After 3 months I finally have a slight problem...

I have started having a vibration around 50-60 MPH. I can feel it in the steering wheel and sometimes it's bad enough to feel it in the seat. I really notice it when I go to work in the mornings after the car has sat in the garage all night. It will usually go away after driving the car for a while or as the day goes on. It's not at any particular RPM, it seems to happen regardless of whether I'm accelerating or just cruising at that speed.

I took it into the dealer on Thurs. The tech drove it and came back and said he did feel it and that he thought the tires were out of balance. They balanced them again and when I picked it later that day it was smooth as glass at 50-60MPH. On Friday I really didn't get a chance to get it up to those speeds on my morning commute as the traffic was kinda heavy. Then today I take it out after it had sat in the garage all day and sure enough I felt it again.

I'm confused as to whether this could be a tire problem or an engine problem. It seems that as the tires/engine heat up then that might be why it goes away. I'm taking it back on Monday but was wondering if anyone had any thoughts. I read through the TSB concerning the driveline vibration on the '04s and it really didn't seem like it fit as that problem was only around 1500 RPM and never seems to go away as you drive.

 

If it is the EL42s then they have a really bad reputation for cold flat spotting. This should not be news to your dealer. I notice it in the morning since I get on the highway with in 2 mi from my home. It is gone by the time I get to work 12 mi later. After work I get on the highway within .5 mi but nothing. The difference is the garage floor is cold overnight for >12hr but the work parking lot is hot all day. If I took city streets the whole way I might never have noticed it. I'm learning to live with it....

Some have had luck getting the tires swapped out but I think it is a long shot.

All low profile modern tires do it to some extent. Tire Rack Article This seems to say it takes a few days to a week but for the EL42s overnight is more than enough.

I'm really wondering what will happen this fall in NE when the garage gets in the 40s overnight.

 

I guess I forgot to mention that I have an '05 5AT so I don't have the EL42s. Although I have read about the flat spotting problems and was wondering if that could be what I was experiencing. However I don't remember noticing it when I first got the car. It really seems to have gotten more noticable the last several weeks.

 

Sounds like the tires to me. I have also been dealing with this issue since I bought new tires a couple of months ago. I've had the tires rebalanced four times (three times at the shop I bought the tires at, and once at the dealer) and I get exactly the same vibration. I didn't have the vibration before the tires were changed, so I firgure that one of my drive tires is bad. Because I drive so much, I've already got 3k miles on the new tires, but I'm going to insist on a replacement and maybe you should too.

 

If you don't have a Navigation system, then you have EL42s, and that sure sounds like their beloved flatspotting to me.

Mike

 

I do have navi

 

I'm gonna do an experiement today. I know I'm going to go off this afternoon so I'm going to pull my car out of the garage and let it bake in the 90 degree heat for a few hours and let the tires heat up then I'll see if it vibrates.

 

I noticed the vibration my 05 TL Navi AT when going to work in the morning on the interstate driving 70 - 75 MPH. My car is barely 2 months old with about 1,800 miles. I started noticing this vibration about two or three weeks ago.

Currently, it is not severe and the vibration seems to go away in about 7 - 10 miles of interstate driving.

I have the Michelin tires and I was thinking that it is just the tires are out of round.

My Mazda Millenia S with Michelin tires would exhibit this behavior if I left the car parked 2 - 4 days.


AMIC,

Mark your tires with tape on the sidewall at the bottom where the tire meets the pavement while the car is in the garage before you move the car outside. Then make sure the tires are not resting on the same spot as they were in the garage while in the sun.

 

Not the EL42s then...
There are some accounts of tires "shifting" after initial mounting. Some explain it away on various phenominon.
1 Tire rotates on rim (I don't buy it)

2 Tire "breaks in" (I guess I could buy that. Materials do change after use and will settle into a more steady state)

3 Something shifts in the structure of the tire. (I buy this. Tires are layers of lots of materials. It is understandable this would happen but should be very limited)

If it is the third case then typically no amound of "spin" or "static" balancing will find it. Dignosis will usually involve rotating the tires to to tray and get the vibration "to the back" and then try to isolate to a particular rim/tire. Then it could be the rim or tire.

The fact that it is a "cold" problem will really complicate things.

Check out the left side of this to see what I mean Vib Diagnosis

 

OK so I let the car sit out for an hour and a half and went out and it did vibrate a little bit between 50-60MPH, but it was not as bad as it is when I leave from the garage. I drove around for a few miles and it did seem to work itself out.

So I guess I'm going to take it back to the dealer tomorrow and explain the situation and see if they can find something wrong with one of the front tires as this doesn't seem to be a big problem with the Michelins and I wonder if I have a bad tire.

 

AMIC, this might be of interest to you. It's a TSB concerning driveline vibration. Here's the thread by rets. The following post is from another driveline vibe thread. Hope this helps you.

 

Yeah. I looked at that TSB and it doesn't seem to fit as my problem goes away after driving for a few miles.

 

I have noticed a slight vibration in my Michelins after the car is parked overnight or all day at the office. It usually dissapates after a mile or two on the road. In the morning it comes on in between 50-60mph. When I leave my office, I head straight onto the freeway and as soon as I climb above 60mph it is gone. What makes me think it is the tires warming up is that after a few minutes driving it does not return in the 50-60mph range.

I drove an 04 TL with the ELs in waiting for mine to be delivered. It had prononced tire flatspotting and in comparision, I am pleased with the Michelins.

Every vehicle I have owned has had some form of driveline or tire vibration at a particular speed or condition. The very same tire will behave differently on different vehicles and roads. Sometimes the slighest change in tire pressure can squelch or amplify these characteristics.

 

I went back to the dealer this morning and had a lengthy conversation with the service rep and basically we both agreed that it was probably just the nature of the tires being as they are performance tires and they are prone to this phenomenon. The re-balancing did help, and now it seems to be going away after a few miles. It will be something that I will deal with.

Thanks for everyone's help.