Vibration of car - new info from the shop URGENT

gerber1125

Registered User
ok
so i had a bad vibration on the car for about a month now
took it to the shop (trusted friend), he pulled the tranny, replaced T/O bearing, which he said was fried, and the car still vibrated
so he took off the tranny, took off the clutch and flywheel, took off belts and started up the car, STILL VIBRATED

he said he doens't hear anything odd noises, harmonic balancer is top notch, didn't pull any codes

he figures it is something internal, obviously, but not sure what
there is no oil leaking, so front and rear main seals are out as a culprit

anything else anyone here can think of that would maybe cause this strong vibration?? spun bearing perhaps? bent rod?

the car still runs fine and drives fine, just vibrates like a MOFO. Also, before this, the tranny was pretty hard to shift, but im guessing the T/O bearing fixed this problem

any help would be appreciated
 
Not to say that you didn't check these already....

Have you checked the motor mounts, and also the trans cross member mount?

Vibrations can be caused by all kinds of stuff. Do you only notice it when you are driving, or sitting still, or do you notice it at any specific times?
 
Is the vibration fast and shuddering or a slower pulsing, and does it vary with engine speed? Sounds like a misfire to me. even if the mounts are shot something would still have to make the engine vibrate. When I pulled the motor out of mine both mounts were split in two, but it never vibrated. I'd check the spark and fuel delivery to each cylinder, especially the driver side plug wires. makes sure none of them slipped off and none of the wires are laying on a manifold. A misfire won't always be apparent (power wise) in a mid-to-larger displacement engine making good power.
 
also... I know you said the harmonic balancer looks good, but did you look at it while the engine was running? one that is going bad will wobble. if so, the engine might be getting ready to shotput it.
 
thanks for input
seems like vibration gets worse with idle, and seems to be the worst between 2k and 2.5k

i didn't look at anything as it is in the shop
ill tell them to look at all the plugs and check to see if everything is firing right
 
[so he took off the tranny, took off the clutch and flywheel, took off belts and started up the car, STILL VIBRATED

How do you start a car with no flywheel or trany? My best guess is the pressure plate lost a weight. Just to get some insight what was changed just before this started?
 
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SC motor is internally balanced. Should run with not much more vibration with no flywheel, though that's not good for the crank. It's balanced itself but the mass on the rear changes the harmonics.

Vibration issues:
Busted motor mounts
Exhaust rubbing

that's about it for vibration while standing still. how severe is the vibration? They didn't put balance shafts in these motors so they have a natural vibration due to their configuration. Thus the fluid filled mounts that fail.
 
I agree on checking the balancer. If your car has enough miles on it, the balancer was one of those things that was prone to failing, there is rubber inside the balancer that fails, causing it to basically come apart.
 
hi
vibration is bad, as soon as you start it up you can feel the vibration
ill tell him to double check the HB and the mounts, i thought it was the harmonic balancer to start with, but he said the thing didn't move at all out of place
would something internal be busted, which would cause it to vibrate? even if you can't see anything from the outside?

thanks, justin
 
You mentioned the throwout bearing was shot, what about the pilot bearing? I see more problems with them.
Alan
 
Are all the spark plug wires on the right plugs?


Verify the ignition and fuel system are working properly before looking too deep into mechanicals.
 
You could buy a used "test balancer" on the boards, or even just spring for a new BHJ... Its cheap troubleshooting compared to paying someone else to find it. Just because you dont see the balancer wobbling, doesnt mean the outer ring hasnt turned on the inner ring and locked into place there. :)
 
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