Steering wheel vibrates. Front of car drives rough at speed.

Jimbob1977

Hi all,

My jinxed Ford SMax is acting up again.

When it's driven on the motorway at speed (say > 100 kmph), the steering wheel is vibrating and the front of the car is like sitting on a tumble dryer.

My wife has noticed that it doesn't always start first time, but will engage at the second attempt.

Some recent history:

o Battery is new

o Alternator replaced in past two months

o Last month, TCS icon was flashing on. Car stalling and cutting out in traffic. After various mechanics had repeated attempts at fixing it, they found the wirings to the on Board computer (ECU?) were loose. They tightened the wirings and issue seemed solved. Previously they were changing all manner of stuff and saying it was fine. The wire tightening did the trick.

Apart from wheel balancing and tracking, can anyone suggest why a car would drive like a tractor and might not engage first time?

We are considering selling it. Car has become a money pit.

fancy pigeon

What tyres, how old and condition?

Alun

Could be as simple as a balance weight falling off a wheel just needing rebalancing. Could also be a seized caliper. After a run on the motorway, go around the front of the car and put your hand close to each front wheel. If it feels really hot, that's your answer.

_Brian

Could be wheel loose, imbalance, misalignment or even a tyre problem.

Needs to get to garage and have checked out.

thomas anderson.

Sounds like you have buckled wheels

Jimbob1977

fancy pigeon wrote: »

What tyres, how old and condition?

Hi Fancy Pigeon.

The tyres are about eight months old. They are 225/50/R17.

The condition would be alright. We change them every 12-18 months due to country driving.

I'm not at my car now, but they're a good brand like Hancock or Pirelli.

The Megaphone

_Brian wrote: »

Could be wheel loose.

Had this exact problem - vibration coming up through the steering wheel but only when I went above a certain speed.


Offside front wheel nuts weren't fully tightened - had the tyres replaced a few weeks previously, and they used the gun to tighten the nuts but never gave them the obligatory check with the tyre iron!

fancy pigeon

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

Hi Fancy Pigeon.

The tyres are about eight months old. They are 225/50/R17.

The condition would be alright. We change them every 12-18 months due to country driving.

I'm not at my car now, but they're a good brand like Hancock or Pirelli.

Wondering are the wheels buckled or do the tyres have unknown bulges... Did this start recently or was it gradual over a few weeks?

I feel your pain with a car that just won't behave!

Pixied

I had this in my old C-max and it was worn wheel bearings.

ltdslipdiff

Would a knackered DMF give the same symptoms?

Jimbob1977

fancy pigeon wrote: »

Wondering are the wheels buckled or do the tyres have unknown bulges... Did this start recently or was it gradual over a few weeks?

I feel your pain with a car that just won't behave!

It is relatively recent. The car had its tyres off recently to be painted/polished black. It was part of the cosmetic service in the garage when they were fixing the important stuff.

Wildly Boaring

Go get wheels balanced.
Cheap as chips and could easily solve it.

Any chance you drove through muck and it's dried onto inside of wheels?

Used happy me a lot when I worked building roads. Just needed to whip off wheels and clean them. Those balance weights are only light anything can put them off.

Would really get bad over 60 mph

Wildly Boaring

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

It is relatively recent. The car had its tyres off recently to be painted/polished black. It was part of the cosmetic service in the garage when they were fixing the important stuff.

Yeah they could have lost a weight.

Jimbob1977

I will report back after visiting the tyre shop.

Hopefully it's blindingly obvious to the fitter and a simple fix.

As for the car not starting first time, I'm praying it's not back to the electrical wiring issues. Cold weather maybe.

We're thinking of cutting our losses and buying a new car if it acts up again. It's a money pit. No fun stalling on a motorway or in the rush hour.

We're putting our mechanic's children through college

Kamili

When was the tracking last done? Might just need a tracking alignment too...

Gerry T

If it drives fine at most speeds and the wobble comes at a certain speed and when you go faster the wobble goes away again, that would be a strong indicator for balancing
Remember it could be a loose wheel, or something relatively very easily fixed. But if it leads to a second fault that could be very costly. If it were me and I couldn't spot the issue I would be reluctant to do much driving until I had it checked

Leonard Hofstadter

If you're getting vibrations or notchiness through the steering wheel the wishbones could be going as well. Hopefully balancing will sort it out.

Jimbob1977

Hi all,

Just a quick update on the steering wheel vibration and general rough ride.

Our tyre fitter said the tracking was completely out of kilter. As a result, the tyres were in very bad shape.

We live on very rough roads. Potholes, rough margins, etc

Anyway, new front tyres were required. The wheels were balanced and tracked.

Thanks for everyone's advice.