Hi everyone. I have a 2001 Corolla that vibrates pretty strongly whenever I am making a right turn. Has anyone else experienced this.
Details:
Car has 125k miles
Tires are newish
Alignment and rotation done recently (car vibrated before this).
Symptoms:
Feels as if the entire care is shaking and vibrating.
Can feel it in the steering wheel, but it doesn’t feel as if it is originating from the steering wheel. Everyone in the car can feel it.
Can not feel it coming from the pedal.
When it happens:
When I make a right turn, but mostly when the turn is pretty wide - like when entering a freeway onramp or when on a windy road. Much less so if any when making a hard right turn from a stop (maybe because I’m going slow?).
Happens at pretty large range of speeds in the range of 15-55 mph, give or take. Seems to increase vibration when going faster but pretty noticeable at lower speeds.
Importantly, the vibration stops if I am not accelerating or braking. Only when foot is on the gas.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Have your CV joints checked.
I suspect that the one on the left axle is going to break very soon, based on the symptoms, but with 125k miles on the odometer, you should probably replace both CV joints if the left one proves to be bad.
Incidentally, it may be more cost-efficient to just replace the axles in their entirety, rather than attempting to replace just the CV joints on the axles.
That noise sounds more like a wheel bearing ready to fail.
Jack the front of the vehicle up so the tires are off the ground. Grab each of the front tires at the 6:00 oclock and 12:00 oclock positions and try rocking the top and bottom of the tire in and out. If the tire rocks in and out, that wheel bearing is bad.
Tester
I agree with Tester. This could be a wheel bearing or some other suspension component instead of a CV joint. The practical difference is that a broken CV joint will leave you stranded. Many of the other things that could be failing will leave you in a hospital or funeral home. Even if the wobble test that Tester suggests doesn’t show a problem, I’d get the front end checked out by a competent mechanic.
The “foot on the gas” aspect makes one think of CV joints, but symptoms leading to CV joint failures generally involve noise more than the car vibrating.
My vote is the the ball joint at the base of the strut, with a few other suspension components that have some wear on them, allowing a resonant frequency vibration to get set up. This is unusual for a Toyota with only 125k miles, but I don’t know how many pot holes you have hit.
Whatever it is, if it is loose enough to cause the whole car to vibrate, you definitely want to get it resolved before something comes completely apart at highway speed. Click and Clack cannot afford to loose any listeners.
Thanks everyone,
I recently had my mechanic look at the car after explaining to him what was happening. He even took it for a test drive himself. He could not find anything that looked bad around the tires and suspension - but I’m not sure exactly what he looked at. I should ask him.
Anyway, I also recently got my front brakes replaced by a different mechanic who specializes in brakes and tires. Presumably he did a quick inspection but I didn’t alert him to the problem. But I’m wondering why neither of these guys noticed anything unusual. Is the wheel bearing and CV joint the type of things you have to remove parts to actually see damage?
I can try the wiggle test and report back.
One other idea I had was that it could be a bad engine mount(s). My car has been a little noisier lately when idling and I thought that having a bad motor mount on one side of the car could cause vibration when turning and accelerating. I looked at the mounts closely and they do seem worn down with what looks like very small cracks (3 out of 4 look this way). Could this be the problem??
Thanks!
Have someone put their foot on the brake and press the gas while you watch the engine (from the side, not the front of the car). This will be tricky if the car is a manual transmission and they have to heel-and-toe it. If you have a broken engine mount, the engine will twist and separate the broken mount, making it obvious.
Definately in the right cv axle assembly…this is what they do when ready to fail. Accelerate turning right, wobble…right cv axle failing. Accelerate turning left, wobble, left cv axle failing. Yes it could be other things…but you had a mechanic check it our, and failing motor mounts/wheel bearing, would have easily been found. Check that right cv axle for split cv boots.
There is a good chance that after 6 years the problem has been solved or they just gave up.
“The power steering rack & pinion assy & the pump are leaking fluid. The steering rack is leaking while turning, loosing pressure. The pump is trying to keep up and generating more pressure, causing the wiggle.”
**Recommend replacement of the power steering rack & pinion assy - $1,280
**Incl the alignment.
**Recommend replacement of the power steering pump assy - $500
Made an account to respond to this as I was experiencing similar issues (car wiggles around wider turns and ONLY to the right) -I just recently just got it checked that’s the diagnosis, word for word from my mechanic…
The story: My father-in-law recently bought a used 2007 Camry LE, the car was recommended by his trusted mechanic, he noticed the wiggling when he bought it but the salesmen took him on the freeway and said it was the grooves in the road. Took him for a ride (literally)… He kept taking it in to get it “fixed” but nothing ever did… We ended up having brake failure and ran into a tree (cosmetic damage on bumper) I’m certain that our mechanic had us buy that junk car to do more repairs to it, that or he was upset about my 1-star review of his shop after breaking my window and NOT telling us about it and wanted to make sure I paid the ultimate price. MY personal mechanic said I should consider suing both parties actually
My 2008 Trailblazer is having the same issue and I believe you’re experiencing the same problem as me. I am pretty sure it’s the Torq Converter - shaking occurs at 35mph and above, but down hill you notice the vibration stops or when coming to a complete stop? The faster you go the more it vibrates and the louder it get., sounds terrible right? Some shop had me replace the Transmission Computer and what a joke that was…$200 bucks after the dealer reprogram it.