Talking of the C reg Nissan Silvia 1.8 turbo auto, which I was on another thread, I wonder if anyone has an explanation for this.
Cruising down the motorway at roughly 80 in reasonably light traffic. In outside lane, plenty of room to the car in front. BMW in front brakes hard for no apparent reason then continues on, I react and brake hard (as you do) and then carry on.
About 1 mile later (so maybe not connected) the wheel starts to wobble violently, kind of left to right, so bad that I am having trouble controlling the car. Assume that I have blown a tyre which is what it feels like.
Head over to the hard shoulder get out, tyres fine, no visible signs of any problem. Decide not safe to stay where I am so decide to drive gently to the next exit (about 2 miles) and call AA.
Drive away gently, wheel wobbling furiously as before, wobble subsides. Pull off motorway drive around a bit, all fine, get back on motorway and complete journey of a further 30 miles. No further problems.
Have a good look round when get home, no signs that anything untoward.
Ideas about what happened?
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About 1 mile later (so maybe not connected) the wheel starts to wobble violently, kind of left to right, so bad that I am having trouble controlling the car. Assume that I have blown a tyre which is what it feels like.
I used to get something similar in my 1936 (honest!) Wolseley.
It was front wheel wobble caused by excessive free-play (i.e. looseness) in the steering and suspension joints. This was in 1956, long before the days of MOT tests.
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L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Maybe any number of things ie steering suspension wheel bearings.I thought you said price over optimistic.would suggest it is.unless price is reduced by fair amount wouldnt bother.on a C plate should be cheap.as it sounds like it isnt roadworthy has it an MOT if so how old?
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Was mech1
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I forgot to mention check out the steering column joint.ie it will either be a u/j or rubber joint.where it connects to the rack.if this is loose/worn may cause this?
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Was mech1
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...same thing happened to me in a Citroen BX many moons ago
...one minute, feels like the wheel's about to fly off and
vanish down the nearest embankment...then u stop...get out to
investigate...find nothing at all obvious and then drive off
with no sign of the problem at all
...have a feeling the bearing is to blame
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Thanks for the suggestions will check them out.
Car had MOT in May, clean sheet not even any advisories.
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Untill you say no prob with motor.not so certain MOT is clean.sorry.sounds dubious at best.
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Was mech1
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I had a similar things happen a few months ago. (2 weeks after MOT pass).
Driving around 50 - 60 on A road. Brake fairly heavily for roundabout, wheel vibration 200 yards after exit at around 50. So bad, I thought of a loose wheel nuts. Stop and have a look round - nothing obvious. Drive slowly home, no problem.
Same thing happened a few days later.
After much faffing round, I came to the conclusion that a brake piston was sticking and the disk was getting so hot it was warping and grabbing once per revolution. Rebuilt calipers with new pistons and seals. Problem never returned.
Martin
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Had this on my daughter's car once and it was the wheel trim that was partially off and affecting the wheel balance.
Kicked it back on and no further problems.
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I wondered about balance as well. Perhaps you picked something up on the tyre that fell off again. A lump of not very sticky tarmac, maybe?
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If you think how small the weights are that they stick on to balance your tyres - 10g or so, upwards, then it doesn't take much to knock the tyre out of balance.
(Had a puncture on Friday, and put the spare on (which is just about road legal I suppose). Couldn't get above 20mph as (I presume) the balance was so far out.)
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I don't think Wheel balance is the issue here. As he said he pulled off gently and wheel was wobbling fiercly and eventually subsided. Low speed wheel wobble is not going to be balance related.
The post who said he had a brake piston sticking is probably right on the nose.
Brakes slammed on hard, release brake, drive on, wheel vibration builds up and up until he stops (using brakes) looks at car briefly, meanwhile piston has released it'self, and discs are beginning to cool, he drives away discs still a bit heated and warped, eventually, the flow of air cools the discs and problem goes away all together.
OP I think you should overhaul your brake calipers, and put new discs and pads.
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was kev_is_here
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I thought I'd mention this as a warning. Probably not the same problem, but worth checking for. My Passat had an intermittent wheel wobble that could definitely be felt through the steering, so my thoughts were it was a front tyre/wheel/driveshaft problem. But I couldn't find anything.
I checked all 4 tyres, which looked OK - the rear ones were getting towards replacement but not too bad. On a long journey the steering wobble got worse. At our destination I checked the tyres. To my horror a REAR tyre had developed a bulge that had worn bald. When I'd checked the tyres before the bulge must have been the bit the car was resting on, so I missed it.
Cheers, SS
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Turns out it was the brake piston sticking!
Now sorted.
Thanks all.
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I had a similar experience as a Passenger on the A46 near Coventry, though on a slightly larger scale: a double-decker bus (Volvo/Alexander Olympian btw)! Driver got it onto the hard shoulder, had a look around it, and drove off again!
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