Car question where does it belong?
 

We've put 97,340 miles on our '04 Hyundai Sonata GLS. No problems so far but would have liked the info about how you need to pull the engine to replace the platinum spark plugs when I bought the ride, but whatever.

So we are creeping up on the ned of the warranty period and for the last 10k miles we've had a very slight, but now noticible, vibration problem which has been hard to get a diagnosis on. I'd like to resolve it before the warranty is up if it is a warranty issue and not a wear and tear thing.

Specific symptom: vibration in front end from 20 mph to 28mph. Now the vibration continues up through all speeds.

Wheels are balanced and rotated, snow tires are swapped for summers. car is routinely aligned. Vibrations happened with either set of tires. When the snows were pulled there was noticible scalloping on them. Our tire guy said that could have been from a number of causes, but couldn't be certain which one. Our regular mechanic said he thought the low speed vibration could be a bent axle, but he couldn't be certain. Both of them said to wait until the problem got worse...

Not wheel balance
Not Alignment
Not bad tires

I'm making an appointment at the dealer tomorrow. Someone suggested shocks, but the car rides fine and the 97k miles are almost all highway miles. I'm curious to see if the tires are scalloping again and if so, what would make them scallop if the alignment is good and the shocks are good? I need to check the service schedule and see if shocks are recommended by now.

Any of you have any thoughts on the matter?

I have thoughts, but none of them are relevant/of use.

Carry on.




Can you pinpoint the location of the vibration at all?

Are you sure they used fresh air in the tires? I've seen them try to re-use the old air (or mix old air with new air, which is even worse as the new air is much springyer).

cv joints

engine mounts

this is like a baby pool.

Struts , cv joints
These work togather , struts start going , allowing extra travel /extra were on cvs ,
I bet if you open the CV boots there is metal in the grease
the CVs you can do yer self , the struts need to be Pro done , oh and while the car is on the rack have them look at the Engine mounts

C.V. Joints.

My mechanic friend (John of John's Car Care in Cherry Hill) says it is likely a bent axle. He suggests swerving slightly to isolate the offending axle.

Canuter valve ;)

I've had many cv joints go and they've always made a clackety sound as I turned to one side or both depending. I'm thinking bent axle but how hard do you have to hit something to bend an axle?

it's not so much the hitting hard part, it's the fact that you kept running the homeless guy over that caused the problem.

oh and if you weren't sure - yes it is the beancounting GM managers' fault.

CAr ??mystery?? update:

The guy I bought the tires from wants me to put on a new set of tires (on my dime) to rule out his tires.
The Dealer wanted me to get a road force balance done to rule out the tires and rims.

I did that today, and although the machine did not indicate defective tires, the tech still suspected the tires. Since I am needing winter tires anyway, I will go to a different shop to get my snows. I'm a little unimpressed by my tire guy's unresponsiveness to the problem.

if the problem persists after the new tires, then it's back to the dealer, if not then the old all seasons go to the tire shop.

Oddly enough after the road force balancing, the wobble was worse.

99,400 miles

We have no money in this household and we are trying to figure out if we need winter tires. It's like $600 per car.

If we do, I want to get Bridgestone "Blizzaks", because I believe Snoop Dogg was recruited to name the product.

No... you carry a shovel and salt in your car, and she wears a sexy outfit in hers. :haha:

Or call me, I'll pull ya out....

I'll help... skimpy outfit n all

Once you lose traction, winter tires aren't worth any more than regular all-season tires. Learning how to control yourself into and out of a slide is much more important than winter tires. Knowing how to properly use downshifting, over and under steering, etc. has kept my little front wheel drive car with cheap all-season radials on the road and out of trouble every winter. I mess around in parking lots as soon as the snow falls to freshen up the skillz.

I got new tires recently -- at Costco. Surprisingly affordable. If you're a member & need tires, check them out.

Since you are about to hit the end of your warranty period, get some strong documentation from an independent mechanical inspector to prove that this problem has developed and existed within the warranty period. Then, if the manufacturer tries to weasel out by pointing to your odometer, you can slap them with the paper trail.

What manufacturer and model tires? Why do you (he) know the tires are not defective? How do you know shocks are good (since struts must never fail)? Bent axle on a front wheel drive car? Where did that come from?

Scalloping tires are most often due to bad struts.

What kind of noise? Does the steering wheels shift right-left or just the car goes up and down?

If not this and not that, they the reason why must also be provided. Based upon what was posted, everything remains on the list of suspects because 'reasons why' are not provided.

Of course, there is always Car Talk on PBS. I suspect they would have fun with scallops.

I do same. This is especially important to learn how a new car responds or how new tires react. One of the most critical tools for maintaining control especially on ice is that lever parking brake. Using that brake is also useful for steering when control is threatened.

The little chinese guy in the engine is getting tired. Trade it in quick.

I did not know the Koreans use imported parts.

I ran this past my mechanic and we're both with LJ and Bruce. Most likely CV's. Doesn't take much wear to create an imbalance.
Mechanics sugestion was to put in a decent sub woofer, turn up the stezza and drive until catastrophic failure.

:driving:

She'll be right, mate, no wuckaz! :beer:

CVs create noise mostly when the wheel is turned long before making that noise in straightaway travel.

Just as likely is a bad bearing - a problem even created when a mechanic foolishly removes the rotors to turn them down during a brake job. These bearing are more difficult to properly seat. Some mechanics then make the problem worse by performing a wheel alignment to correct a problem created by loose bearings.

Just another 'just as likely' possibility due to insufficient information and a type of failure that many mechanics would not see.

The current tires are Dunlop signature all season radials. While the problem started when I got these tires at around 84k miles, it was likely coincidental since the problem remained when we swapped to snows which were Nokian hakkapeliita (sp?) We don't know the tires are not defective, they may be, but it seems odd that all four would be bad. We had a road force balance doen and while the machine did not indicate a tire or rim problem, the tech said he still suspected the tires.

I have no idea if the shocks are still good, the dealership mech said the front end looked good to him, would he be able to tell if the shocks/struts were bad by driving and inspecting the vehicle? Since I assume they are consumable parts and not part of the drive train, I imagine he'd be happy to sell them to me. What are the symptoms of bad shocks/struts? (I've heard scalloping tires, but no one thought that was the case with my tires. Who knows?)

Bent axle? that was BrianR.
Noise? who said anything about noise? There is no noise, just a vibration which has now extended from 20-30mph to 20-45mph. The steering wheel judders back and forth in a small arc. The car doesn't bounce like a car with bad shocks does. It handles nicely with the exception of the vibration.

A new development is that when you come to a stop and make a left turn after complete the turn and you straighten out the vibration is noticibly lessened. After making a right turn it is noticibly worse.

We'll see what happens tomoorow.

As bullitt points out "Once you lose traction..." I find that point comes a little later with good snows. Then again, you never know how fast you can corner until you wipe out.

I had a similar thing with my car. After extensive research testing and trial and error to eliminate variables and isolate specific potential causes... It was the tires. I replaced them and all was well. Course I sold it 6 months later - just in case.

That symptom is characteristic of improperly seated and now failing bearings - as but one example. A sharp turn seats the bearing temporarily in a fixed position.

Worn CV joints cause noise, especially during a turn. Noise is the usual symptom; not the only one.

Tech suspected tires even after balancing them? Why? What were his reasons or was he just wildly speculating?

Balancing tires would not affect these reasons for failures. One, a tread that is not straight and true all the way around the tire (which is determined with a pencil carefully held against the tire as the tire is rotated). Two, a hard spot (lump) beneath the tread typically created in manufacturing such as a belt that was not flat, how the end of a belt terminated (ie folded over), or maybe the belt was skewed during assembly. Of course, this is not likely also with a second set of tires. (Possible with all tires from one defective batch.) Three, somehow the tire is not mounting flat on the disc (wheel) assembly (which is obvious by rotating the entire wheel assembly while holding a pencil at the tread).

When were brakes and other suspension work performed? Was wheel alignment performed? If alignment was necessary on a Hyundai, then what defective part was replaced that caused misalignment?

Struts - driving will only detect struts that are so bad as to have been long and obviously defective (ie long ago caused scalloping tires). The traditional way to know a defective strut (or shock absorber) long before any driver knows it: fluid stains where a stainless steel rod enters the strut/shock body. A defective shock is rarely apparent to a driver even when adjacent cars can even see that tire bouncing excessively.

Struts should never fail on any car. Yes they fail just wiper motors burn out and rear seats collapse. Strut failure is that rare when the car is properly designed and not run off road at high speeds.

If previous tires were scalloped, then what was fixed / changed to eliminate that suspension problem? Scalloping is typically not a tire problem; typically a symptom of suspension defect.

Also possible are worn bushings or other suspension parts that sway only when underway and under load. For example, bad ball joints may be not obvious due to internal spring loading. Forces necessary to identify an excessively worn ball joint can involve a crow bar and full body muscle while the other mechanic feels or measures for fractional ball joint movement. How to inspect your ball joints? Consult the shop manual. It can vary with vehicles.

Of course, any broken ball joint rubber boot would also be obvious.

Another less useful symptom. How fast must a left and right turn be to cause tire squealing?

Bent axle - there is no axle on engineer designed cars. However a severely worn CV joint wobbling is the performance equivalent of a bent axle. Yes, the spline that includes bearings can be bent. But then wheel alignment would have detected that bent part. Again, don't align to bent parts as too many mechanics do. An alignment problem is a message to a good mechanic - find and replace that bent part.

Steering should be a rack and pinion system. A worn rack means the toe in would change / vibrate as both tires vibrate in and out simultaneously - not held in parallel by a worn steering gear or ball joints on that steering gear.

Back to point number one. Notice the large number of possible reasons for vibration. Any mechanic that says "it is this" or "it could not be that" without supporting reasons why has said nothing useful.

Scalloping is the symptom of bad struts / shocks which are quickly identified by inspection. CV joint failure is often indicated by noise and often created because a CV boot has / had failed. Most likely reason for a wandering and therefore vibrating steering is failures in the wheel bearing, bushings, or ball joint (on suspension or steering).

Back to important facts still not provided. Was any wheel alignment performed? When were brakes replaced, by who, and how? Were rotors turned down while on the vehicle or in the machine shop?

The best mechanics would be asking these questions and consider all those items. Of course, a mechanic who only works on Hyundais would also have experience with what parts tend to fail more often. Asking damning questions and providing detailed information (as if you know rather than from a list provided by another) may get the shop manager to assign your car to his better man.

Good luck and report back.

so you can get more participle free badgering

I poke badgers with spoons.

New tires. The ride is as smooth as a, well, a very smooth thing.

So it was the tires after all.
Go figure.

huh.. Did any of the drivers in your family ever use that fix-a-flat canned spray stuff on the old set?

lol - I guessed at that and got lucky! Ahhh :D

no.

So Dunlops and Nokian hakkapeliita (sp?) were both defective? I seriously doubt that. More likely is that something was changed when new tires were installed. Or were two Dunlops left on when two Nokians were installed? Not learning what was wrong is so anti-climatic.

In old time radio, the hero is thrown from the top of a skyscraper. Next week, the radio episode continues. Suddenly the hero has a parachute. Equally anti-climatic.

Next week, bring a better problem such as the car moaning a hyberian death chant only when driven at midnight.

Yea, stop letting t-dub down, he is not down with that.

Well, TW, I used to have a Datsun 120Y (lol @ me, I know) and sometimes when I turned on the headlights, the left one would only come on at half-brightness, until I gave the horn a beep, which would make it work properly.

Debbil magic, obviously.

Sticky/burnt relay.

Not exactly the type of car question that fits here but Zen's Datsun reminded me... have you seen pics of the 370z? It's my favorite 'retro' car so far, I think... looks like a 240z all spiffed up - and has the 3.7L v6 from the Infinity g37 or maybe even a 4.5L v8.



me want

It doesn't look much different than the current Z to me, though I like that car.

there are lines on the 370 that are TOTALLY 240z. something around the hood and windshield.....

the ass end looks like the 350, i guess.

OK...the leftlanenews photo brings out the 240 aspects. Nice!

Wow. My best friend's boyfriend-for-a-little-while in high school drove a Z. The hatchback area was my seat. That one picture just brought back some crazy memories.

In the left lane photo, is that the Nike symbol on the headlight?

You've never seen a car to strange things without first learning about the TR-7. Everything was strange including the headlights. Both headlights would pop up. Then one would drop back down and pop up again. IOW it would wink. But it was not a friendly car. It haunted its owners.

No intelligent car owner neither needs nor wants a V-8.

The world's most stupid automaker - GM – has designed a Camaro with 400 horsepower. About as much horsepower as an 18 wheeler. Why? The car is so crappy t as to hype horsepower to fools.

That V-6 is massive overkill. Biggest Full size cars with a largest V-8 were excessively fast with a 200 horsepower engine. The Cosworth Mustang with so much horsepower is almost impossible to locate. With excessive horsepower, most of them crashed. Why would any small call need 260+ horsepower? They are selling to the same people who also believed anything George Jr said.

Original 240-Z was supposed to be called the Bluebird - on orders from Datsun HQ. Fortunately, a marketing man in CA used the design code rather than 'Bluebird' to sell it.

240-Z was a marketing prototype. A superior Z was the 260-Z. For example, no more carburetor. It was fuel injected. GM cars would not use fuel injection until required by government regulations some ten years later.