beigemaster Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Ok, car details first:2001 Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec 60K on the clock FSH.Basically, when I've been driving on the motorway it sometimes will start vibrating and making a very loud low rumble, it sometimes vibrates so much that if you look in the rear view mirror the whole things is a total blur. The weird thing is that it's not permanent, may go off for a about 20 seconds then just go away again. I don't think it's coming from the engine because the noise doesn’t change when lifting off or applying the gas so guessing it's suspension or tyre problems, as I said though, it's odd that it just comes and goes so I don't see how it can be anything thats constantly going (if that makes sense). It only happens when going over 50mph and it does get noticeably louder when applying the breaks.Any ideas at all? As I said, the car has a regular full service history, only 2 owners and has obviously been really well looked after so I don't see how it could be anything major. Don't really want to take it to a garage without finding out what it could be because I don't want my wallet to be destroyed. Thanks for any help/advice/ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolfa Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Shagged wheelbearing? Wheels loose? Might want to look at the brakes if they're making bad noises too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan6061 Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Wheels could be out of balance... Go to your local tyre place on a quiet day and ask if they wouldn't mind checking them for a few quid or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDoom Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 (edited) http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters Edited February 19, 2009 by DrDoom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel C Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 as said above it may be your wheels need balancing, a garage may want to empty your pocket to balance them though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
531joshua Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 (edited) I would have said its your wheel balencing. If it was a wheel bearing it would probably make a noise at a little less than 50mph and would be a kind of whirring sound, if it caused vibration the wheel bearing would be badly nackered i'd think. Another thing it may be is your tracking (alignment of the front wheels), this can cause vibration if your tracking is out. It can be knocked out by bashing up kerbs or hitting big potholes etc. First thing i'd do though is get your wheel balencing checked and if nessecary sorted (shouldn't cost much, i paid 5 quid for 4 wheels to be done).There's also a car problem thread i made to try and keep all these topics into one place: http://www.trials-forum.co.uk/forum/index....p;#entry1805800Good luck getting the problem sorted Edited February 19, 2009 by 531joshua Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan6061 Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Best thing to do is start simple. Check all the wheel nuts are nice and tight, then jack each corner up one at a time and try to wobble the wheel to check the bearings. If they're fine, then it's time to go and get the wheel balance checked.It's best to have them perfectly balanced, as it saves you tyres! As the wheel spins, if it's out of balance, the vibrations go through the tyres, and can put little bumps on the tread, which isn't good at all. When I worked at Just Tyres, we used to sometimes check the balance for free if we were bored/quiet, most of the customers just gave us £10 for it anyway, which was nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavyn. Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 buckled wheel? to be honest if it's any of these things you should really feel the steering wheel vibrate alot more than the rest of the car. take the wheels off and just check everything looks straight and tight, check the tyres for uneven wear and lay them on a flat surface to check they are not buckled. I doubt it's the tracking but it's working checking all you have to do is hold the steering wheel striaght on a flat road and make sure the car doesn't move to the left or right.if it's none of that then go and get your wheels balanced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beigemaster Posted February 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 First, I apologise for not putting it in the correct thread. Mods, feel free to move this if need be.Second, thanks for all the feedback with relation to this. I will go through those standard checks tomorrow. If the wheels were out of balance, would the vibration only happen occasionally or would it be a constant thing? Just to give you an idea, out of about 10 hours of motorway driving (between 50-70mph) it has probably only happened for about 5 mins in total. So it maybe it goes off for 30 seconds every other hour. Would the likes of Kwik Fit check the wheels and is that a general consensus that it should be a relatively cheap job. Again thanks for all the help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavyn. Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 you sure it's not just the road surface? if it's only happening for 30 seconds every hour I very much doubt it's anything thats been mentioned above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beigemaster Posted February 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I don't think it's the road surface because a)I have driven on the same stretch of road before quite a few times (Dual Carriage way heading out of the city) with no problems and b)As I said before, it vibrates so much that you can’t even really use the rear view mirror because it's just a blur. Originally I thought it was ice that was caught up in the wheel arches rubbing on the tyres (from all the recent snow) but I removed that and it's still been playing up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 My girlfriend used to have a car that vibrated at certain engine RPMs. I think the whole car had a resonant frequency at around 2200 rpm (± 50 or so) - so the car would vibrate on the motorway, but only at very specific speeds. Really irritating but once we figured out what it was, you could try and avoid that rev range. This doesn't really sound like your problem, but it could be? Does the vibration only occur at certain revs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolfa Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 (edited) Does your radiator fan spin the right way/is it damaged? They make a hell of a noise if they don't, I about sh*t myself first time I plugged mine in backwards and it kicked in haha Edited February 20, 2009 by Jolfa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDoom Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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