94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

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Guest

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by Guest »

Hey everone... it says this is my first post here, but I've been on this board several years ago.  I just can't remember my password and my email has changed... anyway.

I have a '94 Z26 with the 3100, it has 122K miles.  I'd say maybe 6 months ago and 6K miles ago, it started making this vibration at speeds above 40 mph.  It's not really coming from the steering wheel or the brake pedal, but the whole car kind of shimmies and shakes.  Once I get up to around 70mph, it becomes much less noticable, but it's still there.

So far, here's what I've replaced: front struts/mounts, stabilizer bar links, front brake pads/rotors, one tie-rod end, all four tires (balanced), both motor mounts, front passenger hub/bearing, 4 wheel alignment... I think thats it. ÂÂÂ My passenger side motor mount was completely collapsed, and the mount was actually hitting on the car's frame. ÂÂÂ The driver's tranny mount was kind of worn, so I replaced it anyway.  When I had the front end tore all apart, I inspected and greased and replaced everything that was worn.  The balljoints felt tight.

This problem is driving me crazy, and I'm *really* close to getting rid of this car because of this.  The only thing I can think of is a worn CV joint, but my boots are fine and they don't make any noise.  Could the bad motor mount have messed up my CV joints?

The shaking does seem to be worse when I make high-speed left turns, and when I hit the brakes the whole car shakes, but I have new brake rotors...

Any ideas?  I hate just replacing parts until I fix the problem... I mean, the next thing for me to do is replace both the half shafts and hope that fixes the problem.  Is there an easy way to check the CV joints w/o removing the half shaft?





Guest

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by Guest »

Wow!  It sure does sound like you hit just about everything that would cause this. I woudl check the tire balance again and the tires themselves.  Rotate them and see if things change.  You checked the big stuff.

Oh, and unless they are planning and doing some shimming on the rear axles, I wouldn't pay for a 4 wheel alignment. There is no adjustments for the rear of this car, except shiming.





Guest

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by Guest »

My car started doing that after I got new tires for the front. The idiot who put them on didn't attach the weight correctly, therefore not only was I losing air, it would shake like crazy. I don't know if this helps, but I thought I would throw it in.


Guest

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by Guest »

I have the same problem when my car hits 80-90 km/h  and it drives me crazy but after i get to around 110 it is less noticable....I dont know what it is


Guest

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by Guest »

Well, about the 4-wheel alignment, they only charged me for the front because the rear was in spec.  Also, I've had the tires rebalanced 3 times (Walmart lifetime balance!), by two different Walmarts, and it still has not changed.  I tried rotation too.  I really think I've narrowed it down to the axle shafts, but this car is really pissing me off.  

By the way, just so you all don't think I'm retarded, all the parts I've replaced were completely worn out and needed changed.  I'm not just replacing things randomly  (at least not yet).


Guest

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by Guest »

Axles! Been there, done that, and corrected.





Guest

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by Guest »

yeah what jcz26 said, my 95 z26 does the same thing and it's pissing me off, i've had new struts, hub bearings, lower control arms, all new bushings/ball joints, only thing left is the cv axles, and i really think that's what it is, although i took it to midas and he tells me they dont click, but the outter joints are the ones that click not the inner!


Guest

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by Guest »

Thanks for the info.  I guess I'll change out both my axles in the coming weeks, and see if that fixes it.  I'll let you all know what happens.


Guest

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by Guest »

Auto Zone, 69.95 each out here for abs type axles.


User avatar
ErichZ26
Registered User
Posts: 922
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2001 1:59 pm
Location: Chicago

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by ErichZ26 »

did you check your lower control arm bushings?


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1990 Beretta GTZ 1995 Beretta Z26 1996 Beretta Z26
Guest

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by Guest »

No, I never really checked the bushings, although they look pretty cracked.  Are they replaceable, or do I have to replace the whole control arm?


User avatar
ErichZ26
Registered User
Posts: 922
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2001 1:59 pm
Location: Chicago

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by ErichZ26 »

you can replace them. You may need air tools like an air chisel to cut the old metal ring left by the old bushing. The vertical ones go bad more that the horizontal ones. You will also need to replace the sway bar end links when you remove the control arms. Those parts less than $15 at the parts store. They do offer the horizontal bushings in poly but not the vertical bushings. If you are very careful you can pound the new ones in with a hammer. be very careful when you do that,  because you will damage the new bushing if your  not. then another problem faced. use a big pry/screwdriver to put the new bushing back into the frame tap it lightly with the hammer it should go right into place.  
this is steph btw. any 's you can reach me by email or aim stephmartinz26@aol.com


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1990 Beretta GTZ 1995 Beretta Z26 1996 Beretta Z26
Guest

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by Guest »

Well, I finally got fed up with the problem and couldn't until I was home for Easter to check it out, so I took it to Midas last Friday to see what they thought.  First, my rear alignment was waaaay out (the other guys that aligned it didn't know what they were doing).  As a result, my new rear tires with about 6k miles on them are worn and cupped almost half way on the inside.  They also found that my *original* rear brake drums were egg shaped and out of spec.  And they found that my wheels, which I just had balanced at Walmart (3 times, actually), were way out of balance.  So I gave them to go-ahead to do a 4 wheel alignment, wheel balance, and replace the rear drums to the tune of $450!

So, that was Friday morning.  The couldn't finish the alignment so they kept it until Saturday.  I called them about about 2 in the afternoon Saturday, and the guy tells me that I better come down and check something out, that something in one of my *new* Autozone struts is messed up.  Sure enough, I could grab the whole front passenger side strut/steering knuckle and move it around about a 1/2".  It turns out there is an internal problem with the strut, and the rod has a LOT of play in it (these were new, about 6K mile struts, by the way).  This was screwing up their attempts at the rear alignment, since they well me they base the rear off of the front.  So they basically had spent a day and a half struggling with the alignment, and finally found the root problem.

Soooo... at this point I decided to have them put in new Midas struts, and I would get my money back from Autozone.  I ok'ed them to do the work Monday morning.  It's Tuesday, they still haven't finished my alignment, but they are supposed to this afternoon.  This *should* fix my vibration problem, after the $850 bill.


Guest

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by Guest »

Let us know if it fixes everything?


Guest

94 z26 shaking / vibration at 40mph+

Post by Guest »

Ok, it's fixed.  The shaking is gone!  I'm happy about that, but for $850 they sure did some sloppy work.  My car smells like cigarettes now, I don't think they bled my brakes all the way.  I looked under the rear end, and a bracket that holds my brake line on is just hanging there (they never bolted it back up).  Under the hood on the passenger side, there is a plastic thing that slides on one of the strut mount studs, on top of the nut.  They never put that piece back on, and it's actually stuck underneath the nut b/c they tightened it down on top of it (kind of hard to explain).  I have to go back and complain, but at least they fixed the problem.


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