Vibrating above 70mph

[dm2583]

Hi Guys,


I've just bought my first Merc, a 2005 E320cdi and as beautiful as it is, i have one problem with it. When travelling at speeds above 70mph, i experience a mild vibration through the steering wheel and in the cabin generally. It gets worse as the speed increases and is very noticible at 100mph (not that i hit 100mph all too often!).

Could this be a problem with the wheel balancing or something more serious? I appreciate it's difficult to diagnose a problem without experiencing it at first hand but any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Darshan

p.s. great forum, have learnt lots already!

 

[Sp!ke]

Highly likely to just be wheel balancing or a damaged wheel or tyre.

Quick and easy to get these checked out.


Welcome to the forum BTW.:bannana:

 

[bigstuff]

dont think its a balance prob normaly it will go away as the speed gets higher so most prob wheel or tyre -tracking or steering comp

 

[daveuj]

could be a bad tyre look to see if it has lots of balance weights on it ? this may show took lot's of weight to get into balance so not a good tyre although it may look ok.are all the wheels the same size? if so just try fronts on back one at a time test after each change.how old is it? not sure but has it got a spare try that one at a time.

 

[SL300-24]

Possibly a propshaft coupling?

 

[Dieselman]

or ATF glycol contamination. Is there any rumbling noise.?

 

[dm2583]

Thanks for your tips guys. I popped along to my local tyre fitter this morning and asked him to balance the front wheels, turns out that they were not correctly balanced. They made the necessary adjustments and so far, no vibrations!

Thanks again for the help

 

[st4]

or ATF glycol contamination. Is there any rumbling noise.?

I thought by 2005 the valeo radiators (that were the cause of this) were no longer in use, I could be wrong however.

 

[Dieselman]

Not sure whether Valeo radiators were still used, but it's always possible for another radiator to leak causing contamination.
We have had a later car than 2003 with this problem.

 

[st4]

Not sure whether Valeo radiators were still used, but it's always possible for another radiator to leak causing contamination.
We have had a later car than 2003 with this problem.

Was it a Behr radiator? I think that was the replacement supplier of radiators. I haven't bothered to check if mine is a Valeo, but if it is, I will change it for another brand I think.

 

[Dieselman]

Sorry, I can't remember, but it's possible for any radiator to crack allowing contamination. Only a seperate cooler guarentees no problems.

 

[st4]

Sorry, I can't remember, but it's possible for any radiator to crack allowing contamination. Only a seperate cooler guarentees no problems.

We had this one on a BMW forum a while ago, mainly because of the high rate of automatic gear box failures. Some owners, particularly ones who towed over a long distance fitted transmission coolers. It came apparent that under heavy loads the autobox (GM made ) overheated. An oil cooler got round this.

I was planning on going on a half share with my cousin on a caterham, and my E would be ideal for towing, and I thought an oil cooler might have been a preventative measure (way off topic but never mind).

My wheels balance fine BTW.

 

[Dieselman]

I wouldn't think the weight of a Caterham and trailer would defeat the oil cooler on your car.

 

[st4]

Gotta get the caterham first, with me in a lesser paid job than I was in before, it may be some time

 

[Bazzle]

Ive had to fix vibrations from balance BUT also from the front inner rear lower arm bushes getting soft AND from shocks that were not very old but had a valving fault.

Exact same symptoms.