which wheel speed sensor has the problem as it will drop out once the signal drops.
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Saturday, September 27th, 2025 AT 12:00 PM

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