When accelerating hard and driving above 60Km/Hr the whole car has a slight vibration, I can feel it through the steering wheel and passengers in the back can feel it also.
It is not the wheels, I had all four wheels balanced. Someone told me it could be a drive shaft issue, maybe the center bearing where the drive shaft goes through.
Anyone has any thoughts on this?ThanksTerry
Vibrating J30
Vibrating J30
mersidoe wrote:I've been experiencing a similar problem with my J30. I've taken it to two different tire shops with no luck. So I bit the bullet and I have an appointment with the dealer on Monday. I'll let you know what I find out.
Marianne
Thanks for your reply Marianne. I know it's not my tires I recently replaced all 4 tires with brand new snow tires and the problem still exists.
Please keep us updated. If I find anything before you I will post the results.Terry
once you are certain that the issue does not lie in the tires, you can do a bit of investigation yourself.
Some dealers (merc, lexus, some inf) have tools which they can use to isolate the source of driveline vibrations. My inf dealer does not have one, told me to take it to a nearby lexus dealer with the equipment.
In any case, you can determine yourself if the problem is before the transmission output or after. again, I must stress that the tires and wheels be dynamically balanced on a hunter machine. ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES. checking hub runout would also be useful.
In any case, assuming your rolling masses are balanced, you can do an on-road test.
first, determine if the vibration occurs only under very specific conditions: such as-always upon hard accel-upon hard decel-a certain RPM-a certain road speed
if you have a cruising vibration, you can differentiate between the last two cases (RPM versus velocity) by bringing the car to its vibration point in 4th gear,.
At this time, note your travel speed in 4th and your rpm in 4th.
now shift to 3rd while giving some gas so as not to cause a terribly rough interchange. bring the car to your original travel speed. is the vibration still there? if yes, then your problem is driveshaft-back.
if the previous test was negative, now bring the car, still in 3rd, down to the same rpm that the var vibrated at in 4th. is it vibrating? if yes, then the problem is engine or trans-related-most likely engine.
forgetting all of this, based on your description of vibrations through the steering wheel, you may have an alignment problem. this is assuming youve been balanced on a hunter.
Some dealers (merc, lexus, some inf) have tools which they can use to isolate the source of driveline vibrations. My inf dealer does not have one, told me to take it to a nearby lexus dealer with the equipment.
In any case, you can determine yourself if the problem is before the transmission output or after. again, I must stress that the tires and wheels be dynamically balanced on a hunter machine. ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES. checking hub runout would also be useful.
In any case, assuming your rolling masses are balanced, you can do an on-road test.
first, determine if the vibration occurs only under very specific conditions: such as-always upon hard accel-upon hard decel-a certain RPM-a certain road speed
if you have a cruising vibration, you can differentiate between the last two cases (RPM versus velocity) by bringing the car to its vibration point in 4th gear,.
At this time, note your travel speed in 4th and your rpm in 4th.
now shift to 3rd while giving some gas so as not to cause a terribly rough interchange. bring the car to your original travel speed. is the vibration still there? if yes, then your problem is driveshaft-back.
if the previous test was negative, now bring the car, still in 3rd, down to the same rpm that the var vibrated at in 4th. is it vibrating? if yes, then the problem is engine or trans-related-most likely engine.
forgetting all of this, based on your description of vibrations through the steering wheel, you may have an alignment problem. this is assuming youve been balanced on a hunter.
VIbrating J30
My most recent observations reveals a vibration at all speeds.More pronounced above 60Km\Hr and while accelerating, if the car is just rolling there still is some vibration but not as bad as when accelerating. I will be taking it in to a mechanic who will put it on the hoist and inspect the propeller shaft. Will let you know what if anything is found.Terry
Re: VIbrating J30
I said that there could be the possibility of the carrier bearing. This has been described on 300zx sites.TechGizmo wrote:My most recent observations reveals a vibration at all speeds.More pronounced above 60Km\Hr and while accelerating, if the car is just rolling there still is some vibration but not as bad as when accelerating. I will be taking it in to a mechanic who will put it on the hoist and inspect the propeller shaft. Will let you know what if anything is found.Terry
You haven't mentioned if the vibration changes frequency relation to rpm, vehicle speed, etc.
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Mike Miller
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Fri Mar 21, 2003 3:30 pm
- Car: Diving and Fishing
Vibrating J30
I had the same thing on my 1993 J30t. Went to two different NTB shops before they found I had a bent rim (inside) that had to be replaced. Still not perfect but a lot better and smoother! MIKE
Re: Vibrating J30
Mike Miller wrote:I had the same thing on my 1993 J30t. Went to two different NTB shops before they found I had a bent rim (inside) that had to be replaced. Still not perfect but a lot better and smoother! MIKE
Wouldn't a bent rim be detected when balancing a wheel. The little lead weights the put on the sides of the rims should take care of that.
Enlighten me please.
I just got a call from the dealer that my vibration is indeed caused by the bearing.
I was searching old posts and I saw that Q45tech said that when the car shakes at 30mph, 9 times out of 10 it is the bearing, so I wasn't surprised. I just hope my car isn't the 1 out of 10. (skeptical to the end.)
I'm going to have the timing belt, water pump, etc. done at the same time, so I guess I'm committed! Hopefully my car will be good to go for a while after all that.
The dealer gave me a G35 as a loaner - I have to admit, I like my J better! (Although those heated seats are kind of cool!)
Marianne
I was searching old posts and I saw that Q45tech said that when the car shakes at 30mph, 9 times out of 10 it is the bearing, so I wasn't surprised. I just hope my car isn't the 1 out of 10. (skeptical to the end.)
I'm going to have the timing belt, water pump, etc. done at the same time, so I guess I'm committed! Hopefully my car will be good to go for a while after all that.
The dealer gave me a G35 as a loaner - I have to admit, I like my J better! (Although those heated seats are kind of cool!)
Marianne
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Mike Miller
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- Car: Diving and Fishing
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cweberj30t
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2003 G35
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driverdriver
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Heated seats where standard equipment on every J30 sold in Canada from the 1993 to 1997 models. I have a stack of Canadian J30 brochures, spanning every year the model was sold, my service advisor at the dealer gave me them to me some years back. Also side impact beams (the ones meeting 1997 NHTSA standards) where standard equipment mandated by Canadian legislation on all J30's starting with the '95 model year.