Annoying vibration

[Pauly B]

Hi to all the guys that know their way around under the bonnet. I have an annoying sort of pulsating vibration at exactly 65 to 70. Over and under that speed is smooth and is seems worse on a smoother road! Any ideas?

[Cuprabob]

First thing to check is wheel balance.

Did it just start happening or has it been gradually getting worse?

[Pauly B]

Had the wheel repaired and a new tyre (pothole!). It's also had a geo check, all fine. I heard it might be a bearing but it's only got 13700. I'm a high mileage driver so it's doing my head in

[Pauly B]

And exactly the same wheels as you've got. Oh yeah I took the car over 4 weeks ago and it's been like this since I got it. It had damage to a wheel that I've had repaired but don't know if it hit a kerb hard or at high speed

[Cuprabob]

If it was a bearing you would hear it rumbling, if it was damaged enough to cause a vibration. My money would be on the repaired wheel being slightly out of balance.

Put the repairedvwheel on the back where at least you won't feel it through the steering wheel, assuming it's on the front just now.

[Pauly B]

Yes it is on the front but I had the same vibration before it was repaired and before the tyre was changed. I think it was balanced both times. I will get it re balanced and swapped to the back to see if it cures it, it's not really a vibration thru the steering wheel. Feels like a slight vibration throughout the car itself. Not really bad but as I said before a bit annoying.

[Cuprabob]

You say it happens at a specific speed 60 to 70mph. Try the same speed in 4th and 5th gear to see if the vibration is still there and thus speed and drive train related or revs related pointing towards the engine.

[Pauly B]

Good idea. I'll give that a try tomorrow. Thanks

[Pauly B]

Ok so I've tried all the above with same result. Not sure what to do now or what i can suggest to the garage. It does seem like the a problem with the wheels as smoother roads highlight the problem more.

[Rob - 73]

Hi Pauly,

Just wondering if you got to the bottom of this issue as I am getting a similar issue.

Basically the handling in my car didn't feel right so got a 4wheel geometry check which highlighted drivers front wheel had too much negative camber.

So the car got booked into VW for its service, they had to drop the subframe to resolve the camber issue, also got 2No. Goodyear eagle F1s fitted to the front.

Car now handles great apart from a slight buzzing/vibration through the pedals and footwell.

This only happens between 65-70mph.

I have had experience of out of balance wheels/tyres in the past but this is sort of different.
No shake or shimmy through seat or steering wheel.

If it makes sense it is a very light vibration but still very annoying.

Any ideas?

I was hoping it might be the front or rear wheels need rebalanced..

[Pauly B]

Hi Rob

The situation is exactly the same. A mate of mine suggested a laser alignment but I haven't done that yet. I'm sort of out of ideas to suggest to the garage and am waiting for the next service to suggest more things for them to look at. If you have tried more than me please let me know so I can get it done as well. I'm a very high mileage driver so have got used to it but I would like to get it sorted. You can see all the stuff I've tried in this thread but like you am out of further ideas.

Any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated cos it seems you have exactly the same issue I have.

[Rob - 73]

Pauly...
I swapped my front wheels over to the back and the buzzing through the pedals disappeared only issue now is a vibration through the seat and frame.

This is a classic sign that the tyres are out of balance so I got my 2 front wheels rebalanced twice. I then swapped them back to the front, same problem, only worse now.

Now the dealer stated at the time that 2no. of my wheels (19") were buckled... I went mental at this point because I haven't hit anything, so if they are buckled then I was sold the car with damaged wheels. I kicked off at the time but no joy.

Although since then I have had VW uk phone me up regarding a recent survey following my service and warranty work getting done, they are going to speak to the dealer to see if they will replace the wheels, fingers crossed.

I've had the wheels off and can't even tell what wheels are buckled / dented?? So it must be slight.

I am now thinking about getting a road force balance done on all 4wheels to see if this sorts the issue. If it doesn't then I'm going to get the wheels repaired then sell them and fit some 18" instead.

I will let you know..

[Pauly B]

Hi Rob

Have you,had any progress on this. A mate of mine suggested the drive shaft was out of balance. I'm taking mine back to VW on Monday so if you have any suggestions I can let the garage look.

I'll let you know what happens after I get it back

[Rob - 73]

Pauly,
Getting there but still not right, basically I have replaced the 2 front wheels, got the dealer to replace the o/s/f wheel bearing.

Replacing the o/s/f wheel bearing has stopped the main cyclic buzzing vibration. But I did a 120mile round trip after getting this done and unfortunately there is still a slight buzzing/vibration through the pedals.

I'm convinced that this is definatly related to the subframe being dropped, especially since reading up on the issues with the subframe bolts, which are called stretch bolts.

The problem seams to be that once these are loosened they will not hold the correct torque for long, solution seams to be to fit new style bolts and shims.

So I tried to get them to fit new subframe bolts and get the alignment checked.

Dealers said no but VW customer service said that this should have be done.
I did find this VW technical bulletin about these bolts and other aftermarket kits, ie. ecstuning.

http://nateronline.com/Technical_Bullet" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... se_ALL.pdf

http://www.ecstuning.com/News/MKV_Subframe_Spacer/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I am thinking that the vibration is due to this issue or possible mis-alignment of the dog bone mount, even that bolt should be replaced.

To be honest if I get no joy from the dealers I'm going to get it done myself as I'm now out of the warranty period.

Let me know how you get on..

[Pauly B]

Hi Rob

Thanks for the info. I'm gonna get them to check the subframe and mention all the things you've had looked at. I'm hoping they don't keep it too long, I don't fancy 1100 miles a week in a polo!

When they eventually solve the issue I'll let you know what they did. Luckily it's a company car in warranty but I'm gonna make sure they look at all the things you mentioned

I'll let you know when I know

Cheers

[Pauly B]

Hi Rob,

I've had the NSF wheel bearing changed and it seemed to have solved the problem. I've driven 250 miles today and it seemed better than before. Slight pulsing from the wheels but feels like the tyres. The garage did say I had saw toothing on the rear tyres which would be fixed by a wheel alignment. They said to change the tyres so I'll wait till they need changing before I get tha done. I have replaced 2 tyres recently due to pot holes and I don't think my boss would pay for 2 more.

I'll let you know how things are after I change the tyres in a few months,

Did you sort things your end?

[Rob - 73]

Nice one Pauly.

Sounds the same as my experience, I'm still trying to get VW to get the dealers to react the subframe bolts.

Once that's done I'm going to install the dogbone insert to see if that firms things up a bit, as I think that when they moved the subframe that the dogbone bolt could have been loosened also.

Car seems to lunge forward a bit when changing gear, will let you know.

[bitmadmax]

Long shot but do you have a pair of these under your wings? (You can see them with the bonnet open)



Apparently they are "sound absorbers" - look more like something the mechanic left in there by mistake

[Rob - 73]

Yeah I got them but they seem secure enough.

I'm still thing subframe bolts, loose or worn dogbone mount.
Failing that another wheel bearing

[mikealpha60]

I'd recommend getting a second opinion on your wheel balancing. It took me ages to get a random vibration right on mine. Needed someon with access to a 'dyanmic' wheel balancer to sort it out. Thats if it is wheel balancing.