Hard vibration under acceleration.

[RJD2]

I did a search but little info came up beside's balancing the wheels which I've already done. Like the title says my car is shaking/vibrating only under acceleration and get's worse as I increase the throttle. I can be cruising down the interstate or just down a road in gear and it won't do it, its only when I accelerate or come from a stop. It feels like its just in the front too. Any idea's on what this could be? Like I said I just balanced my wheels today and it didn't help at all.

 

[spinninfwdlaser]

Could be a number of things:
Tie rods
Wheel bearings
Start there. Very easy to check these.

 

[1gDSM4g63]

It is your engine or your wheels/suspension?

 

[RJD2]

What exactly should I be looking for when I check those?

 

[RJD2]

Honestly when it starts I can't really tell where its coming from except somewhere in the front but I really don't think its the motor.

 

[Melon Head]

It sounds like maybe your balance shaft thats be hind the timming belt or your harmonic balancer is worn even by a little. Try that and see what you come up with. Good Luck

 

[1gDSM4g63]

Honestly when it starts I can't really tell where its coming from except somewhere in the front but I really don't think its the motor.

Well if hear and feel your engine stuttering, shaking, or bogging down then it's timing or fuel system.

 

[RJD2]

Just thought I'd give an update. I checked my harmonic balancer and saw no where or play so took my front wheels off and checked my bearings and ball joints and everything was fine except for the driver side lower lateral control arm ball joing looked pretty messing up and the boot was pretty much gone. I changed that out, which was not fun at all, and it's still shaking like before. I'm about to just set it out fire, get out a lawn chair and drink a beer as I watch it burn to the groung

 

[Gooberlog]

To check to see if your tie rods are bad: Lift the front of the car off of the ground, sit on the ground facing the fender so your facing directly in front of the wheel, take one hand and grab the tire at 3 o-clock position and take your left hand and grab the tire at 9 o-clock position and rock the wheel/tire back and fourth. If it clunks or knocks you probably have a bad inner or outer tierod end.
For the wheel bearing inspection: Same procedure as above but grab the tire with one hand at 12 o-clock and the other at 6 o-clock positions and see if you can rock it back and forth. There should be absolutely no play top to bottom, you will see very little when checking tie rods as you will start to actually move the steering rack and pinion gear back and fourth.

I know you said that it happens when slowing down and accelerating but heavily warped rotors may cause that as well. But usually warped front rotors will give you a bad vibration in the steering wheel when applying the brakes.

i wouldn't rule out drive axles or drive shafts either. Try to provide some more info on when you get it to vibrate.
One final idea is to have a tire shop break down the front tires, make sure there is no fix a flat or water inside the tire and re balance. I would try a different shop just to make sure.
Most front tires out of balance will cause the steering wheel to shake at highway speeds but your vibration seems to be more than just that. Just a couple ideas for you to try before you go get the gas can and a match book.
Worse case scenario pay a mechanic to diag it for you. We're he to help though.

 

[ekanddsm]

What speed does the vibration start at do u feel it in the steering wheel or the brake pedal in gear or nuetral?

 

[Gooberlog]

BTW- balance shafts being out 180 degrees will usualy cause a bad vibration in the mid RPM range and go away once RPMS go higher or lower. That you would be able to check by driving through the RPM range and reving the car up to 4500 or so in Neutral.

Did you just buy this car and this is a new problem?
Also check the overall tire condition and see if your inner or outer edges of your rims may be bent.

 

[RJD2]

Nah I bought this car a little over a year ago and I've had to 97 GS's before this car. It seems like I noticed about a month ago just being a little shake everynow and then and it's now just progressed in to all the time and it getting worse/more violent. I'm gonna go try what you said and see what happens. I'll post back in a few.

 

[RJD2]

Well I did that little test and it didn't do it at all when I was going at any speed and rev'd it up around 4500. I don't get it. It start's no matter what gear I'm in as soon as I get up to 40 mph and stop's when I push the clutch in.

 

[RJD2]

Well upon further inspection I found that the boot on my passenger side axle is in two pieces and I didn't feel any grease inside. So I guess this is my problem? If so do you think it may have messed up my tranny?

 

[viperblueawd]

check the drive shaft bushings my awd did the same thing but they are a pain in the ass to replace

 

[Gooberlog]

Usualy if you have a problem or vibration or what ever when driving and it goes away when you push the clutch in, it may be transmission related. When your driving down the road in gear the transmission and the engine are spinning together but when you push the clutch pedal in, you are disconnecting the transmission from the engine, SO if the problem goes away when driving down the road and you push the clutch in it may be in the trans.
If you have a bad axle though i'm sure that might contribute, but I doubt the problem is in the axle since the axle is still spinning at the same rate weather the clutch is in or out. The axle will always spin at wheel speed as they are directly bolted to your wheel hubs.
It sounds like you need to replace the axle due to the torn boot and no grease, try napa or papa etc for a re manufactured one- about $70 with core. So i would replace the axle and go from there. I wouldn't expect it to fix it but you need to replace it anyway and i wouldn't rule it out.

Most AWD dsm's have sloppy drive shaft couplers "drive shafts that go front to back", but from my experience, they will only cause a vibration under full acceleration and i believe you said it also happens when slowing down sometimes. I've heard that they are a PITA to replace but the VFAQ had a post "at least for 1g's, on how to caulk them to harden them back to original. Good luck.

 

[AndrewD5418]

I used the caulking technique on mine. Works WONDERS. Better than really fast thud thud thud thud.

 

[RJD2]

Thanks guys, I'm gonna replace the axle and check out the drive shaft couplers.

 

[gorf]

Well upon further inspection I found that the boot on my passenger side axle is in two pieces and I didn't feel any grease inside. So I guess this is my problem? If so do you think it may have messed up my tranny?

Replace your axle, once the grease is out of there, the axle goes quick.

I just figured out that MY highspeed vibration is coming form the driveshaft U joints.

FYI for anyone searching for high speed vibrations this is from :

DRIVESHAFTS SHOP: Stock, Performance Drive Shafts, Aluminum Drive Shaft, Racing Axles

DRIVESHAFT'S
Most people have trouble determining if the vibration in there vehicle is coming from the DRIVESHAFT or not.
There are typically two type's of vibration most vehicle's would have.A fast cycle vibration or a slow cycle vibration. To help understand this lets say we put a bucket of water on the passengers floor. If the vibration in the vehicle produces small ripples on the top of the water this would be considered a fast cycle vibration. This type of vibration is usually a drive train vibration,things like the driveshaft,motor or torque converter. If the vibration kind of puts waves on the top of the water. This type of vibration is a slow cycle vibration and usually is a axle or tire vibration.

JACK TEST
A simple way to do this is put the
vehicle in question up on jack stands (make
sure the vehicle is completely secure)block
the front tires and run the vehicle up to the
speed you have the vibration at. Make sure you
use the brake to stop the drive train before
you put the car in park if its a automatic.
If the vibration is a fast cycle vibration
you may want to have the DRIVESHAFT checked
for balance or This may make no sense to you but
you may try indexing the shaft 180 degrees(just
pull the shaft off the rear yoke and put it on
the opposite way)what this does is change the
resonant property of the driveline and in many
cases it takes the vibration away.
If you have a slow cycle vibration take
the tires off the car (make sure you put lugs
on the axle to keep the brake in line) and run
the vehicle again. If the vibration is gone you
now have to find out if its the rim or the tire
and good tire shop can help you with that.
This is a simple test for any vehicle
but please if your not completely sure of how to
put the car on stands safely bring the car to
a certified tech. to perform the test.
If you want and further help with
understanding this process or want help understanding
vibration problem's please call or e-mail us.

 

[64_Frankenstein]

I did a search but little info came up beside's balancing the wheels which I've already done. Like the title says my car is shaking/vibrating only under acceleration and get's worse as I increase the throttle. I can be cruising down the interstate or just down a road in gear and it won't do it, its only when I accelerate or come from a stop. It feels like its just in the front too. Any idea's on what this could be? Like I said I just balanced my wheels today and it didn't help at all.

It happen to me before. It happens when Im on the gas petal. I went ahead and got me some new tires. How old is your tires?

 

[RJD2]

About 5 months. They don't have much wear to speak of. But that still doesn't explain why I can push the clutch in and it stop's or maybe it does I'm so confused .

 

[Gooberlog]

Start by replacing the known bad parts first and go from there.
Then try what gorf posted. Put the vehicle safely in the air, take it to 40 mph and see if you notice anything wobling. Tires, rims, driveshafts, axles, if not it may be internal in the transmission.

 

[knochgoon24]

Is one of your tires out of round? You might have hit something (like a pot hole) and damaged it.

 

[1997hciv]

I had the same thing happen to me and it was my driver side axle boot, it was torn and had no grease in it and it got all torn up. I also replaced the U-joints on the driveshaft. Get the yoke replacement kit from JNZtuning, it comes with the yoke and a U-joint. They cost $33 a peice, so buy three of them. I also did the silicone fix and it vibrates over 60mph, it feels like solid motor mounts. But those fixed the problem I was having and I am pretty sure that it is yours too. I would start with the front axle and then drive it to see if it is fixed, and while the car is jecked up check the driveshaft for any play to see if the bearings are worn. Good luck

 

[Gooberlog]

I had the same thing happen to me and it was my driver side axle boot, it was torn and had no grease in it and it got all torn up. I also replaced the U-joints on the driveshaft. Get the yoke replacement kit from JNZtuning, it comes with the yoke and a U-joint. They cost $33 a peice, so buy three of them. I also did the silicone fix and it vibrates over 60mph, it feels like solid motor mounts. But those fixed the problem I was having and I am pretty sure that it is yours too. I would start with the front axle and then drive it to see if it is fixed, and while the car is jecked up check the driveshaft for any play to see if the bearings are worn. Good luck

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