Vibration

[homer28b]

I have a 94 VR Exec. On the freeway when I am going up a long hill it gets a vibration somewhere near the back of the engine (I think) similar to the vibration you get when you run over ripple strips but not as intense. This happens as it gets under load and stops if I take my foot off the throttle.
Any ideas on what it could be? It doesn't happen on the flat or during normal city driving.

[t-rav]

I'm guessing its just the engine labouring as the auto has stayed in too higher gear for the hill your climbing ....

if the reves are under 1500rpm when the shudderiing is happning then i should be right but otherwise i wouldnt have a clue..

[tenggo]

I get the same thing, only happens at around 100km/h , under load ie trying to maintain speed up a steepish hill or hard acceleration from 100k/h . if i back off it disappears. Exact same sound i think, when it first happened i thought i was driving over the rumble strips but i wasnt. I have checked the tailshaft, all feels firm, diff has oil and no whining, auto is strong and changes fine.
It drives me nuts. If you find an answer PLEASE post it, cheers

[bloodylegend]

i think it could be a wheel alignment problem?

[hako]

May be the Torque Converter Clutch playing up - this locks the TQ solid above 80kph when cruising however if it happens when opening tthrottle above 80kph the TCC unlocks and the auto will shift back to 3rd - in this case suspect ignition problem...check leads and plugs and replace if suspect.

[TBrian]

Had the same problem with the vs..changed the tailshaft after thinking it was the centre bearing Still the same.I then gave the Auto a service and changed all the oil in it with new filter and guess what ...no vibration under load.I think i caught it just in time before any damage was caused.The person before me never serviced the transmission.

[Philthy]

I had the same thing. As soon as the engine had a bit of a load there was a vibration, and if it kicked back a gear or i backed off it was fine.
I spent about $700 replacing plugs, leads, fuel pump, etc, and then I finally took it back to an old mechanic I used to use and he took about 20 mins to plug in his diagnostics tool (and not find the problem), then have a poke around and find an injector plug was working its way loose.
Definately check the simple things before going around replacing things (or going to dodgy mechanics)

[homer28b]

Thanks for all the replies. I've only had it a little while and was already planning on doing the transmission service while I'm on holidays. Hopefully thats all it is. Everything else appears fine. I'll post the results.

[ipodres]

Yeah get the same thing with my 93. Been doing it ever since I've had the car but doesn't seem to cause any probs, just annoying!

[Philthy]

I should probably add that I was getting shocking highway economy with mine as well. The last trip i did before it was fixed I got less than 300k's on the highway. Driving around town was more economical!

[stocky]

sounds like centre bearing on the tailshaft. mine does the same thing

[wildss]

guys, just so you know its not always the centre bearing that can cause vibrations.

the grease in the cv dries out and the bearings dont allow the assembly to rotate properly, this can cause centre bearing failure after a while.

how do i know this?

i had an awfu metal on metal clunk from behind the gearbox that sounded like a fkd centre bearing and when i took the shaft out to look at it it was fine.
cracked open the cv and it was dry as, also had blue spots from all the heat.


cv's go for around 250 trade price and centre bearings for about 30

[Changa]

May be the Torque Converter Clutch playing up - this locks the TQ solid above 80kph when cruising however if it happens when opening tthrottle above 80kph the TCC unlocks and the auto will shift back to 3rd - in this case suspect ignition problem...check leads and plugs and replace if suspect.

Hako is on the money, I am fairly sure the TCC is screwed. I asked a couple of mechanics and becuase my VS has the original gear box after 170000kms he said I am better off replacing the entiring transmission with a reco'd one. By the way I have this problem also, just havent got round to shelling out the 1700 bucks for a new reco'd transmission. How old is your transmission?