Another vibration thread
10-23-2009, 10:21 PM
#11
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I just started feeling a Vibe in the seat and floor but it's at idle. I'm replacing the transmission mounts. I looked into the subframe mounts but it's way too much work.
10-24-2009, 01:44 PM
#12
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Had my tires balanced today and seems to have cured the problem. Won't know for sure until I get on the highway on Monday, but got it up to about 60mph on back roada and did not have any detectable vibration. Tire shop says it's very common to have to balance tires once a year or so, especially in our area due to pot holes and general road conditions cause the stick on weights to possibly come off, which is what happened to mine. He also said as tires wear, the balance changes so its possible they need to be balanced multiple times during the life of the tire. Glad it was simple and I don't need to get my tools back out this weekend!
10-27-2009, 07:20 AM
#13
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Have brand new tires, road forced balanced, CV joints good and serviced, rims are not bent.
I replaced the upper and lower rear control arms and tie rod ends (they sent me the wrong front lowers) with a fresh alignment the car is stiff and responsive, wobble gone.
If you are on a budget start with the rear lower control arms.
I recommend replacing them all but up to you. My rear lower bushing was played out. All of my bushings are played but that one seems the worst.
The rear lower is also the problem on the new cars- off the assy line. I used Meyle.
I replaced the upper and lower rear control arms and tie rod ends (they sent me the wrong front lowers) with a fresh alignment the car is stiff and responsive, wobble gone.
If you are on a budget start with the rear lower control arms.
I recommend replacing them all but up to you. My rear lower bushing was played out. All of my bushings are played but that one seems the worst.
The rear lower is also the problem on the new cars- off the assy line. I used Meyle.
10-28-2009, 04:27 PM
#14
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Hi there, I had a vibrate in my car (04 a6 q 3.0L) until about 5000 miles ago. All the way until about 120,000 miles this vibration occurred - was so annoying I wanted to shoot myself when driving around 65 MPH. Turns out it was crappy wheel balance the ENTIRE time. I just had new tires put on, and the tech that mounted them said these are notorious for being difficult to balance. After 3 tries he got them right and the car hasn't had a shudder since. I couldn't believe it. I replaced rotors (both front and rear), tie rods, you name it. The car has had at least 3 sets of tires now too... Turns out it was crappy balancing the entire time...
10-28-2009, 05:03 PM
#15
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Well I just had all 4 wheel s balanced again and rotated and at first thought the vibration was gone, but it is still there at certain speeds. Really frustrating to figure this out. Brake rotors and pads are new, so I don't think that is it unledd the rotors are crap out of the box. i got them from Blau, so they should be OEM quality or better. Freakin cars...
10-28-2009, 05:21 PM
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I'd still lean toward incorrect balancing. It appears that most places are unable to correctly balance the wheels on my car either... I can almost promise you that's the problem. I tried everything to get mine to stop vibrating. It used to do it at 60-65 mph and about 80 too - you could feel it in the seat as well as the steering wheel. Soda in the cup holder almost instantly lost all its carbonation 
. Now it drives smooth as silk. The car had the shudder the day my dad drove it off the lot brand new. At 120,000 miles, after swapping rotors, pads, control arms, tierods, etc, its it's finally fixed. The guy balancing my wheels had to do them a few times to get it right. Just my 2 cents...
. Now it drives smooth as silk. The car had the shudder the day my dad drove it off the lot brand new. At 120,000 miles, after swapping rotors, pads, control arms, tierods, etc, its it's finally fixed. The guy balancing my wheels had to do them a few times to get it right. Just my 2 cents...
10-29-2009, 04:57 AM
#17
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What's the trick to finding someone who can properly balance wheels? I'm not crazy about dropping $38 many times over to test wheel balancing skills at multiple shops. Is there a certain machine they should have or a certain procedure i can verify they perform before having them try?
10-29-2009, 09:01 AM
#18
I spent time searching threads, but haven't found anything that helps me with my problem. So here goes...
2001 A6 2.7T Automatic trans, 90k mies. I just replaced essentially every part in my front end, specifically:
-tie rod ends
-struts & shocks (F&R)
-all control arms
-sway bar links
-outer CV joints
-front brake rotors and pads
-4 wheel alignment
-new tires about 5k miles ago - fully balanced etc.
I did all the work (sans the tires) within a 2 week period. Prior to replacing the above I had a front end vibration that I had chalked up to warped rotors since it was pronounced when braking. Since replacing all the above, I still have a vibration at essentially all speeds, but does smooth out at a few different points. It feels like it is in the drivetrain. The steering wheel does not shake, it is felt more in the seat and or floor than feedback through the steering wheel. Some thoughts and questions for you:
1)could wheel bearings cause this even if they aren't making a noise? I have read failures typically result in a whining noise, mine are pretty quiet.
2)How do you know if inner CV joints failed? Or axle shafts? Seems like it is somewhere in the front drivetrain and these are parts that I did not replace.
3)I have read bad motor or trans mounts will cause vibration, which makes sense. Is there a way to isolate a potentially bad mount other than visibly seeing it broken? Would a bad mount result in my symptoms?
Appreciate your help!
2001 A6 2.7T Automatic trans, 90k mies. I just replaced essentially every part in my front end, specifically:
-tie rod ends
-struts & shocks (F&R)
-all control arms
-sway bar links
-outer CV joints
-front brake rotors and pads
-4 wheel alignment
-new tires about 5k miles ago - fully balanced etc.
I did all the work (sans the tires) within a 2 week period. Prior to replacing the above I had a front end vibration that I had chalked up to warped rotors since it was pronounced when braking. Since replacing all the above, I still have a vibration at essentially all speeds, but does smooth out at a few different points. It feels like it is in the drivetrain. The steering wheel does not shake, it is felt more in the seat and or floor than feedback through the steering wheel. Some thoughts and questions for you:
1)could wheel bearings cause this even if they aren't making a noise? I have read failures typically result in a whining noise, mine are pretty quiet.
2)How do you know if inner CV joints failed? Or axle shafts? Seems like it is somewhere in the front drivetrain and these are parts that I did not replace.
3)I have read bad motor or trans mounts will cause vibration, which makes sense. Is there a way to isolate a potentially bad mount other than visibly seeing it broken? Would a bad mount result in my symptoms?
Appreciate your help!
10-29-2009, 09:16 AM
#19
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Sometimes the only way to determine a bad CV joint is to take it apart and inspect all the moving parts. Don't know if this applies to late model CV's or not, but that's how I used to do it. Clean, then repack with fresh grease, boots too.
10-29-2009, 05:06 PM
#20
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I just replaced both outer CV joints - 1 was clicking around corners and both had torn boots, so I changed them both.
Regarding the inner - my symptom doesn't change when i let off the gas or even put the trans in neautral. the vibration is still there. Also, my steering wheel does not shake, but I do feel it in the seat and floor board and my visor vibrates when down and a coffee in the top center stack cup holder shakes pretty good. I think all these indicate wheel balance, but can't believe the shop that just balanced them wouldn't not get it closer. vibration is much better than prior to getting wheels balanced, but still bad between 60 - 75mph.
Regarding the inner - my symptom doesn't change when i let off the gas or even put the trans in neautral. the vibration is still there. Also, my steering wheel does not shake, but I do feel it in the seat and floor board and my visor vibrates when down and a coffee in the top center stack cup holder shakes pretty good. I think all these indicate wheel balance, but can't believe the shop that just balanced them wouldn't not get it closer. vibration is much better than prior to getting wheels balanced, but still bad between 60 - 75mph.