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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / May 2008weird steering oscillation
I have a 1995 Lexus GS300 with ~30k miles. It has had regular dealer service, though perhaps not optimally since they like to go by mileage. Recently the car has developed an odd vibration and steering wheel oscillation on certain highways at 50-60mph. (The roads aren't great, but they are the same roads I've been driving for 13 years so I don't think they have all changed in this very specific way. Also, other vehicles I drive on the same roads don't have this problem.) Basically, the car starts to vibrate and the wheel oscillates back and forth about an inch at probably a couple times per second. If it gets bad or if I try to steady the wheel (I can't) there is a disturbing clicking sound. The shift is also moving back and forth a bit in time to the vibration. If I accelerate to ~65mph the vibration goes away. I assume I'm getting out of some resonance range. I recently had a service and the dealer found no problems. I took the car to a local Meineke and they couldn't find anything. I had them replace the struts but that made no difference. I wouldn't normally push for a fix for a random "vibration" but when this happens it really feels like something is going to break. Any thoughts? Could there maybe something failing to damp the power steering or such? I looked up the recall history on the car and the only thing I found involved the lower front ball joints. The dealer "found" and fixed this problem (for about $500) two years ago. The recall notice seems to imply that they should have done it for free; I have to ask about this. :) Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com > I have a 1995 Lexus GS300 with ~30k miles. It has had regular dealer > service, though perhaps not optimally since they like to go by [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > Dan Lanciani > ddl@danlan.*com Check your tires for a broken belt or strange wear pattern.  SignatureSteve W. >I have a 1995 Lexus GS300 with ~30k miles. It has had regular dealer > service, though perhaps not optimally since they like to go by [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > Dan Lanciani > ddl@danlan.*com Sounds like a tire balance problem. Could also be caused by a tire that has a broken or shifted belt. Try to find a shop that has a Hunter GSP 9700 balancer and someone who knows how to use it. That balancer should be able to find the problem whatever the cause. >I have a 1995 Lexus GS300 with ~30k miles. It has had regular dealer >service, though perhaps not optimally since they like to go by [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > Dan Lanciani > ddl@danlan.*com Classic symtom of a severe tire imbalance or out-of-round condition. At that mileage on the tires which I assume are oem, a failing tire is the most likely cause. In any event, it signals a relatively sudden change in vehicle characteristics and shold be checked ASAP by someone experience in tire and front suspension problems. This may be a safety issue should the tire fail catastrophically resulting in a traffic accident or vehicle collateral damage. The activity you describe is not typical of worn ball joints. Lugnut "lugnut" <lugnut@roadkill.net> wrote in message The activity you describe is not typical of worn > ball joints. > > Lugnut Beg to differ, because I have seen ball joints do this. The clicking, however, is not characteristic of ball joint loosness that I have seen. | "lugnut" <lugnut@roadkill.net> wrote in message | The activity you describe is not typical of worn [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] | however, is | not characteristic of ball joint loosness that I have seen. I think the clicking is coming from the steering column. It may just be something that doesn't like getting slammed back and forth so fast... Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com | >I have a 1995 Lexus GS300 with ~30k miles. It has had regular dealer | >service, though perhaps not optimally since they like to go by [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] | Classic symtom of a severe tire imbalance or out-of-round | condition. The thing that bugs me is that I would think such a problem would show up on any road at the appropriate speed. This happens only on certain roads--actually only on certain stretches of those roads. | At that mileage on the tires which I assume are | oem, a failing tire is the most likely cause. I replaced the tires once about 6 years ago at around 15k miles. They did not appear particularly worn, but I still worry about tires aging. I guess this isn't as big a deal as it used to be? | In any event, | it signals a relatively sudden change in vehicle [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] | resulting in a traffic accident or vehicle collateral | damage. I was going to have them balanced as suggested here, but I decided I might as well just replace the tires again since they are almost as old as last time. This is currently in progress and then I guess they will test drive the car again. But if they don't go where it happens or if they drive too fast they won't see the problem. I took an old friend who used to be in the repair business for a ride yesterday and demonstrated the problem. His advice was to stop driving the car, so I don't think I'm over reacting. For completeness I tried putting it in neutral; the problem did not stop. Oh, I also tried turning off traction control with no effect. Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com > I took an old friend who used to be in the repair business for a ride > yesterday and demonstrated the problem. His advice was to stop driving > the car, so I don't think I'm over reacting. For completeness I tried > putting it in neutral; the problem did not stop. Oh, I also tried turning > off traction control with no effect. Another useful fact is to move the steering wheel only with your smallest finger. How far does that steering wheel move before you can feel it start to move the tires (takes a little more force to turn the wheel)? At 30K, that distance should be significantly less than 0.1 inches – almost no discernable movement. Any significant 'play' suggests a worn (and therefore loose) component in the steering system up to and not including wheels assemblies. > I have a 1995 Lexus GS300 with ~30k miles. It has had regular dealer > service, though perhaps not optimally since they like to go by [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > Dan Lanciani > ddl@danlan.*com does it show any signs of a failing CV joint? I've had them where they start vibrating before they start clicking. nate |
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