I have a vibration that occurs, mostly between 30 and 45 mph. on my 04 Saturn Vue All-Wheel-Drive vehicle. It happens when the car is moving along at a steady speed, and it’ll come & go in about 10 or 20 second intervals. It’s not loud, but you can hear it and feel it when it happens. It doesn’t happen when the car is accelerating or coasting, just at a steady speed. It doesn’t matter if the cruise control is on or off. I took it to the dealer’s 2 times and they can’t figure it out and said they looked it up in their Saturn database with no success. One time they took out the font drive shaft that powers the all-wheel-drive front wheels and it did SEEM to go away, so they concluded it was a bent shaft. They replaced it and the universal, but it was still there. I find myself speeding up and coasting alot to reduce the amount it happens…it’s driving me insane. I love the car otherwise. It’s kind of one of those Love-Hate relationships… Please Help!
Uneven tire wear could cause this. Have they tried rotating the tires to see if the vibration changes or goes away. Switching tires to a different position on the vehicle can sometimes have a big impact. Also check for a bent wheel.
I once had a vibration (wheel shimmy?) on an 88 Chevy Beretta in the same range of speeds. The tires had about 40k, appeared evenly worn, and were probably good for another 5 or 10k miles. I put new tires on it and the vibration stopped. I would take a good look at the tires. Are the present tires evenly worn, have they been rotated, etc?
Ed B.
you can find our post about our nightmare with Saturn and our 2005 Vue - we had similar problems and took it into two separate Saturn Dealerships over 4 times - they never found anything… now that the car is over warranty mileage - our Torque Converter and Brake Caliper both are shot… it took over a week of phone calls with Saturn Corp for them to finally agree to at least pay for the faulty Torque Converter and they refuse to pay for the brake caliper or the tow - even though we would never have had to tow the car if they had fixed the problem long ago - while it was under warranty! We have a 2 year old daughter, I do not feel safe driving this car with her.
I’m glad I’m not alone. I just returned today from my 4th visit to the Saturn dealer for the same problem you mentioned. They are stumped. They claimed to tightened the motor mounts, the fron and rear suspension. The problem is still there.I noticed it happens when my transmission is trying to downshift. I have to gun it to keep it from vibrating.
I have an 05 Vue w/ AWD and I have the same problem. The only thing I can add to it is that the noise and vibration always happen when the RPM drops to less than 1500 and always coincides with a small jump in the RPM…
I also have an 05 AWD Vue with this same problem. When traveling at a consistant speed the car shudders every 10 to 15 seconds and the rpms jump slightly. I was told it was dirty injectors but I don’t beleive this is so. The dealer wanted $150 to clean them. I said no thanks. I do not notice the rpms jumping at any other time. I understand that this car has a Honda engine. Maybe Honda can fix it?
Anyone have any luck with this problem yet? It should also be noted that I have had all the brakes checked and worked on as well as brand new tires with very good reviews put on. Also, I only have 50,000 miles on the engine.