2012 A8 Low Speed Vibration
12-15-2015, 07:08 AM
#1
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
2012 A8 Low Speed Vibration
Hi everyone. I'm new to the Audi world and have a problem with my new-to-me A8 L and hoping some Audi expert can help.
I have a 2012 A8 L with 43K miles and new 20" Pirelli P-Zero all-season tires. Between 35 and 45 MPH I get a vibration that I feel in the drivers' seat. There is no strange noise, and the vibration is constant, but has a rhythm to it. below and above those speeds the car is smooth.
I went to the dealer and paid for an alignment, road-force balance, and rotation. The vibration is still present.
The dealer puts all the blame on the tires, but before I go spending my hard earned money, I wanted to put this out to the Audi World experts. Could it be the tires? Maybe a half-shaft or drive-shaft issue? Any help is appreciated.
Thank you!
Tim
I have a 2012 A8 L with 43K miles and new 20" Pirelli P-Zero all-season tires. Between 35 and 45 MPH I get a vibration that I feel in the drivers' seat. There is no strange noise, and the vibration is constant, but has a rhythm to it. below and above those speeds the car is smooth.
I went to the dealer and paid for an alignment, road-force balance, and rotation. The vibration is still present.
The dealer puts all the blame on the tires, but before I go spending my hard earned money, I wanted to put this out to the Audi World experts. Could it be the tires? Maybe a half-shaft or drive-shaft issue? Any help is appreciated.
Thank you!
Tim
12-15-2015, 08:12 AM
#2
AudiWorld Member
Tim,
A vibration (tire related) that you feel in the seat is usually the rear tires.
Move (swap) the rears to the front and see if the vibration goes away or moves to the steering wheel.
Or, better yet, do you have anyone close by you that would be willing to swap tires (and of course wheels) with you for a test drive to see if that fixes it all together.
Mike
A vibration (tire related) that you feel in the seat is usually the rear tires.
Move (swap) the rears to the front and see if the vibration goes away or moves to the steering wheel.
Or, better yet, do you have anyone close by you that would be willing to swap tires (and of course wheels) with you for a test drive to see if that fixes it all together.
Mike
12-15-2015, 08:48 AM
#3
AudiWorld Member
Hi everyone. I'm new to the Audi world and have a problem with my new-to-me A8 L and hoping some Audi expert can help.
I have a 2012 A8 L with 43K miles and new 20" Pirelli P-Zero all-season tires. Between 35 and 45 MPH I get a vibration that I feel in the drivers' seat. There is no strange noise, and the vibration is constant, but has a rhythm to it. below and above those speeds the car is smooth.
I went to the dealer and paid for an alignment, road-force balance, and rotation. The vibration is still present.
The dealer puts all the blame on the tires, but before I go spending my hard earned money, I wanted to put this out to the Audi World experts. Could it be the tires? Maybe a half-shaft or drive-shaft issue? Any help is appreciated.
Thank you!
Tim
I have a 2012 A8 L with 43K miles and new 20" Pirelli P-Zero all-season tires. Between 35 and 45 MPH I get a vibration that I feel in the drivers' seat. There is no strange noise, and the vibration is constant, but has a rhythm to it. below and above those speeds the car is smooth.
I went to the dealer and paid for an alignment, road-force balance, and rotation. The vibration is still present.
The dealer puts all the blame on the tires, but before I go spending my hard earned money, I wanted to put this out to the Audi World experts. Could it be the tires? Maybe a half-shaft or drive-shaft issue? Any help is appreciated.
Thank you!
Tim
Welcome Tim!
Lord knows I've had my share of vibrations in many Audi's over the years. I'd be happy its at those speeds and not up between 55-80 or so!
I'd wager that it is the tires. All things have a frequency at which they make noise and vibrate, and depending on the surface you're driving, I'd bet it's the tires singing to you.
I'd listen to Mike above, and see if you can get another set of wheels and tires to try or rotate from front to back also. The tires will cup a bit and start humming or vibrating over time. I've never had P-Zeros, but have heard that they can get extremely noisy like this.
Good luck!
12-15-2015, 09:24 AM
#4
AudiWorld Super User
I have the same thing at the same speeds, and it's persisted over three sets of tires and two sets of rims, over the past 20,000 miles since I got it. It hasn't gotten worse, though. I figured it was that resonance I heard about on here from the control arms. This next spring, I was thinking about putting on some Contisilents and seeing if reducing the vibrations getting through to the rest of the car helps.
12-16-2015, 03:50 AM
#5
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
Thanks for the warm welcome.
As I said in my original post, I had the tires rotated and afterwards the vibration was still felt in the drivers' seat bottom.
The vibration is not 1:1 with tire rotation, but more like a pulsing. Almost once for every ten rotations. Again, there is no noise associated with this; just the vibration.
Considering that 80% of my driving happens between 35-45 mph, this is extremely annoying. It's hard to believe "truth in engineering" could produce this
My guess is this is caused by a failing suspension component, like a rubber bushing, that would normally cancel out this vibration. I'd like to get this sorted before my warranty runs out!
As I said in my original post, I had the tires rotated and afterwards the vibration was still felt in the drivers' seat bottom.
The vibration is not 1:1 with tire rotation, but more like a pulsing. Almost once for every ten rotations. Again, there is no noise associated with this; just the vibration.
Considering that 80% of my driving happens between 35-45 mph, this is extremely annoying. It's hard to believe "truth in engineering" could produce this
My guess is this is caused by a failing suspension component, like a rubber bushing, that would normally cancel out this vibration. I'd like to get this sorted before my warranty runs out!
12-16-2015, 04:46 AM
#6
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Thanks for the warm welcome.
As I said in my original post, I had the tires rotated and afterwards the vibration was still felt in the drivers' seat bottom.
The vibration is not 1:1 with tire rotation, but more like a pulsing. Almost once for every ten rotations. Again, there is no noise associated with this; just the vibration.
Considering that 80% of my driving happens between 35-45 mph, this is extremely annoying. It's hard to believe "truth in engineering" could produce this
My guess is this is caused by a failing suspension component, like a rubber bushing, that would normally cancel out this vibration. I'd like to get this sorted before my warranty runs out!
As I said in my original post, I had the tires rotated and afterwards the vibration was still felt in the drivers' seat bottom.
The vibration is not 1:1 with tire rotation, but more like a pulsing. Almost once for every ten rotations. Again, there is no noise associated with this; just the vibration.
Considering that 80% of my driving happens between 35-45 mph, this is extremely annoying. It's hard to believe "truth in engineering" could produce this
My guess is this is caused by a failing suspension component, like a rubber bushing, that would normally cancel out this vibration. I'd like to get this sorted before my warranty runs out!
By all means do that!
12-16-2015, 01:56 PM
#7
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When they did the road force, what was the exact road force numbers in pounds (lbs) for the left front, left rear, right front, right rear wheel/tire assembly? Dealers are clueless sometimes because they utilize some bad techs that just think they know how to use the hunter road force machine and cannot comprehend what the numbers mean. Make sure that no numbers are greater than 10lbs road force or else you will get vibration at any certain speed on the Audi. I have dealt with this few times before. The dealer would say they road force fine but I ask for a print out of the balance from computer and get 18 lbs and I get pissed and tell them unacceptable and re-do road force and rematch the tire and get me below 10 lbs. If they do that, great! No vibration. If not, then if the rim is in perfect condition, I would have them replace the new tire with another new one to get it below 10 lbs. The pulsing vibration can happen with bad road force depending on the runout causing this typical harmonic vibe.
BTW, I had a pulsing high frequency vibration on my 2012 Audi A8L last spring of 2014 at 50k miles and it was felt at higher speed 80 mph with new set of tires and re-road force to below 10 lbs etc and it was felt in the seat and floorboards. It ended up being a bad driveshaft and they sent a new one from germany and the car is smooth as glass. I currently have 95k miles on the A8 and its running great.
BTW, I had a pulsing high frequency vibration on my 2012 Audi A8L last spring of 2014 at 50k miles and it was felt at higher speed 80 mph with new set of tires and re-road force to below 10 lbs etc and it was felt in the seat and floorboards. It ended up being a bad driveshaft and they sent a new one from germany and the car is smooth as glass. I currently have 95k miles on the A8 and its running great.
Last edited by Baloo588; 12-16-2015 at 01:59 PM.
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12-17-2015, 04:18 AM
#8
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
Baloo588: You provide a wealth of great informative; many thanks.
In my initial post, I mentioned the drive shaft as a suspect. How did your dealer identify the driveshaft as the problem?
I checked my receipts and the dealer did not provide the road-force printout, but if we end up doing it again, I'll ask for it.
In my initial post, I mentioned the drive shaft as a suspect. How did your dealer identify the driveshaft as the problem?
I checked my receipts and the dealer did not provide the road-force printout, but if we end up doing it again, I'll ask for it.
12-19-2015, 03:01 PM
#9
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Baloo588: You provide a wealth of great informative; many thanks.
In my initial post, I mentioned the drive shaft as a suspect. How did your dealer identify the driveshaft as the problem?
I checked my receipts and the dealer did not provide the road-force printout, but if we end up doing it again, I'll ask for it.
In my initial post, I mentioned the drive shaft as a suspect. How did your dealer identify the driveshaft as the problem?
I checked my receipts and the dealer did not provide the road-force printout, but if we end up doing it again, I'll ask for it.
If no change and all are below 10 lbs then I would take a master tech out for a drive to feel the vibration.
If the tech feels it, it should be in the floor boards, arm rest, and seat.
If the tech is unsure, ask for a regional representative tech and have the head service manager open a case with Audi and request immediate attention so that the tech can come quickly due to the short time remaining on your warranty.
The regional representative came under my request within 1 week and he felt the vibration on smooth stretch of road and they heard a little harmonic resonance and rotated the driveshaft 180 which did not improve anything so my service manager ordered a new driveshaft from Germany and it solved the problem.
Let me know how everything goes! I will be more then happy to assist along the way.
12-28-2015, 02:16 PM
#10
My "vibration" search took me to this thread....
I have the same symptom in my 2013 S6. I can feel a constant vibration in the steering wheel, seat, console...etc. I rotate my tires every 7k and just had all 4 tires balanced and front end aligned. No change. Doesn't matter where the tires are located after rotation, the vibration is the same. nearing end of warranty period so I better make an appointment.
I have the same symptom in my 2013 S6. I can feel a constant vibration in the steering wheel, seat, console...etc. I rotate my tires every 7k and just had all 4 tires balanced and front end aligned. No change. Doesn't matter where the tires are located after rotation, the vibration is the same. nearing end of warranty period so I better make an appointment.