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Vibration at Lower RPM

4K views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  bradferry 
#1 ·
Hi all, I noticed the other day that my car has been experiencing some vibration which feels like it's coming from the driveshaft at lower rpm's (<2k). I notice it the most when I accelerate from a dead stop, then it goes away afterwards. I suspect it could be my guibo/center support bearing based off some research. I'm planning to have both replaced by the end of the year, I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this. Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks!
 
#6 · (Edited)
Actually had a similar issue this past weekend. On cold starts, in 1st or 2nd, at 2.5k or less RPM, and when off throttle, car will lurch and shudder. Exacerbated by going downhill. Feels like a rubbery binding and unbinding movement of the drivetrain. Whole car shakes.

Had a long drive to make the next day, so I took it into the shop where they checked the guibo and underside. Guibo was in great condition and they did not think it was the center driveshaft bearing as it would make a thunking noise increasing with speed. If it was the center bearing, you'd feel it increasing with speed, so I'd rule that out for you. That left the culprits for me as potentially motor or transmission mounts. The symptoms have yet to reappear after the intial two incidents though, which has led me not to worry about it too too much at the moment (picking up a daily and placing the M on weekend duty so I can bulletproof the VANOS).

Bear in mind that to get to the center bearing (or guibo or clutch), though it's a $100 part, requires dropping the exhaust, heat shields, and whole driveshaft. If you go in to address/diagnose it more, you might want to do everything at once to save time (or $).
 
#7 · (Edited)
Actually had a similar issue this past weekend. On cold starts, in 1st or 2nd, at 2.5k or less RPM, and when off throttle, car will lurch and shudder. Exacerbated by going downhill. Feels like a rubbery binding and unbinding movement of the drivetrain. Whole car shakes.

Had a long drive to make the next day, so I took it into the shop where they checked the guibo and underside. Guibo was in great condition and they did not think it was the center driveshaft bearing as it would make a thunking noise increasing with speed. If it was the center bearing, you'd feel it increasing with speed, so I'd rule that out for you. That left the culprits for me as potentially motor or transmission mounts. The symptoms have yet to reappear after the intial two incidents though, which has led me not to worry about it too too much at the moment (picking up a daily and placing the M on weekend duty so I can bulletproof the VANOS).

Bear in mind that to get to the center bearing (or guibo or clutch), though it's a $100 part, requires dropping the exhaust, heat shields, and whole driveshaft. If you go in to address/diagnose it more, you might want to do everything at once to save time (or $).
This is exactly how I would describe my issue as well. I agree, my first thought would be the tranny mounts and possibly the diff bolts/bushings. If you find out anything more about this issue please keep me updated!

As for the guibo replacement, I am aware of the labor involved to get to the part which is why I'm planning to replace the CSB while they're under there. I'm almost certain that's the root issue of my drive-train vibrations. Thanks for the advice tho!
 
#8 ·
So I narrowed my two issues down to a few parts (hopefully):

Shudder - MAF sensor (needs cleaning), O2 sensor (needs cleaning), diff bolts/bushings

Vibration -guibo, CSB, tranny mounts

Does anyone have any experience with different options?
 
#9 ·
MAF Sensor: haven't had shuddering directly from it. Did have it throw a CEL before and cause a rougher idle; used some CFC cleaner and problem gone. I did clean my MAF after my recent shuddering and my MAF was dirty, as I could tell the idle was smoother. Have not been able to confirm whether the MAF was causing the problem, as when it was bad enough to throw a code there was no shuddering. It is conceivable that the MAF could be SO dirty it is causing the sensor to send inaccurate readings to the ECU to the point of shuddering (or the MAF could be defective) but if it were that bad there would probably be a CEL code.

Bottom line, the MAF is unlikely to be the sole cause of my issues (and likely yours), but could help relieve some symptoms as well as smooth out these cars' notoriously rough idle. A bottle of cleaner is $5 from autozone. A specific tamper resistant torx driver is needed as well to access it; forgot what exactly the name is


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#10 ·
Guibo: So my local shop said the guibo looked fine with no cracks and chunks missing. So that's not an issue for me, and means it might not necessarily be for you. Though it is still very plausible that it is a guibo issue, as it the shuddering sure sounds like one. Guibo is $79.95 and requires a drive train drop (as well as exhaust and braces), so you may want to do the clutch or other driveshaft components as well if you decide to replace the guibo


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#12 ·
Not yet, I'm almost certain it's my guibo/CSB. I just purchased a new guibo/CSB recently, I'm planning to have them installed early next year (busy month for me). I'll definitely update this thread accordingly, but for now I can deal with the vibration until then.
 
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