Significant Front Vibration

[reverend]

Stick the front wheels in the back and vice versa and see if the vibration moves/changes.

A bad tire can do very weird things and not LOOK bad - and remember that you can balance a SQUARE tire (which is why road-force balancing is a thing).

I'd start there before I go through the hassle of swapping parts.

[motormikeyman]

Reverend is probably correct. It sounds exactly like a problem I had where there was a broken/defective steel belt in one of the tires. This was not at all visible and also did not show up when balancing the tires. I suppose you could remove them one by one and put the mini spare on to see which one it is.

[SuperHerman]

I had a set of brand new tires installed on my daughter's X3 about a year ago. Premium brand and from a premium shop. I then brought it to another shop for an alignment and a check over/oil change as it was going into the winter months and my daughter would have it at school. This shop is one of my go to shops, but doesn't install tires.

I mentioned the vibration to the shop owner and he went over everything in search of the vibration. He went so far as to remove and re-balance all the wheels/tires. In the end he told me the front right tire had bad inner belts and that was the cause of the vibration. I brought it back to the original shop, and they came to the same conclusion and apologized for not adequately road testing the car. A new tire was installed and the vibration was gone.

So - if you can isolate it to one tire, by moving it front and back and left to right - even though it balances it can be an inner belt failure. This can happen brand new or over time.

[VlamingL]

Problem solved! It was a combination of both a bad wheel bearing and a bad CV axel.

Thank you all for the help and advice!

[oragex]

Good update. I would also add to the list, also solved my long term vibration problem.. went through several things, including the CV joints.. in the end it turned out there was a worn outer tie rod with a little play in it, it was causing vibrations but only at certain side road angle - influenced by the pavement 'groove' and also by the tire pressure. I would feel the shacking not only in the steering wheel, but also on the gas pedal and floor under the feet

[Vivienne]

I have been dealing with vibrations on my car for a year now. Things that I’ve done so far:
New transmission except for converter as the mechanic opened it and said it doesn’t need to be replaced.
New original CV axels, front left and right,
Tires replaced with new ones and it’s even worse.
Rack and pinion - new.
Angle gear fluid changed.
Haven’t changed the haldex oil tho.

In the morning it’s like a little worse or it may seem to me that it is worse and it exists in my head already.
Vibrations start around 45mph and persists even until 100mph. However, if I accelerate slightly I kinda feel that it vibrates even at 25mph.
It’s been driving me nuts and I’m even thinking of getting rid of the car as it takes all the pleasure off me while driving it.
Can Haldex or anything connected with AWD be the culprit or maybe a prop shaft can vibrate because of it being unbalanced? Any suggestions?

[MoVolvos]

I have been dealing with vibrations on my car for a year now. Things that I’ve done so far:
New transmission except for converter as the mechanic opened it and said it doesn’t need to be replaced.
New original CV axels, front left and right,
Tires replaced with new ones and it’s even worse.
Rack and pinion - new.
Angle gear fluid changed.
Haven’t changed the haldex oil tho.

In the morning it’s like a little worse or it may seem to me that it is worse and it exists in my head already.
Vibrations start around 45mph and persists even until 100mph. However, if I accelerate slightly I kinda feel that it vibrates even at 25mph.
It’s been driving me nuts and I’m even thinking of getting rid of the car as it takes all the pleasure off me while driving it.
Can Haldex or anything connected with AWD be the culprit or maybe a prop shaft can vibrate because of it being unbalanced? Any suggestions?

1) Have you considered worn shocks or struts. At times vibrations in the back can also be felt in the front.

2) Sometimes a tire can be out of round but balanced okay until it's on the road.

3) Another suggestion is to systematically inject some grease through a needle into every area there is a joint and fill. Overtime in use some will come out so just wipe. Insert as close to the joint or CV bearing as much as possible and massage in. Just one puncture not several around the boots. One area at a time so you know if the vibration goes away. Worked on 3 cars to get rid of vibrations besides finding which part was bad.

Take you pick.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=grease+gun&r ... _nr_p_72_1

Thinner the needle the better.
https://www.amazon.com/Prolube-44880-Gr ... 106&sr=1-5

In case you find a cracked boot or even CV joint boot use this tape. Clean as well as you can then wrap. Our C30 has had a crack boot ever since purchase 3 years ago. Got bad but no time to replace so injected grease and wrapped with rotation of tire so it does not fly undone backwards. Over a year but still doing well.

Wire Loom Harness Tape - Double sided so sticks to itself very well.
https://www.amazon.com/Tesa-Fleece-Inte ... 100&sr=1-5


*

[Krons]

I have been dealing with vibrations on my car for a year now. Things that I’ve done so far:
New transmission except for converter as the mechanic opened it and said it doesn’t need to be replaced.
New original CV axels, front left and right,
Tires replaced with new ones and it’s even worse.
Rack and pinion - new.
Angle gear fluid changed.
Haven’t changed the haldex oil tho.

In the morning it’s like a little worse or it may seem to me that it is worse and it exists in my head already.
Vibrations start around 45mph and persists even until 100mph. However, if I accelerate slightly I kinda feel that it vibrates even at 25mph.
It’s been driving me nuts and I’m even thinking of getting rid of the car as it takes all the pleasure off me while driving it.
Can Haldex or anything connected with AWD be the culprit or maybe a prop shaft can vibrate because of it being unbalanced? Any suggestions?

Recently had a vibration at 70mph on my kids 2002 S60 2.4T at 180k miles. I started with a shudder additive in transmission, then new motor mounts (needed them anyway), then coils and eventually ended up being the passenger CV shaft with play in it.

Coils and motor mounts may be something to look into, both can cause vibrations.

[- Pete -]

I have been dealing with vibrations on my car for a year now. Things that I’ve done so far:
New transmission except for converter as the mechanic opened it and said it doesn’t need to be replaced.
New original CV axels, front left and right,
Tires replaced with new ones and it’s even worse.
Rack and pinion - new.
Angle gear fluid changed.
Haven’t changed the haldex oil tho.

In the morning it’s like a little worse or it may seem to me that it is worse and it exists in my head already.
Vibrations start around 45mph and persists even until 100mph. However, if I accelerate slightly I kinda feel that it vibrates even at 25mph.
It’s been driving me nuts and I’m even thinking of getting rid of the car as it takes all the pleasure off me while driving it.
Can Haldex or anything connected with AWD be the culprit or maybe a prop shaft can vibrate because of it being unbalanced? Any suggestions?

By original CV’s, I assume you mean GKN/Lobro? If not, this would be the first place I’d look. If the vibration is felt “under load” only, this is the (one of the) first logical place to look.

Alternatively, I would take a close look at all 5 engine mounts, particularly the 2 large, round hydraulic mounts and the mount just by the oil pump/harmonic balancer. If you can detect any rusty colored stains in the vicinity of the large round hydraulic mounts, that is a good indicator it/they are toast. Failure in these mounts CAN influence an early departure of CV joint integrity.

Another thing that can easily be overlooked is a bent wheel, or multiple bent wheels. If they are bent axially they really can’t be straightened. An example of this is the “face” of the wheel being bent inward; ie: you slid sideways into a curb/immovable object). If it’s the circular/hoop section that is bent in towards the center that is much easier to be repaired & sometimes even after repair it can be tricky to balance them. The fact that you made note of the vibration worsening after new tires being installed is hard to ignore here.

Also, as mentioned above, failed/failing wheel hub/bearing assemblies will create some racket also, don’t neglect those in your investigation.

A test to rule out a flaking DEM/AOC/Haldex pump would be to pull the fuse for it, on my 2004’s it is fuse #17, 7.5 amps (in the REM: Rear Electronic Module; fuse panel in the left rear of the car).

As mentioned above, prudence would have you examining the steering bits; ball joints, tie rod ends (inner & outer), etc.

Edit: I forgot to mention a couple other things worthy of checking. The CV joints on either end of the driveshaft (the big one that goes from the bevel gear to the rear final drive via AOC/Haldex) can go bad. Usually the front one will go first due to its proximity to the downpipe/exhaust. The rubber boot becomes hard & can crack, letting the grease escape. There’s no great way to check these without 1. evidence of grease slung all over the place around the front CV, 2. Removing the driveshaft.

Another thing worth examining is the carrier bearing that is about halfway between the front & rear CV joints. The rubber surround and/or the bearing itself (or the carrier bearing support bracket) can go bad.

[KurtL]

I would try replacing the motor and transmission mounts.