Vibration at 80mph +

[BlueQuinn]

Question no. 3 about my W124 300TE-24

Above about 80 MPH the hitherto smooth ride develops a slight vibration which can be felt through the seat, the steering wheel, everything really. At first I thought it was the road surface but it is definitely the car.

First of all, am I going to die horribly if I ignore it for a few months or more?

Secondly, what could be causing it? the mismatched tyre on one rear wheel? An out of balance propshaft? worn out suspension? a mount or two?

 

[trapperjohn]

Death of you nor the car is imminent.

Driving licence may take a battering

Could be all of them things or perhaps the engine mounts need renewing. Not expensive and well worth doing anyway.

 

[LTD]

I would suspect a tyre/wheel out of balance/true or a worn suspension component.

If it was related to the engine then it would surely be vibrating at a particular rev point rather than at a particular speed.

As John suggests, the cheapest fix is a lighter right shoe

 

[BlueQuinn]

Did I say 80 officer?
I was on an autobahn, obviously. ahem...

 

[BlueQuinn]

Oh, I don't know if it's relevant, but...
It tracks straight and true if you let go of the wheel
It brakes in a straight line
There were no suspension-related advisories on the last MoT
Both front engine mounts were replaced at 143,607 miles, (car has 205,000 now), but that was in 1997!

 

[developer]

I'd check the wheels for true and round.

Even a balanced wheel can cause a vibration at higher speeds if the wheel has a flatspot following, perhaps, pothole damage.

They can be hard to see to the naked eye so what I do is get the tyre shop to run them up on the balancer, while looking at the inside edge, which is where they normally damage.

Some say a vibe through the seat is from a rear wheel.

 

[E270 Owner]

Tyre wear can affect balancing also wheel condition so get them inspected.

I drove a car in the UK with no problems, until I went on the autobahn you realize at those speeds tyres and wheels need to be in perfect condition.
A wobble/vibration would develop between 130-150mph then disappear over 155mph.

I had them immediately re-balanced and vibration was removed.






.

 

[Charles Morgan]

It is most probably wheel balance. If you want it done properly and have your suspension checked then Wheels in Motion in Chesham are real Merc set up experts. They sorted the suspension on my W124 E300D and did the set up of the coilovers on my magical C55. Highly recommended.

Check the wheel nuts are correctly torqued too.

 

[GP801]

Had the same issue with our 124 only it was above 60mph. It took three tries at balancing the wheels to solve the problem.

 

[BlueQuinn]

I think my driveshaft snapping today has given me a big clue as to the cause of this! :-(

 

[renault12ts]

Oops!!

 

[Chalpkin]

I think my driveshaft snapping today has given me a big clue as to the cause of this! :-(

Hope you weren't going too fast, l had a propshaft go once on an old Cortina mk 3, luckily it failed the dif end I hate to think what might have happened if it went at the gearbox end!!

 

[ChrisA]

I think my driveshaft snapping today has given me a big clue as to the cause of this! :-(

Ouch.....

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

Ooops!

Once your driveshaft is fixed, hopefully the problem will be gone, but if not, sounds like a wheel balancing issue.