jacek9478

First off all, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY.

Back to a problem:
Left car parked for 5 days. This morning driving I noticed weird vibration.
only happens at 2-3000 rpms 2nd gear moderate accel.
It feels like car hasitates for split of a second , like series of 20-30 tranny jerks in 5 second, top it off with grinding noise comming from rear center of the car. It does not happen when going at full throthle.

Any ideas?

thank you in advance
Jack

john89011

How many miles on the car? No check engine light or anything?

jacek9478

Just turned 50k
No CEL, nothing
Thinking it might be differential or loose drive shaft, but it does not add up at all, when past 3000 rpms all goes away.

Regards
Jack

kjb55

flat spotted tires due to sitting? The new F1 goodyears I fitted will do this after 5 days. But the vibration stops after several miles.

john89011

that's strange... when this happens do you see your RPMS needle playing pinball?

msheredy

I noticed this on my car as well [same tires as you]. Strange.

MB_Forever

I was thinking the same thing. I've experienced a similar problem when I first purchased my CL. The dealer had it parked without any movement for almost a month, which caused flat spots. However, my vibration was noticable all the way up to 60 mph. It was eventually fixed when I had the dealer replace all the tires

MB_Forever

You may also need to check wheel balance

kjb55

I don't recall the rpm's being affected. The problem has always gone away in less than 5 miles. Unless the tire develops dry-rot, I don't believe that a flat spot from sitting too long will take a permanent set in a modern tire.

jacek9478

Unfortunately tires are good no flat spots. I took it to my shop, inspected tires - good. On the way i did get message no ESP Available visit workshop.
I did ECU reset fault went away- hope for good - did test drive aprox 40 miles, no problem. Vibration still there. Inspected differential for any leaks, nothing that would raise a red flag, next I need to find the way to check tranny for any fluid loss.

MB_Forever

Very strange.....

I think some of the guys on the E55/63 forums had a similar message about ESP and ended up being the suspension!

jacek9478

None at all, it feels like on manual tranny clutch is going bad, slips for fraction of the second and grips again and slips again.

Regards
Jack

jacek9478

Actualy that was my guess too. Went under car inspected suspension, no loose ends, no free play, everythink tide as it should be.

After reset ESP error disapeared.

Regards
Jack

FrankW

i'm guessing either a bad diff or glycol.

john89011

Bad/loose ignition wires or plugs? I doubt it though after only 50.000 miles

jacek9478

Thats what I'm thinking, but from my expierience bad diff would cause more vibration at higher speeds. If time permits and weather (it's 7F today) I will try to change differential oil, and check for glycol contamination.

Strangely the vibration did happen only once today on my 10 mile commute to work. And again it lasted for 5-6 seconds between 2000 and 3000 rpms. under moderate accelaration.

Regards
Jack

jacek9478

Good idea it is worth checking out b4 jumping to taking apart diff.

Thanks
Jack

jacek9478

OK I just did ECU reset by disconnecting battery, just to clear all fault codes.
As soon as i started the car NO ESP message apeared, drove her around the block message vanished. Car is back to normal for now. Except the damn vibration.


Regards
Jack

jacek9478

After driving for aprox. 100 miles ESP is working fine.

Vibration steel exists.

Ideas:
1. Engine mounts
2. Transmission mounts
3. Glycol contamination or low transmission fluid-leak
4. Differential going bad

Anything missing?
Any help greatly apriciated.

Regards
Jack

MB_Forever

Could it maybe be caused by a certain gear going bad or getting worn down in the transmission?

jacek9478

I hope not!
It happens at the same rpms at does not matter what gear the car is in.
I do not suspect transmission going bad unless it is major meltdown.

Regards
Jack

MB_Forever

Then it is not the gears then....... This is very confusing

I guess all you can do is try to eliminate each possibility on your list and hope that one of them fixes it. Otherwise, it is dealer time.

john89011

Jackel, you need to drive the car at least 300-400 miles after you disconnect the car battery for any errors to come up. It takes the ECU that much time to fully come back up.

jacek9478

Yes I know that. Just crossing my fingers.
Also I should've mention that even thou message says ESP Unavailable, it still works. In those 100 miles I intentionally tripped ESP probably 50 times or more.
Well for now it seems to work fine.
Now I'm more worried about the vibration.
I'm planing on replacing engine mounts, swaybar bushings and links while changing oil and spark plugs tomorrow.

Hope that helps.

Regards
Jack

FrankW

are you getting rough idles at stops? bad engine mount shouldn't cause the vibration to be that much.

I would really starting to suspect it is the glycol contamination. given your car year and the cold weather could cause the valeo to leak.