help needed: VW Passat vibrate at 120kph

Capital Slow

Hi Lads,

First time to post a thread here, but always kept an eye on the motor section, seems people here have very decent knowledge and experience about motors, hope someone can let me know what the problem is with my car, thanks in advance.

The story is, got my 2 liter petrol 01 passat the other day, took to the M7 for a spin, when cruising at 100kph and 110, the car was good and quiet, revs was good, but at 120kph, can feel the accelerator pedal was vibrating and the whole car was vibrating a bit like the engine was loose or something, when keep the foot down, the car was actually feels better at 140 and 160 with a smaller vibration.

On the way back from Kildare, the car at 120 feels better than on the way there but still with a bit vibration.

My question is why there is the vibration. Could that be the car has not been driven at high revs for long, it takes a bit time or the alloy or ?????????

Also, for a 01D reg car, has 65k miles, could that be possible? I have used motor check, the milage was fine, never used as a commercial vehicle, not an import, I know the low milage was rare that you don't see it often, could people still have belief in "low milage" cars these days?

Thanks!

stifz

Is it as simple as wheel imbalance?

Pete67

I'd go with the wheels being out of balance to start with. Any tyre centre can balance them for you. It should not cost a lot either. If you bought from a dealer, ask them to sort it out for you.

delly

I had this after my car got serviced recently and at anything above 120 the steering wheel would vibrate. Turns out the wheel balancing sorted it, although you'd think that they would do that after changing something during the service.

mickdw

delly wrote: »

I had this after my car got serviced recently and at anything above 120 the steering wheel would vibrate. Turns out the wheel balancing sorted it, although you'd think that they would do that after changing something during the service.

The amount of dealers who change the tyres around during service and then fail to notice that they have put an imbalanced wheel on the front is crazy. All they need to do is take the car for a proper test drive but it seems they are not bothering

Capital Slow

mickdw wrote: »

The amount of dealers who change the tyres around during service and then fail to notice that they have put an imbalanced wheel on the front is crazy. All they need to do is take the car for a proper test drive but it seems they are not bothering

Thanks lads, for the quick answer, think I am going to go in have a check on the alloys, cost 7.50 yoyo for each wheel.

Yeah, they should've checked it after the service, but to be fair, they have to bring it to the high way and hit 130kph, cost them a good bit amount of time, and I wouldn't be impressed to see extra 30 miles on the clock when picking up the car.

I was a bit concerned about loose clutch or something like that, hopefully it will turn out to be just the wheels.

What about the other question that the low milage? Anybody?

Thanks!

BlackWizard

I get it on my 03 Passat also. Once I go past 115 the steering wheel shakes a lot.

It's definitely balancing. But my car also shakes when taking off in 1st or Reverse which I'm hoping is just engine mountings.

My old Merc used to shake at about 120 then stop after about 130. The issue was balancing also. Kind of weird that it stops after a certain speed.

-Chris-

Capital Slow wrote: »

Also, for a 01D reg car, has 65k miles, could that be possible? I have used motor check, the milage was fine, never used as a commercial vehicle, not an import, I know the low milage was rare that you don't see it often, could people still have belief in "low milage" cars these days?

That's an entirely possible mileage.

If you want to double check it, look in the service book for whoever serviced it. Pick one or two of the services and call the relevant garage(s) and verify that the mileage is correct.
See if there's a consistent pattern with the mileage.

rebel.ranter

Hi, get all 4 wheels balanced while you are at it. Some tight arses don't bother with the back. But you can actually prematurely wear out suspension parts & wheel bearings by not getting this done.
IN addition to that I once had a rear wheel out of balance after getting a new tyre put on that you could literally feel the vibration from the rear of the car. It turned out the the wheel balancing machine in my tyre dealers had gone belly up. It was so bad that they just replaced the machine!!

Edit:

Just to add, the first thing to check is if there is a load of mud on the inside of the wheels. A colleague of mine had this problem with his car. Needless to say he was a little embarrassed when the tyre shop told him this was the problem!

Another thing it could be is slightly warped discs, this would also cause vibration, the vibration becomes worse while foot is on brake pedal

Another cause could be worn bushes of ball joints in the front suspension.

Best of luck, hope it's just wheel balancing....

Capital Slow

Thanks!

The car was just NCTed before I bought, so I took for grant the balancing would be grant. Think I will go back to the garage to get the 4 wheels balanced again!

-Chris-

Take it to Advance Pitstop or similar, don't bother with the dealer.

Capital Slow

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Hi, get all 4 wheels balanced while you are at it. Some tight arses don't bother with the back. But you can actually prematurely wear out suspension parts & wheel bearings by not getting this done.
IN addition to that I once had a rear wheel out of balance after getting a new tyre put on that you could literally feel the vibration from the rear of the car. It turned out the the wheel balancing machine in my tyre dealers had gone belly up. It was so bad that they just replaced the machine!!

Edit:

Just to add, the first thing to check is if there is a load of mud on the inside of the wheels. A colleague of mine had this problem with his car. Needless to say he was a little embarrassed when the tyre shop told him this was the problem!

Another thing it could be is slightly warped discs, this would also cause vibration, the vibration becomes worse while foot is on brake pedal

Another cause could be worn bushes of ball joints in the front suspension.

Best of luck, hope it's just wheel balancing....

Thanks for that, the bushes were changed before I bought. Like AudiChris said I wouldn't trust the dealer on certain things, but I will let them look at the wheel balance first and take it out for a ride anyway, if problem solved, say a few quid, if not, them I will go to the Fastfit or something like that!

pred racer

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Just to add, the first thing to check is if there is a load of mud on the inside of the wheels. A colleague of mine had this problem with his car. Needless to say he was a little embarrassed when the tyre shop told him this was the problem!

QUOTE]

This has happened to me on 2 different cars, when they tell you the rear wheels dont need balancing, they're talking bollocks.

-Chris-

Capital Slow wrote: »

Like AudiChris said I wouldn't trust the dealer on certain things

Not quite what I meant, but anyway...

Capital Slow wrote: »

but I will let them look at the wheel balance first and take it out for a ride anyway, if problem solved, say a few quid, if not, them I will go to the Fastfit or something like that!

My point is that most dealers don't have their own tracking/balancing equipment. They'll just take the car off you for half a day, and while you're gone they'll subcontract to Advance/Kwikfit/Local place. There's no need for you to involve the middleman unless they're arranging it for you free-of-charge.

Also, if it is balancing or tracking, odds are it's not covered by any sort of warranty as something as simple as a pothole or mounting a kerb badly can knock a car out of adjustment.

Get the dealer to drive the car with you. If they're not repairing it FOC (and you can argue that they should), then bring it straight to Advance/Kwikfit and get it done while you wait.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

Lads, do any of ye know how much a wheel balancing should cost? Ball park figure will do.
Cheers,
H2DC.

Paddy001

About fiver each

Capital Slow

AudiChris wrote: »

Not quite what I meant, but anyway...



My point is that most dealers don't have their own tracking/balancing equipment. They'll just take the car off you for half a day, and while you're gone they'll subcontract to Advance/Kwikfit/Local place. There's no need for you to involve the middleman unless they're arranging it for you free-of-charge.

Also, if it is balancing or tracking, odds are it's not covered by any sort of warranty as something as simple as a pothole or mounting a kerb badly can knock a car out of adjustment.

Get the dealer to drive the car with you. If they're not repairing it FOC (and you can argue that they should), then bring it straight to Advance/Kwikfit and get it done while you wait.

The thing is, the car just passed NCT and I bought it the next day, didn't hit a kerb or pothole on the way home and took it out to the M7 the next day, did not expect tracking or balancing problem.

Anyway, point taken, straight to the Fastfit tomorrow eve.