Could this be a blown damper ?
Discussion
My daily driver (vauxhall Omega) is vibrating at anything from 30 upwards. Seems variable sometimes its worse than others. Vibration is felt through the whole car and the steering but its not like a wheel balance vibration - the steering wheel doesnt really move and its the whole car thats doing it. To try and cure this I have had:
Read dampers replaced as one was weeping
Front disks and pads replaced (they were looking very knackered)
4 new tyres
Wheel balance and tracking - done 3 times at 3 different places just to be sure !
Nothing has cured it although the wheel balancing has reduced it a bit. Also pulls to the left even after all the timems the tracking has been done - perhaps related ?
Could this be the front dampers on the way out ? Car has done 120K miles. Or something else ? any clues ? I dont *think* its the drivetrain or diff as I can slip it into neutral (auto box) downhill at speed and it still does it.
Any help or suggestions appreciated !
Read dampers replaced as one was weeping
Front disks and pads replaced (they were looking very knackered)
4 new tyres
Wheel balance and tracking - done 3 times at 3 different places just to be sure !
Nothing has cured it although the wheel balancing has reduced it a bit. Also pulls to the left even after all the timems the tracking has been done - perhaps related ?
Could this be the front dampers on the way out ? Car has done 120K miles. Or something else ? any clues ? I dont *think* its the drivetrain or diff as I can slip it into neutral (auto box) downhill at speed and it still does it.
Any help or suggestions appreciated !
Sounds unlikely to be the dampers...seriously shagged dampers tend to 'patter' on uneven road surfaces, but I've never known them set up a vibration similar to that you describe.
I'm not familiar with the Omega, but I belive the running gear is very similar to the Carlton? The Carlton had an old-fashioned steering box rather than a rack and pinion, and if there was any wear in the drag links it was extremely prone to wheel vibration if the wheels were even the tiniest bit out of balance.
Favourite, though, would be the brakes - especially since you mention that it pulls to the left.
The Carlton used sliding, single-piston calipers and the slider was very prone to seizing. Obviously, if the caliper slider has siezed on one side, the car will tend to pull toward the other side when braking (so check the right hand front caliper on your car, first) and any run-out on the disk can cause vibration similar to that you describe.
If the vibration only started (or got worse) after the discs were replaced, it's possible that the hubs were not properly cleaned off when the discs were mounted (so they are not mounted 'true'), or that the discs are slightly warped...I've had a lot of problems with the quality of aftermarket discs in this respect. You can check the run-out quite easily if you have a dial gauge.
The slider pivots are relatively cheap (IIRC, they were about a tenner a set when I did mine, though that was several years ago), but you need to clean everything up carefully to make sure that the calipers slide nice and freely on the new pivots when you do the job.
I'm not familiar with the Omega, but I belive the running gear is very similar to the Carlton? The Carlton had an old-fashioned steering box rather than a rack and pinion, and if there was any wear in the drag links it was extremely prone to wheel vibration if the wheels were even the tiniest bit out of balance.
Favourite, though, would be the brakes - especially since you mention that it pulls to the left.
The Carlton used sliding, single-piston calipers and the slider was very prone to seizing. Obviously, if the caliper slider has siezed on one side, the car will tend to pull toward the other side when braking (so check the right hand front caliper on your car, first) and any run-out on the disk can cause vibration similar to that you describe.
If the vibration only started (or got worse) after the discs were replaced, it's possible that the hubs were not properly cleaned off when the discs were mounted (so they are not mounted 'true'), or that the discs are slightly warped...I've had a lot of problems with the quality of aftermarket discs in this respect. You can check the run-out quite easily if you have a dial gauge.
The slider pivots are relatively cheap (IIRC, they were about a tenner a set when I did mine, though that was several years ago), but you need to clean everything up carefully to make sure that the calipers slide nice and freely on the new pivots when you do the job.
Some good ideas there, but the vibration was there pre-disk change and it pulls to the left all the time - but brakes in a straight line. No sign of overheated or oddly wearing disks either.
Back to the drawing board I think I'll take a good look at all the bushes and links.
Cheers anyway I'll leave the dampers alone for now !
Back to the drawing board I think I'll take a good look at all the bushes and links.
Cheers anyway I'll leave the dampers alone for now !
I still wouldn't rule out a seized brake slider. Could have seized sufficiently to be dragging to one side, but still working adequately when you apply the brakes.
Damaged tyre carcase or distorted wheel could also be a possibility that would account for both vibration and pulling to one side. Have you tried swapping the wheels side to side?
I assume you've had the tracking and suspension bushes checked (though neither would account for vibration)?
Don't forget that with relatively high mileage cars, there could be a combination of faults causing the symptoms you describe, but from personal experience my money would still be on sticky caliper slider or worn joints in the steering linkages, possibly coupled with mild wheel balance problems that you wouldn't otherwise notice.
Damaged tyre carcase or distorted wheel could also be a possibility that would account for both vibration and pulling to one side. Have you tried swapping the wheels side to side?
I assume you've had the tracking and suspension bushes checked (though neither would account for vibration)?
Don't forget that with relatively high mileage cars, there could be a combination of faults causing the symptoms you describe, but from personal experience my money would still be on sticky caliper slider or worn joints in the steering linkages, possibly coupled with mild wheel balance problems that you wouldn't otherwise notice.
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