Help me diagnose a problem

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Citizen_Insane

Citizen_Insane

Senior Member
So recently my car has had some kind of vibration going on under acceleration. When I give more than 1/2 throttle (usually most notable @ low rpm) I can feel a thudding through my steering wheel and through my pedal. At first I thought it could be engine knock, and got really scared, but the more and more I drive it the less I think that's whats going on. I found that sometimes if I stop and wiggle arround my spark plug wires that it helps (but this could be completely psychological or a fluke). Recently I started thinking it could possibly be a shot wheel bearing or an unbalanced tire. Given this info can anyone offer a better diagnosis?

-oh yeah btw, I don't have a CEL or anything, and I was autoxing last weekend and it felt fine.
 
Axles could be damaged too- sometimes axles have to be balanced with a weird weight in the middle (depending on who made them) and that weight can come loose. I've had it happen to me.
 
hm...well to add to the confusion, while I was driving yesterday (or was it the day before), anyway, last time I drove the car the problem wasn't there. If it were a drivetrain/suspension problem (wheel bearing, wheel/axle balance) I wouldn't think it would just come and go.
 
calesta youre onto something there,ive had the vibration problem ever since i bought my ek3,shit its irritating especially under hard acceleration ,ive changed cv's and engine mounts still there,,,,however that weird rubber that sits on the drive shaft was bobbing around loosely on the passenger side shaft, a few months ago i tied it down ,actually i tied to the damper fork

when i did this i was grabbing at straws,the vibration actually reduced a bit,ive since left it as it is thinking it isnt the main cause,im going to fing a way to place it back in its original position an see what happens
 
Yeah, I'm going to go check my axles right now. I know my passenger side boot leaks some axle grease, so maybe its gone bad. Thats where the vibration feels like its coming from too. I'm almost positive it isn't the engine because the vibration is much slower than 1/2 the RPM (which it would be if one cylinder wasn't firing).
 
well turns out my drivers side axle is fucked....time to go to the junk yard!
 
nightshift @ Apr 5 2006 said:
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calesta youre onto something there,ive had the vibration problem ever since i bought my ek3,shit its irritating especially under hard acceleration ,ive changed cv's and engine mounts still there,,,,however that weird rubber that sits on the drive shaft was bobbing around loosely on the passenger side shaft, a few months ago i tied it down ,actually i tied to the damper fork

when i did this i was grabbing at straws,the vibration actually reduced a bit,ive since left it as it is thinking it isnt the main cause,im going to fing a way to place it back in its original position an see what happens
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Just a hunch- it happened to me before. You'll want to go ahead and swap out your axle for a new one. There's no way that you're going to get the counterweight back in exactly the right position to stop the vibration- and then your axle will just beat itself to pieces.

Citizen_Insane @ Apr 5 2006 said:
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well turns out my drivers side axle is fucked....time to go to the junk yard!
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:thumbsup:
 
Axels click when worn and play becomes present. Also check your wheels for air pressure and that the weights are still in place on all of them
 
so afer all its a worn axle,damn i thought these things were supposed to last forever,just that weight coming off is the cause????
 
Ok, so I checked my wheel weights and one from the outside of the rim appears to be missing. However, I'm questioning whether or not this could cause the problem. The thumping only occurs sometimes, not all the time. I woud think that if the wheel weight was the culprit that the problem would be constant. Can I get verificiation that a broken axle could cause this problem without clicking? thanks.
 
Citizen_Insane @ Apr 9 2006 said:
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hm...just thinking here, wouldn't my axle click if it were fucked up?
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Only if the JOINT was messed up. A broken weight isn't going to click- it's going to thump.

nightshift @ Apr 10 2006 said:
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so afer all its a worn axle,damn i thought these things were supposed to last forever,just that weight coming off is the cause????
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Happens more often than you think.

Citizen_Insane @ Apr 10 2006 said:
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Ok, so I checked my wheel weights and one from the outside of the rim appears to be missing. However, I'm questioning whether or not this could cause the problem. The thumping only occurs sometimes, not all the time. I woud think that if the wheel weight was the culprit that the problem would be constant. Can I get verificiation that a broken axle could cause this problem without clicking? thanks.
Click to expand...

Yes, it can cause the problem without clicking. Clicking is for dead CV joints, not axle or wheel weights.

As for the problem being sporadic- yes, that's normal for bad weighting too. When you get to certain frequencies (wheel rotation speeds), the effect of the weight goes up and down. Your tire will reach a resonant frequency at different rotation speeds, and that's when you'll experience the worst vibration. Double your speed and I'll bet that you'll feel the same vibration (if it's a balance issue), only worse.
 
strange....recently the problem has dissapeared. I'm really starting to get quite confused. I already bought a new drivers side axle, but it was only $60, so I'll probably install it anyway.
 
So what do people say....I have an autoX event on Sunday. Should I replace the axle before then? It hasn't acted up in over a week. I do know my drivers side CV boot (nearest the tranny) is completely torn up.
 
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