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-   -   "My Car / Steering / Brake Vibrates While Driving" | What To Do (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/132804-my-car-steering-brake-vibrates-while-driving-what-do-7.html)

Wobbling issue with my 27,000kms driven 2012 Fiesta Classic with stock good year tyres:

On a recent trip to North Karnataka, after about 300kms of driving, noticed the car was wobbling, at all speeds, more noticed during slow speeds.

Since 5 of us were travelling, the pressure in tyres were front 35, back 40 as recommended by Ford. Later, visited a wheel alignment centre and noticed that the rear right tyre's shape was uneven on the top, note, not uneven tread wear, but the tyre itself was out of shape, hence the wobbling. This particular tyre had a history of quick air loss, with no punctures and neck being replaced once. May be I had driven many times with less air and hence the big damage.

Continued the drive, the car felt perfect. Then my friend continued the drive for sometime and I took over the car again. To my very shock, I noticed steering vibrations and slight wobble when the steering is steered to left or right. When turned extreme left or right, especially left, the steering just before it comes back to straight position, rotates in steps, not smoothly. While driving straight, it's ok, though not perfect like before.

Yesterday, went to Madhus wheel alignment centre and got the balancing checked. All four tyres were perfect, alignment had some issues and was corrected. The men at Madhus said tyres are ok but in general they said Good Year tyres are pathetic.

Was hoping the drive to be good post alignment, but sadly no, same wobbling. One point to note is during first free service, the SA told me the left ball joint needs replacement as he showed the rubber component of the ball joint torn.

Worried, what could be the issue?

Hi Guys,

Need your help with a problem which I am facing since last 1000 odd kms.

Off late whenever I move above 2000 rpm in any gear, the engine feels very strained and I can feel vibrations on my accelerator pedal. Peak vibration is felt around 2200-2300 rpm. Though the car picks up speed, it feels doing more hard work than before, doesn't feel free revving. Below 2000 rpm, its very smooth.

I suspected soot collection, so I did high rev for few seconds to 3500 rpm 4-5 times, no luck

Also, under idling, I can see the Air filter hose vibrating very badly

I checked the engine oil level, its 2-3 mm above 'F' mark, Air filter is good.

I agree that I have not done wheel alignment/Balancing so far, but that would result in vibrations only at higher speeds. No vibrations are felt at higher speeds as far as the rpm is below 2000. Verna does 110 kmph at 2000 rpm

My car is 7 months old and has completed 14000 Kms so far, Last service was done at 9,100 kms. Engine oil, oil filter & Air filter was changed.

I will be taking my car to service center coming weekend, but I expect a usual reply, that its a diesel, so its normal. I want some help from you guys to know what could be the probable cause , so I can argue with the SA.

I'm a proud owner of a VW Polo 1. Petrol Highline (Pre-facelifted model). Proud, that is, until very irritating and persistent steering issues cropped up. I purchased my car from PPS motors in Hyderabad, in August of last year.

However, just 3 weeks ago during a pretty ordinary commute within the city, I noticed a very strange notchy sensation seeping through the steering wheel while cornering at speeds above 40kmph. My car was due to its first 6 month free check up at the A.S.S, so i decided to bring this issue up with them.

I visited the Volkswagen Hyderabad Workshop but I was left disappointed as in spite of the technician test driving the vehicle he failed to even acknowledge the mere presence of the problem. He did however inform me that the gearbox mount had to be replaced (under warranty) as it was making a rattling sound in pot-holes. Volkswagen Hyderabad informed me that they would be unable to carry out the part replacement on that day itself and I had to take an appointment a week later for the same.

I was about to embark on a 1000km return journey to Nagpur in a couple of days and so the steering issue worried me, The technicians however assured me that there was no issue with the car. During the trip I noticed the steering vibrating at highway speeds between the range of (80 - 120kmph) I suspected that my front alloys (OEM equipped) were out of balance.

On my visit to the A.S.S, i once again brought up this issue with the service advisor and another technician test drove my car. To my dismay, He too concluded that there is nothing wrong with it. I furiously argued with them but they very rudely told me that since they cannot detect any fault, there is nothing that they can do and refused to investigate any further. I asked them to check the alignment and even got the Wheels balanced at a Wheel specialist's workshop.

After some careful driving around the city I realized that the vibrations were coming during braking as well. I decided to visit Hyderabad Deccan A.S.S instead. During this period I did extensive research on Team-BHP's forums and was aware of issues regarding the tie-rods, bearings etc. After having the technicians test-driven the car again, they concluded that the front discs have to be replaced (after just 7500kms) and that the alloys are to be blamed for the vibrations. They even tried convincing me to purchase a new set of alloys for 25k. I, refused since I still felt that the wheels weren't the issue.

Frustrated, I registered a complaint with Volkswagen Hyderabad upon receiving a callback for feedback, They convinced me to take up another appointment , which I did for the 14th of March.

At this point the 'notchy' or 'ratchety' sensation in the steering got much worse, and I was quite confident that the problem would be resolved now. After test driving the vehicle, the technicians concluded that the front discs have to be cleaned and they recommended a software update for the notchy sensation (which they still failed to completely recognize) and stressed that it was normal.

After taking delivery of my car, I now feel that the notchy/ ratchety sensation has been reduced to a small extent, but it still is present, so is the vibrations under braking.

I'm now totally frustrated with VW's poor service commitment as I've already visited their workshops 4 times. I'm confident that this notchiness is not normal and I can rule out road conditions completely.

After paying further attention I feel that this notchiness (as if the steering wheel is turning is steps and not one smooth motion) is prevalent at lower speeds as well but not very noticeable. I must add however that this notchiness is only noticeable at extremely delicate and light turning of the wheel.

Has anyone else experienced such an issue? I plan to visit Hyderabad Deccan again in 2 weeks. Also could it be an issue with the Power steering motor?

I must add, that in December my car took a pretty heavy hit in a pot-hole. I brought this up with the technicians, but they dis-regarded it.

I'm quite desperate for help now. any thoughts on the problem?

Have you got your suspension strut mounts checked? These are rubber mounts at the top of your strut. Recently got my strut mounts changed for Vento at 35k kms as the steering had become hard and was getting stuck at certain places, it was not smooth as you say, notchy at certain positions. Was also getting a grinding noise while turning steering side to side in parked position.

The change of strut mounts has resolved the problem and reduced steering vibrations/harshness of road.

Okay, Let us diagnose your problem, before that explain to me a little bit in detail, what do you mean by a 'notchy' steering ?

Secondly, since you took a nasty pothole hit and you think the alloy in question might be responsible for the vibrations, do one thing. Go to a VERY competent wheel balancing guy, get it dynamically balanced (weights on both sides) and while he is balancing, check the runout of the alloy. When he is rotating it on the machine you will come to know if its perfectly round or the rim has a minor run out. If it does have a minor runout, mark that alloy and never let it come in the front 2 tyres, if you have a 5th alloy, mount that in the front and let this be a stepney forever.

About the vibrations under braking as well as the notchy thing, are you sure it's not the caliper pin which has lost its greasing and making the caliper vibrate and that is not the vibration you are feeling in the steering wheel ? Because a lose caliper will cause a brake judder as well as well as a minor steering vibration at certain speeds as well as make you feel something in the steering is moving below your feet.

About your notchiness, explain it a bit further and we can take it from there.

Thanks for the prompt response!

I haven't checked the strut mounts, I shall do that today on my own, should i be looking for just physical wear? or are there any other clues that could hint at worn out mounts?

To further elaborate on the 'notchiness' it feels as though the steering wheel is turning in steps (5deg-10deg-15deg etc.)

I have already got all the wheels checked on a dynamic balance. They all appear to be fine.

Is it possible for me to properly inspect the caliper pins by myself? without having to visit the A.S.S. Last week when I brought in the vehicle to the service centre to report this problem, the technician assured me that he'll inspect the discs for any irregularities. He said they weren't any. I'm not sure if he would have checked the caliper pins as well.

I'm experiencing a very peculiar problem with my steering. I changed the damaged alloys (of Fiat Linea) to new steel ones 4 days ago. I did the balancing and alignment in a tire shop near my house (205/65 R15 Goodyear Eagle NCT5 91V), mainly because I didn't have enough time to go to FIAT service again.

While the steering was not perfectly centred, I felt that alignment was done well as it maintains straight line perfectly well. Balancing also looked fine in my experience.

But, what is bothering me is that the steering vibrates mildly between 100 and 120 kmph only. At times when it does not vibrate in this range, the steering does not feel as direct as it should be, a sign that tells me that it is not exactly vibrating, but a tendency to vibrate and thus requiring a firm hand to steer. It is again perfectly fine beyond 120, all the way till 160. I haven't tried beyond that in this drive.

I googled up for steering vibration "car steering vibrates at specific speeds" and first hit is http://mechanics.stackexchange.com/q...at-high-speeds which is exactly my experience though the shake is not so bad in my case.

There are too many things floating around on the net. I want to get a first hand answer from someone in this forum who has experienced and/or has knowledge about this phenomenon. What could be the reasons behind this?

Thanks in advance.

Your tires need rebalancing. One or more are slightly out of balance.

The most probable explanation could be that the wheels are out of balance. They need to be re-balanced carefully. DO mention your problem when you go to the balancing shop. All this given that the tires are in good condition and do not have flat spots. You may also try to swap the steel rims with the rear ones even if they are new. The way dealers handle these stuff in the shop, I do not believe them to be in factory condition.

The imbalance in your tires get harmonic and transmits upto the steering wheel.

This can be a narrow band given the state of imbalance.

An often overlooked and common mistake at small shops is wrong entry of tire/wheel size into the balancing machine.

Please go to a decent shop, ensure correct parameters are entered, and balance them again.

Remember, good tires go in the BACK.

Cheers.

When you say that you got the 'damaged alloys replaced with steel ones' I hope you got all four replaced. Just making sure. Also, why did you downgrade from alloys to steel rims?

Anyway, if all are new steel rims firstly check them out to be in perfect condition and not some used rim straightened and conditioned for re-sale.

The condition you are facing only points out to the wheels being out of balance, suggest you get them checked again. This time get it done from elsewhere since this guy's machine may be problematic. Also, hope that the tires are in good condition and do not have a huge amount of puncture repairs (patching work).

You might want to read up this thread. Would also suggest moderators merge this thread with the above.

Yes. All four alloys replaced with four new steel rims and two new tires for the front while the rear ones are still good but used tires. BTW, the balancing guy did enter the right rim specs.

Thanks SS-Traveller. I will read it up. As of now, I'm thinking of visiting Madhu's shop and/or FIAT service. But I thought, this was weird as the problem was not there outside the speed range. I don't have enough knowledge on harmonic mechanical resonance to conclude if that is the symptom.

In my experience and opinion, main symptom of imbalanced wheels is steering shake during deceleration/braking from relatively higher speeds. For example from 140 till 110 kmph.

Steering vibrations in a certain speed range without any braking involved might be related to some fault in the suspension or some imperfection/defect with the tyres.

How did the alloys get damaged? Fiat alloys are of good quality and the force needed to damage them is unlikely to leave the remaining suspension components with zero damage.