diagnose clyde's car

[ff]

Originally Posted by Sharp11

Seems like classic Car Talk material, doesn't it

Exactly what I was thinking.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by equ

Which car is this, the nissan truck?

the wagon

Ed, it's not a motor mount type of vibration.

[John V]

Does the vibration increase in frequency with increasing speed?

The play in the steering sounds like tie rod ends or ball joints to me. Vibration from CV joints usually gets really bad at freeway speeds and isn't generally bad at low speeds. Vibration from ball joints / tie rod ends happens at pretty much every speed, and the steering "vagueness" gets very bad on freeway offramps, where if they get really bad it's hard to keep the car in a contant arc.

[Sharp11]

Why the problem takes time to "build up" is a puzzler - could it be heat related?

Also, what would cause it to be intermittent - I'd think a steering rack problem, or cv joint (assume it's an xi model?) would be more constant? Don't know, just wondering.

Is it possible tranny/drivetrain are migrating symptoms through the steering?

Wild guesses, but what the hell.

Let us know what happens.

Ed

[Sharp11]

Originally Posted by clyde

the wagon

Ed, it's not a motor mount type of vibration.

Clyde,

I came across this:

http://www.justanswer.com/questions/...aking-frontend

Brake caliper doesn't release all the way and after a short period of driving, heats up the rotor which warps and vibrates. You stop, everything cools down - but drive some more and the whole cycle begins again.

Ed

[clyde]

Originally Posted by John V

Does the vibration increase in frequency with increasing speed?

The play in the steering sounds like tie rod ends or ball joints to me. Vibration from CV joints usually gets really bad at freeway speeds and isn't generally bad at low speeds. Vibration from ball joints / tie rod ends happens at pretty much every speed, and the steering "vagueness" gets very bad on freeway offramps, where if they get really bad it's hard to keep the car in a contant arc.

Vibration gets less severe with decreasing speed, but it's non-linear. Hard to say if it gets worse with higher speed. It's very much present even below 25mph.

Originally Posted by Sharp11

Clyde,

I came across this:

http://www.justanswer.com/questions/...aking-frontend

Brake caliper doesn't release all the way and after a short period of driving, heats up the rotor which warps and vibrates. You stop, everything cools down - but drive some more and the whole cycle begins again.

Ed

That sounds possible. It could better explain the intermittentness...it sticks and then it doesn't.

I'm thinking that the steering play and the vibration might be separate issues. Hmm.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by Sharp11

I'm wondering if it could be a bad motor mount.

Ed

No way. Virtually impossible. And trust me, I know bad E46 motor mounts.

[IndyMike]

Originally Posted by Sharp11

Clyde,

I came across this:

http://www.justanswer.com/questions/...aking-frontend

Brake caliper doesn't release all the way and after a short period of driving, heats up the rotor which warps and vibrates. You stop, everything cools down - but drive some more and the whole cycle begins again.

Ed

That's exactly what happened to my Touring.

Last April I had just had the winter rigging swapped out for the summer setup, and on the way driving from the tire center back to home after a couple of stoplights the front end started vibrating like crazy. I turned right around and went back to the center to see if they'd dorked something up. They rechecked the wheel weights and the whole nine yards, but it still continued to vibrate.

I then took it in to my inde shop and they diagnosed it as a brake issue. The left front caliper had warped, so they replaced it and added new pads, rotors and sensors to both front brakes, flushed the brake fluid and since it was about time for Tech II I had them do that as well.

$984 later it drove like new again.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by Sharp11

Clyde,

I came across this:

http://www.justanswer.com/questions/...aking-frontend

Brake caliper doesn't release all the way and after a short period of driving, heats up the rotor which warps and vibrates. You stop, everything cools down - but drive some more and the whole cycle begins again.

Ed

Winner.

[IndyMike]

Originally Posted by clyde

Winner.

What do I win? Okay, I'll be magnanimous and split it with Ed.

Just out of curiousity, how many miles does the Touring have on it?