1996 Monte Carlo Problems! Help!

MILLYBEE

MEMBER
1996 CHEVROLET MONTE CARLO

I have a question!

I have a 1996 Monte Carlo. A few weeks back, I took it into a repair shop, local and small, to have a tune up, rotate the tires and have the brakes checked. Well, when I got the car back, I noticed the car was shaking slightly and the front left wheel was making noises. The noises sound as if there was something hitting as the wheel went round: longer between sounds as the car was slowing down and faster as the car sped up. Aslo, the anti-lock came on the day I got the car back and came on every day after that. This has never happened before.

Well, then after about a week of progressively getting worse, it was shaking so uncontrollably that I had to pull over. I checked the tire then and discovered that three out of five lugnuts were loose. I tighten and took the car back immediately to have them refix any problems that might have caused and to fix the anti-lock light. (Can you believe a mechanic would forgot to tighten the lugnuts?)

They said the anti-lock came on because a sensor went bad in the front right tire (they said they fixed) and they could not find anything wrong with the left tire. I got the car back yesterday and today it is still shaking while I am driving, more so the faster I go, and the tire is still making sounds, like the tire is knocking against something or something on the tire is hitting something. The same problem and sound as before, but the lugnuts are tight now. The anti-lock light is still coming on, more so now. I am too afraid to take it back because I don't want them to screw anything else up. The car has never done this before and I have been driving it nearly every day for the past five years. Anyone might have a clue as to what is happening?

2 Replies

LILBLUTRUK

MEMBER
10 POSTS

I am not a tech but just a guy that works on some cars. I am embarrassed to say that I did a brake job for a friend of mine and was trying to teach his sons how to do it. When we finished up I did not double check the lug nuts on one of the wheels and the guy called me back a couple days later describing the same sounds as you are describing. I checked it for him and found him missing three lug nuts and the other two loose. Pretty scary! The problem is that it also ruined the rotor (which I voluntarily replaced even though I did not charge labor for the brake job). I would take it to another shop and get their opinion but it sounds to me like a bad rotor or even a bent wheel. Either of which could or probably was caused by the loose lug nuts. If you do get a second opinion or even have the second shop fix the problem the guys who did not tighten the lug nuts are completely liable (But since I am not a lawyer either this would be yet another professional you will probably need to get advise from if the original shop does not make it right). Good luck.