Vibration in steering wheel

[Dominic Salemi]

I have a vibration in my steering wheel from 35 mph-50 mph while I'm driving. When I'm in park I can rev it up and get a vibration at a higher RPM all in the steering wheel.

I've rebuilt the motor, new harmonic balancer, new motor mounts, tranny mount, rag joint ect. I have not done anything in the steering column. Is there anything in the steering column that absorbs vibration? It does not wiggle. Before I rebuilt the motor I thought it was in my tires but recently bought new rims and tire after I had the motor rebuilt. When that did not work I then notice I did not have to be moving and can feel the vibration in the wheel. Now that I think about it I've had this vibration when I bought the car. Any thoughts?

[Jason Edge]

How are you are tie strut bushings, tie rods, and all other suspension bushing?  Has front end been aligned? Vibration in steering wheels is often caused by loose worn out steering and suspension. I remember that red SDV I use to have had the worst steering vibration when I first got it and was mostly due to completely worn out tie strut bushings. If any of the steering and suspension is suspect, I would replaced and have front end aligned. You Suspension, Steering and Braking are on par with the engine and drivetrain but often overlooked.

[Dominic Salemi]

Jason

I have all new bushing tie rod, tire and wheels road balanced twice, aligment ect . I did just go out and buy new tie rod strut bushing but have not put them in. Would they cause a vibration even when the car is not moving and transfer to the steering column?

[24ro8f5mbs2jc]

Vibration from suspension on a none-moving car is not possible. You do not have any vibration in the steering wheel when the engine is not operating and the car is not moving.

However, your "vibration" could actually be resonance, echo. Maybe the resonance/vibration is transmitted from the engine (or possibly transmission) to the steering wheel.

Have you done a cylinder balance test after rebuilt? It will indicate if there is a cylinder not working as intended and thereby creating a vibration. Suggest you check in manual page 9-5.

Incorrect mounted or not correctly torqued engine support mountings could also be the culprit, page 9-40

Also check alignment of the steering gear. Page 5-7.

If you can't find the vibration/resonance yourself you need to take the car to a good shop and have it checked. As further use could damage something.

[Dominic Salemi]

I will look into this as I'm thinking its in the motor. We rebuilt the motor but did not balance the motor.

Thanks

[Jason Edge]

I misread the statement about vibration when car is not moving. That would be a vibration from the drivetrain. However, the tie strut bushings are a critical part of the steering, suspension and alignment and since the tie-struts adjust the caster and can cause wheel shimmy you will want to have the front end aligned again once the tie strut bushings are installed.    

[1d5kgb41rmhu4]

See if any part of your exhaust system is contacting any part of the steering gear or linkage under the car. Turn the wheels from side to side while checking.

[Dominic Salemi]

Jeff

I had an expert check all that. When I bought the car it had a slight vibration thinking wheels, tune up ect. He said the motor was rebuilt. I have replaced everything on the car. In late 2016 I had the motor rebuilt. Started to drive the car after rebuild and still had a vibration. Replaced all with new tires and rims this year and had tire road forced balanced twice. After all this I notice when I rev motor up the steering wheel will vibrate when the car is in park. I'm going to pull motor again, balance it and make sure everything is correct. Not sure if when I bought it that person had a bad crank, rods ext. and never check it either.

Thanks

[Dominic Salemi]

Tony

I pay for everything to get done, its been very expensive. Yes new motor mount and newer yaw mounts on tranny.  

[Dominic Salemi]

If you raise the antenna and rev, does it wiggle like crazy when you get the vibration?-NO

The next question is the frequency of the vibration.  You can get an idea of the vibration's source by how rapid the pulses are.  Wheel vibrations are slower than engine vibrations, for instance, because the engine will turn up to 5X for one revolution of the wheels.  You can rule out whole systems using this info.- This happens when the car is sitting in park and I rev the motor.

Going by the description, if the pulse is local ONLY to the steering wheel, and happens when stationary, then I would take the belts off the engine and rev the car.  Maybe one of the pump vanes is broken and it's caused a 'flat spot' in the pump action.  This would make a pressure surge that you could feel in the pressure line, and would move the steering wheel rhythmically as the pressure fluctuates.  This would also be audible, though, as a roar or knock coming from the pump. I did all that and disconnected the torgue converter from the back of the flywheel. I did notice when I took everything apart and ran the motor the vibration was less.

1964 429 w/ the hydro tranny. I will look tomorrow at the antenna. I also put a new harmonic balancer on it.

[Chris McBride]

Mr. Salemi,

You have encountered one of the most frustrating issue in car repairs and also one very difficult to diagnose over the internet.

I don't know if you have a copy of the Cadillac Service Bulletin, The Gray Light of Dawn.  Consequently, I've attached one in the hope that it assists you in the resolution of your issue.  It is a scanned *.pdf file which is legible although the photos are murky. 

The article attempts to take a systematic approach to the diagnosis and treatment of various vibrations and sounds.  It may be helpful and does also mention some of the suggestions previously made.

Good Luck!

Chris

p.s.  Please LET us know when you fix it.  The knowledge will be very valuable to others in the future.

[Dominic Salemi]

Chris

This is a nice booklet to have. After really thinking about this I've had this problem since I bought the car but thought it was the turbo muffers he on the car, bad tires ect. Removed and replaced everything including the motor and still in there. I leaning torward something wrong inside of the motor. Ugh.

[Dominic Salemi]

Tony

That's my biggest fear is buying a new part it is defective. Everything was new when we rebuilt motor. One thing we notice the crank was tight when taking it apart before the rebuild (should of had the crank balanced). I took all belts off  and dis engaged the torque from the flywheel and the vibration lessen a little.