i am trying to diagnose my car… it feels like it has 200k. really…
when i drive straight and turn slightly it make a vibration, but is more of a back and forth not side to side.
when going over bumps or let’s say hitting a bump or anything feels like the that wheel turned by itsself towards that bump/hole but the car stays ok, only the steering jerks
when going over ondulating road and or rather over a long deep, or raised elevation(more like a raise in elevation on the road) my shifter jerks, more like my engine mount would be bad, but not sure if its that
when turning hard i get more oversteer, and sometimes is hard to take it back to a straight line.
steering seems uneven, could be hard at times, soft as hell, hard on the when turning left, but soft the other way.
there is a snap when turning the wheel and holding the tie rod, more like a metal on metal… we went to a another focus, and it does the snap but does not seem like metal on metal
when going from 1-2 and leaving it in gear, when i let go that vibration is present, more like the RPM of the car producing it when the RPMs are lowering…
its just odd
I think is a combo of bad lower engine mount and tie rods… if tires would be bad it would do it only at certain speed.
Tire separation will cause your problem at any speed. More-so if the condition is in the advanced stage.
i did not considered that… but one of the tires does seem to be out of round but on the sides… there are some hankook k106… they seem like and old model… could that be it?
When was the last time you checked the pressure in the tires? How does the tread wear look?
www.tirerack.com if you need tires, or just want to shop for comparison’s sake. I got Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S on my Honda. They’re a bit noisier than my previous tires(Uniroyal Tigerpaw AS6000), but overall, they’ve been better. Haven’t had a chance to test out anything else other than dry pavement. We’ve had a little bit of rain, and going through the tin puddles left over, I’ve noticed they’re really good.
You might want to spray a little oil on the u-joint at the end of the steering column. It might be binding a bit.
I think the first route we need to take here is finding out what year the car is and just how many miles the car has on it. Your car is throwing a huge hint to you by wearing down the edge of the front tires as you stated above. This always means you have major front end problems, usually tie-rod ends or something just as easy to fix. Jack the front of the car up and grab the tire that is off the ground and wiggle it back and forth as if you were trying to turn the wheel. If you feel any “play” in the tire, then you have something bad in the front end and needs to be checked out ASAP before you get yourself into an accident. The vibration in the shifter could be caused my engine mounts. This is another thing that you can check yourself. Open the hood, start the car, and have someone watching while you turn the car over. If they notice the engine shifts any excessive amount then you have worn engine mounts.
My focus is a 2006 zx3 stick shift… it has 42k on it… i drive alot, and mostly take long trips. The tires are worn ok… The tire inflation is around 33 psi when hot… maybe less when cold… There is not play in the front… that is what is odd. I do think my lower engine mount might be bad, but everytone tells me is not. The car also at idle makes a grounding noise, someone mentioned teh throw out bearing. The dealer tells me I am pick. One thing to keep in mind. I did 2 days a balance and rotation. The tires are hankook k106. The front now seems less jumpy and no more shivers when moving side to side the steering wheel, but notice more of engine, noise, when rolling… it sound and feels like the tires are out of round and i constantly hit something… really odd
You might to want have the strut springs inspected. I just had a Focus leave the shop with a new pair of quick struts because both springs were broken. And the owner complained of the same symtoms.
Tester
i thought you had warranty left, but these only have 36k on basic. that stinks!
I have some tokico shock i got when my car was lowered… Yeah I went that way but the problems were before the lowering with eibach… Now back to stock still have issues… My still got warranty but only powertrain 5/100