Yesterday I suddenly noticed a vibration through the Vauxhall Vectra Tdi at exactly 60mph which made the sun visors vibrate and also through the seats and the rest of the car but not through the steering wheel.
At speeds immediately above and below it is not apparent.
Strangely I hadn?t noticed it before but took it down to my local independent garage to get the wheels balanced. When I told him it didn?t show through the steering wheel he said funnily enough he had had a Mondeo which was a taxi in on Monday with exactly the same problem and he diagnosed it as a faulty drive shaft.
He said he told the owner that while he felt sure this was the problem he couldn?t say which one and they told him to replace both and the problem was cured.
However he balanced my front wheels with no improvement. We both examined underneath and noticed a steel clamp on one drive shaft which we thought may be a balance weight.
He rang the Vauxhall agent for advice and they said the block was a damper and not balance. They also suggested taking the gearbox bottom tray off and checking for any bits of metal which might suggest the vibration emanated from their and then go for the drive shafts.
My suggestions were perhaps the rear wheels were out of balance but he didn?t think these could cause this vibration.
He suggested replacing one drive shaft first (the longest) and take it from there.
A good genuine garage owner who balanced both front wheels and spent another hour on the car all for £10.00 and was interested in finding the problem. His last suggestion was go on the internet and find if anyone else has had the same problem with a Vectra.
Incidentally the vibration at 60mph is irrelevant at which gear the car is in.
Any ideas please....
alvin
|
|
Jack the car up, spin the wheels and check for uneven wear and lumps on the tyres. Also have your rear wheels balanced.
|
|
|
|
If the car is vibrating rather than the steering, 99% of the time it'll be the rear tyres out of balance. Not sure about other manufacturers - but having owned only Vauxhalls for the last 17 years, I've found that if the rear tyres aren't balanced correctly the car will suffer vibration at certain speeds. Even if they're only slightly out of balance.
|
|
|
alvin
The clamp is strictly a damper, and its effect is to minimise drive shaft vibration. It needs to be in the correct position on the drive shaft. Rare, but it could move. Worth checking to be sure.
Whatever you do, exchange each wheel in turn for the spare to check for wheel/tyre problems before you consider the expense of driveshafts! Balanced they may be, but that won't help if one has gone out of round.
Regards
John S
|
Thanks for your help. It was indeed a rear wheel which was vibrating. The first one which I took off which I replaced with the spare had a bald strip about 8 inches long on the inside.
The vibration which was quite heavy has gone completely.
Another strange but welcome improvement was that the steering wheel was previously not quite straight and is now spot on.
Unusual one that and wouldn't have expected that the rear wheels would alter that.
alvin
|
|
|
|
