Technical Slight wheel shaking on highway

[cyberbird]

Hi,
my petrol 1.4 t-jet Doblo with 50k km started "wheel shaking/vibrating" a tiny bit when I accelerate on highway. It happens every now (maybe once a week) and then and usually it stops after a few minutes.
I don't feel such shakes if I just keep my speed constant. I don't know what could possibly cause this. If something were wrong with wheels or axle, this would happen all the time?

But my problem happens mostly when engine is already warm and has been running for some time.
I checked for any error codes with Multiecuscan but there were no codes.

How can I find what the issue is? Should I take it to mechanic?

 

[bugsymike]

Hi,
my petrol 1.4 t-jet Doblo with 50k km started "wheel shaking/vibrating" a tiny bit when I accelerate on highway. It happens every now (maybe once a week) and then and usually it stops after a few minutes.
I don't feel such shakes if I just keep my speed constant. I don't know what could possibly cause this. If something were wrong with wheels or axle, this would happen all the time?

But my problem happens mostly when engine is already warm and has been running for some time.
I checked for any error codes with Multiecuscan but there were no codes.

How can I find what the issue is? Should I take it to mechanic?

Has any work been done on the drive shafts or CV boots recently?

 

[cyberbird]

Only timing belt few months ago, but 2 years ago it got new shock absorbers.
I will be doing technical exam of car in a month. Maybe those guys will see something..

 

[trekkingnut]

Hi,
my petrol 1.4 t-jet Doblo with 50k km started "wheel shaking/vibrating" a tiny bit when I accelerate on highway. It happens every now (maybe once a week) and then and usually it stops after a few minutes.
I don't feel such shakes if I just keep my speed constant. I don't know what could possibly cause this. If something were wrong with wheels or axle, this would happen all the time?

But my problem happens mostly when engine is already warm and has been running for some time.
I checked for any error codes with Multiecuscan but there were no codes.

How can I find what the issue is? Should I take it to mechanic?

I had that with my Qubo trekking and it was all down to tracking and wheel balancing

 

[cyberbird]

Thank you for reply!

I had that with my Qubo trekking and it was all down to tracking and wheel balancing

I stopped by my local (formerly official) Fiat repair shop and the owner claimed it is definitely bent axle. He didn't even check my car.
He refered me to some other shop that repairs axles.

I'm not sure now whether I should check the tracking part - which may very well be the real trouble, or go to axle repair shop. I hope we can at least see visually whether axle is bent or not before repairs.
Maybe I should test tracking first, idk..

 

[varesecrazy]

Thank you for reply!

I stopped by my local (formerly official) Fiat repair shop and the owner claimed it is definitely bent axle. He didn't even check my car.
He refered me to some other shop that repairs axles.

I'm not sure now whether I should check the tracking part - which may very well be the real trouble, or go to axle repair shop. I hope we can at least see visually whether axle is bent or not before repairs.
Maybe I should test tracking first, idk..

My Multijet did this

A Pulsing vibration
Speed=40/50 mph, so 60/80 kph

Not lower or higher.. And only ON POWER

Is this different?

 

[cyberbird]

My Multijet did this

A Pulsing vibration
Speed=40/50 mph, so 60/80 kph

Not lower or higher.. And only ON POWER

Is this different?

Maybe a bit.
It can happen any time above 50 kmh (31 mph) or if I am going uphill - so any time my engine need to extert more power. Shakes can be strongly felt if I accelerate hard, it also feels like im losing some power and that something is wrong. When this happens, I am super careful and just maintain speed or slow down.
This doesnt happen all the time. Maybe once per 1 hour of driving and it lasts for 1-2 minutes then it stops..

** I can accelerate really hard bellow 50 kmh and i dont get any tremors and everything works ok..

 

[bugsymike]

Just a thought, are you 100% sure it is a "wheel shaking/vibrating" is there any chance it could be the engine breaking down/misfiring under load as in spark plugs or coils etc.
If it is a front wheel balance issue you will feel it through the steering wheel,rear wheels can have a drumming affect making the occupants feel car sick.
Often wheel balance comes in as has been mentioned around 40mph and progressively gets worse as speed increases.
A bent wheel or distorted tyre can often be felt at lower speeds even just pulling away as the distortion tends to follow the road but gets disguised as speed increases although will still be there.
A bent axle would usually cause the car to want to veer off to one side.
To check the wheels and/or tyres jack individual wheels off the ground and spin them by hand keeping a careful eye for "run out", if you suspect one wheel you can fix a screwdriver or similar as a fixed pointer and slowly turn the wheel , it will show if the wheel gets closer or further away from the pointer.
You can also check suspension for defects by shaking the wheel.
Another clue can be odd tyre wear.
If a faulty tyre be careful there is no sharp wires sticking out from the tyre carcase.
Make sure car is safely supported if jacked up.

 

[varesecrazy]

Pulsing with power.. That is driveshafts

Just like your mechanic suggests

It Should stop at higher speeds

 

[cyberbird]

Just a thought, are you 100% sure it is a "wheel shaking/vibrating" is there any chance it could be the engine breaking down/misfiring under load as in spark plugs or coils etc.
If it is a front wheel balance issue you will feel it through the steering wheel,rear wheels can have a drumming affect making the occupants feel car sick.
Often wheel balance comes in as has been mentioned around 40mph and progressively gets worse as speed increases.
A bent wheel or distorted tyre can often be felt at lower speeds even just pulling away as the distortion tends to follow the road but gets disguised as speed increases although will still be there.
A bent axle would usually cause the car to want to veer off to one side.
To check the wheels and/or tyres jack individual wheels off the ground and spin them by hand keeping a careful eye for "run out", if you suspect one wheel you can fix a screwdriver or similar as a fixed pointer and slowly turn the wheel , it will show if the wheel gets closer or further away from the pointer.
You can also check suspension for defects by shaking the wheel.
Another clue can be odd tyre wear.
If a faulty tyre be careful there is no sharp wires sticking out from the tyre carcase.
Make sure car is safely supported if jacked up.

To be honest, I always thought it felt more like engine than wheels/tires (tires have been just balanced one month ago). But Multiecuscan has no error codes. If it were misfiring, there surely would be some error codes right? I could also try and drive around until this problem occurs and check live data on Multiecuscan, but I don't know what I am looking for..

I do have a severly rusted pipe that looks like exhaust pipe just bellow the engine, maybe it is turbo exhaust or something else. I was planning to come here one day and ask how to fix that and what part of engine that even is.. Could some random pressure losses on exhaust cause this? I will try and take pictures of it in the following days..

Maybe I can no longer call these "slight shaking", if I truly accelerate it becomes a very obvious shaking that feels really wrong, like i am going to damage something wrong. Sorry, its hard to describe this issue.

Pulsing with power.. That is driveshafts

Just like your mechanic suggests

It Should stop at higher speeds

So you think these are faulty driveshafts? Because this most often happens between 110 - 130 kmh.

Thanks for all the help so far, I am really grateful

 

[bugsymike]

If plugs or coils etc breaking down under load it would be worse on damp weather days and pulling hard up hills.
One of my sisters had a Honda Jazz from new always dealer serviced, she complained about a slight misfire and they put several sets of expensive ignition coils on it but fault always came back. I told her to insist they change the spark plugs even though their service data said not needed and it cured the problem. Even if burning clean and look OK the electrodes wear from the high voltage spark eroding them and making the gap larger, this means the coils have to provide a larger spark to jump the gap then if any weakness in the system the spark will take the easy route causing a misfire.

 

[varesecrazy]

Simple inexpensive test:

Swap front wheels to rear
Rear wheels to front..

IF Nothing changes.. It's Not the wheels

 

[cyberbird]

Thank you, I will swap tires and also take out, inspect and meassure resistance on my spark plugs, maybe I will also replace them at that time.

 

[varesecrazy]

Do tyres.. Or plugs..

Not all 8 "changes" at one time

Then you know what has changed

 

[bugsymike]

Thank you, I will swap tires and also take out, inspect and meassure resistance on my spark plugs, maybe I will also replace them at that time.

As @varesecrazy says, one issue at a time.
If looking at plugs etc. Ohm resistance is good using multimeter as you say on HT leads and plugs , but I would also check gaps not excessive.
If your heart is strong, I often ran my hands around the HT leads and coils while engine running to see if any HT spark jumps to me as it shows a breakdown in insulation if faulty. Any dirt around coils can cause problems when damp.
As an apprentice we had an 80 year old who could stop an engine by putting his hands across all four bare spark plug terminals!!!
Only do it at your risk!!!

 

[cyberbird]

Hi,
just wanted to report back:
-The problem was wheels weren't correctly aligned and 2 rims are slightly bent. The shop that did the first alignment did it very badly. Its fixed now.
-I needed to replace my spark plugs, which is why engine felt weird. Been 4 years since last change, service interval is 2 years though.

 

[bugsymike]

Hi,
just wanted to report back:
-The problem was wheels weren't correctly aligned and 2 rims are slightly bent. The shop that did the first alignment did it very badly. Its fixed now.
-I needed to replace my spark plugs, which is why engine felt weird. Been 4 years since last change, service interval is 2 years though.

Thanks for getting back to let people on Forum know what cured your problem, as it helps others.
Some, after lots of help are not so considerate.