c2turbo

I have a 1999 C43 with 58k miles. I have noticed a significant vibration/rattle when driving between 20-40 MPH, seems like speed wobbles or something. It happens every time and only when I am accelerating between 20-40, not when I am coasting at this same speed. I have almost new Bridgestone Potenza all around, and yesterday got a wheel balance. However, the problem still persists.

Anyone had this problem or have any ideas as to what may be the problem?

Much appreciated and HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!!!!

steve s

funny...u know...we're having the exact same problem on the accord... only sounds on gas..not on coast or brake... the tire place looked at it and said the front tire may be a little messed up...took it apart...only noticed slight valve internal damage...

fixed it a little...but noise still there...we still don't know what it is..will take a closer look...i have a suspicion the front left tire is done for...

if u have a spare u can use... take off one of the tires on ur drive axle... and put the spare on it... c if the problem persists...

c2turbo

Thanks for reply. I actually had the spare on the car prior to replacing my tires... and the same vibration occured. I have been doing some searches, and it maybe something with the drivetrain, but I am not sure, as I'm not that mechanically inclined.

Anyone else have any ideas as to the problem?

Colin

moebisgold

Does this vibration always happen? Accel, braking turning Left, or right, on certain roads,... I've had 2 thingsd that made wierd vibrations. Bad drivline isolators, those rubber doughnuts at ends of driveshaft, and a bad steering dampener. Your description doesn't really fit either ones of these problems though. Need more input.

J-98C43

Dude, check out my last post. It may have nothing to do with what you are experiencing but you never know.

linuxfoo

since you said that this also happens with yoru spare tire, i suggest the same as the post above. check your front suspension or the linkages. what i would do is jack up the front, it would be very rare, however jack up your car and try to shake the tire with one hand on top of the tire and one hand on the bottom - so try to shake it vertically, and then horizontally to check for wheel play. hope i'm making sense. anyways, what yoru checking is to see if your wheel bearing is either loose or something else. check your ball joints for both front wheels. if it doesn't shake, then your wheel bearing looks ok, now check the ball joints

moebisgold

Ouch, you are very lucky that nothing bad happened. makes me worry that there was some previous abuse that was unreported. I guess that a manufacturing problem could exist. I've never had an MB balljoint go bad. Tie rod ends are a different story. The rubber seals keep cracking on me. My C36 had hit something on the RF hard enough to bend the spindle but the balljoints were still fine. Previous owners just kept throwing tires at it, for 50 K miles before I got ahold of it. Ball joints are easy to check. Just jack that wheel off the ground by the lower control arm and push and pull the wheel from all possible directions. The pros use hyd. to do this. There should be no slop at all.
I bet that your smiling on how well your ride drives and turns now! Wonder if this is C2turbo's problem. I would have thought that this would be accompanied by big clunks in the steering anbd maybe body, leaping in and out of ruts and all sorts of nasty steering related stuff.

c2turbo

Thanks to all that replied. I am grateful to have all of you experts and this site as a reference that provides the truth as compared to some of my local dealers.

Moebisgold: The vibration occurs without fail every time at between 20-40 MPH, on any road, going straight or turning
left and right. As i do alot of city driving, it is extremely annoying as it happens every time. It happens only during acceleration, and ceases once I take my foot off the gas or brake, then happens again when I accelerate betrween 20-40 MPH

J9843: I read your post. Very interesting. I kind of hope this is the problem as I would not mind a result of better handing, etc.

LINUXFOO: Thank you for the instructions. i will try this in the morning and let everyone know of the results.

Fortunately, I have a full warranty that will cover whatever the problem is (already saved me $4500 on a new tranny about 4 months ago), but i do not want to have to spend alot for the dealer labor to figure out what the problem is.

Thanks again to all and please anyone else feel free to give experience or ideas as to the problem.

C2turbo

moebisgold

Ahh! The Info that makes all the difference. Only during Accel! Check your motor mounts, exhaust sytem, stuff like that. It only happens in first or second (in this speed range) or is it worse the harder you step on it. Either there is a mechanical trans problem or the engine is twisting around and that is letting something to hit or bottom out. Can you hear anything different with the window down? You could have a buddie powerbrake it while you watch from the side. You could grab a valve cover or somthing and push pull without the engine running. Look for signs of things touching each other that aren't when it's not running.

linuxfoo

does this speed wobbling go away after say like 10 min of driving? or does it do it everytime / all day. do you also have bigger rims, or just stocks, what size are your new tires, did the speed wobble happen after you got the new tires?

on mines, no one was able to figure this out this vibration that i had until i diagnosed it myself. i had bought new 18 rims with new cheap brand tires. i drive my car at most 3 times a week, rest of the days, it sits in my garage. what i found out was that, while my car sits in the garage for 4 days straight, the weight of the car was creating a flat spot on my front tires if you know what i mean. for the first 10 minutes or so, my car used to vibrate especially during accelration onto the freeway and this was not related to mis-balancing. after about tem minutes of driving, the tire seems to round it self again because of the constant rotation i guess. the vibration would then go away for rest of the day until i leave my car parked for awhile again. i since then bought better tires (Michelin Pilots), i have not had that problem and its been couple of weeks. very smooth!!!

very important to check for this - jack up the fronts before you even drive the car anywhere, while the front is jacked up, spin the front tire and look at the gap on the bottom of the tire to the ground and see if it changes while the tire is spinning, if it is out of round you will see it, it almost will look like as if the tire is bouncing.

this might not be your problem, but when it comes to diagnosis, i always say check the least cost method first. hope this helps.

c2turbo

moebisgold: THANKYOU FOR YOUR THOUGHTS! the vibration only happens in 1st or 2nd, and seems to be more harsh on more agressive acceleration/throttle. I do not hear anyhing different with the window down, I will try to see if anything is touching on the engine, but frankly I do not know what to look for.

LINUXFOO: I appreciate your comments on the tire being out of round. I have new Bridgestone Potenza 225/45 17 in front and 245/40 17 in back. Both are on the original AMG rims. I have had the tires balanced and checked out, even on a 'new" improved type of machine that is suppossed to be able to balance tires better than most shops. I will keep you posted about the ideas that you provided about checking out the tire when the front end is jacked up. Again, THANK YOU for helping on this.

c2turbo

LINUXFOO: also, my car vibrates even after 1 hour of driving, not just for the first ten miuntes or so.

Again, thanks for your ideas, i'm going to checjk the front tires now and will advise of results.

moebisgold

[QUOTE]Originally posted by c2turbo
[B]moebisgold: ... the vibration only happens in 1st or 2nd, and seems to be more harsh on more agressive acceleration/throttle. .....
It is definetly related to the engine torquing - as in twisting in the mounts or this torque reacting with something in the drivline. They mounts could be fine, the exhaust or something could be hitting, or the driveshaft could be messed up. Those rubber couplers maybe. If you don't have the means of getting under it to check stuff out, it sounds like you need to make an appointment to spend some $. You could always start with the tranny shop and say "hey can you check this out to make sure that it is nothing to do with the trans" . Good Luck, Happy Holidays

clkal

my car has that shaking sensation from 35-40 miles per hour when I have the sunroof open. When i have the sunroof closed, there is no shaking at all. Weird stuff.

moebisgold

My C36 makes the most bizzar wind howels in just the right crosswinds. What's really funny is that the driver thinks its comming from the passenger side and vice versa.:o
That sunroof is messing up the aerodynamics enough to cause detectable vibrations. Hmm, I'm going to have to experiment.

steve s

never tried it on the c36...but on my volvo wagon... the 850 models... open the sunroof...close all other windows...and u get a huge buffeting effect at around 40 mph... a throbbing effect... gets kinda nauseous... open any of the windows along with it...and it's gone. volvo redesigned it for the subsequent s/v/c70 models...

anyway...so i tried the donut spare... seems to sound a whole lot better ... will be getting a new tire tomorrow...so we'll see how it goes... gonna take a look inside the old tire's treads to c if i can actually c anything....

moebisgold

linuxfoo is correct about tires tacking a set out of round. He is also correct about Pilot Sport (AS) doing this very little. To this day those are the smoothest tires that I have owned. Kuhmo's are at the other extreme. Temp also makes this worse. I had some Firestone town and country snow tires in the '60s that would make the car turn into a blurr over 60 in the frst 10 or so min. The Nylon and Polyester cording of those bias ply days were wern't so good. But then my dad talked about having blow outs just from hitting little pot holes in the pre WW2 days. The worst tires today are better than the best race tires from not so long ago.
As a side note, I allways check for out of round. Things can be perfectly balanced but out of round will make weird vibrations at some speeds, just like some cheap tires. I like to watch them spin on the balance machine too. But then I'm and engineer...

jnolte

I think its ur Motor mounts, they go bad and crusty. Happened to my C36,

steve s

update... dealer is taking apart the tranny...something in the bearings ain't right there... prolly get to pick it up end of the week

moebisgold

Good luck, hope that it's not spendy. Let us know how it turns out.

linuxfoo

ohhh something with the bad bearings? man that does not sound good. hope it didn't wear out anything prematurely inside otherwise it could be very costly.

but then, if it has has to do with something with the bearings in the tranny, i'm wondering why it would only vibrate 20-40mph. i'm thinking it should constantly vibrate, unless maybe first or second gear is gone but that would highly be unlikely- no? anyways good luck cause whatever the issue is, at the end of the day, we all just want our cars to be perfect. well at least i do.

steve s

probably just couldn't hear it at higher speeds.... anyway...car just came back... whole tranny was replaced rather than taken apart... car had the 10 year 100,000 mile powertrain warranty... so... cost = 0...thank goodness...

moebisgold

Boy, are you lucky!!! Change the oil at 50K and hopefully this one will last longer.

c2turbo

Well, finally got the info from the dealer on my vibration from 20-40 MPH....

The flex disc (or U-joint) needs to be replaced. I also have the following issues that need to be fixed:

Radiator leak
Oil leak coming from the lower engine pan. They are going to advise on the oil leak in more detail soon.

I will advise of any other issues they find, etc.

THANKS TO ALL THAT RESPONDED AND HELPED WITH THIS ISSUE OF MINE

hoontastic

Sorry to dust this thread off... but my question is kinda on topic so..

When I am driving about 40ish my car exhibits a vibration in the steering wheel. It feels like one of the front wheels is wobbling. Also if I brake hard from a good clip i will feel alot more shaking of the steering wheel. Its not to the point of feeling unsafe but it does not seem right.

I am running oem 17 monos on new tires. My front rotors and pads are new. All the suspension up front is original (car is at 103k). I believe the wobble/shake may start at lower speeds but it really isnt very noticeable until i get going more. I believe the indy that looked at my ac compressor mentioned a balljoint looking bad. Could it be the hub itself? A forum member i talked to about this didnt think the wheel could be bent.

I would love to hear y'all fire off some ideas for me. thanks!