crazy vibration!

[ayjay]

ok this has happened twice now, where it will be raining and when i hit a deep puddle it feels as if my wheel is going to fall off...

the first time it happened, i hit a deep puddle (approx. 3" deep) with the right front tire... i got this super crazy vibration, almost as if i had a flat tire, except it didn't pull to one side, and that is the only reason i knew it wasn't a flat while i continued driving...

the second time, i hit a puddle with the left front tire, and i got the same feeling, but from the left side obviously... it almost feels like it comes from behind the front tires...

both times, i continued to drive cautiously until gradually the feeling went away... as if water gets into something (definitely rotational) and then eventually leaks out and goes back to normal...

anyone know what the problem is?

[Holisticbeatz]

It's those damn gremlins again.

[ayjay]

It's those damn gremlins again.

hahaha... ya... thought i got rid of em' with my new shocks but i guess they don't like the puddles...

could it be anything other than gremlins?

['91 240sx]

hahaha... ya... thought i got rid of em' with my new shocks but i guess they don't like the puddles...

could it be anything other than gremlins?

definately gremlins

[Sygerwulf]

Yep, sounds like gremlins to me.

[drjohn]

If the frt. end still vibrates through the steering it's possible the tension rods or lower ball jionts could be loose.

[ayjay]

ya i don't think the t-rods or ball joints have ever been replaced... it has 270K kms on the body, so i think it's about time i replaced em...

thanks for REAL advice drjohn :P

[p00t]

I know the ABS system makes a "pulsating" sound and feeling in the steering wheel. This is normal.

When the tire is going through the puddle its losing all traction. So its possible it is just the ABS system doing its thing. It would do the pulsating for about 1-4 seconds afterward.

Does it just start then stop in a short amount of time?

If your paranoid about it maybe take out the ABS fuse and drive through the same puddle at the same speed and see if it happens. If it doesnt then its just ur ABS system kicking in.

[ayjay]

to be honest, i just ASSUMED that my car didn't have ABS, never really looked into it... my car didn't come with the original manual, and i never asked the guy if it had ABS... how can i tell if i have it or not?

or even more retarded of a question, do all 90' 240sx's come with ABS? haha

it's a 1990 240sx HB (canadian model)... no badging on the back or anything saying SE...

[p00t]

2 ways that I know of

1. when u turn ur car on look for an ANTI-LOCK symbol of somesorts, maybe an ABS looking light.

2. If not go under your hood and find the box that houses the ABS fuse (should say on the cover sticker.) look inside, if there is no fuse where the the ABS one should go then you dont have it.

being that your car is a 1990 model i kinda doubt that it has it now, but it might! and it would explain the vibration! but the canadian models DID come with traction enhancing features like limited slip diff. so you might have a few more things then you thought u have.

Thats all i know, hopefully someone can help you more.

[ayjay]

ABS being the cause of the problem made sense at the time, but it happened again today when there was no way that I had hydroplaned (going 20km/h and hit small puddle)... most likely the ball joints now that i think of it, cause when i made a corner right after that, I hit a bump and I got the clunk sound that you normally get if the balljoints are gone...

thanks for your help though, it gave me reason to test for ABS by slammin on my brakes in the rain, and slidin around a bit :P