This is for a 2002 Mazda protege with 110,00 miles model AT.
Hey all so I’ve been having this problem for a while now. It started off slowly and then the vibrations have been getting worse over time. I the vibration is in the front end and only happens on the highway between 50-75 mph when I’m accelerating or when I am braking. I have replaced the engine mounts, balanced the tires, checked front suspension replaced tire rods and strut mount, replaced CV axle in front drivers side, changed transmission and oil. I checked all the fuses and they are all in tact.
I’m really at a loss here any ideas would be appreciated. Everything else runs fine.
I think the struts are worn out, and what you’re feeling is tire bounce at a certain frequency of tire rotation.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=112
Tester
Since it happens both on acceleration and braking, unlikely to be the transmission proper. Could be the differential portion of the transmission, but that wouldn’t be my first guess. Good idea to check the transmission fluid level and condition though. Give the work that has already been done to try to fix this, I’d guess there’s a problem remaining among one or more of these
- the other drive-shaft and its cv joints
- wheel bearings
- wheel bouncing/wobbling for some reason (out of round, sideways wobble, etc.) Easy for a shop to check.
- struts, control arms/bushings/ball joints
If I had this problem myself I start by challenging the tire balance claim. By checking all the tire’s balance using a simple bubble balance. If one or more is considerably off by bubble balance test, that would be my first suspect. It’s possible for a damaged or poorly made wheel to be spin-balanced, weights applied, and seem to be ok as far a the spin-balance machine is concerned. But since the wheel is damaged it will show up as out of balance using the bubble balance, and should be replaced.
you tore down the strut and did not change the strut itself? they are $60. a strut mount usually results in a knock sound. the strut is for the motion control. yes, a move i would have made. do the job twice.