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Post by papacadillac1 on Jan 15, 2014 15:11:33 GMT -6
Just got my 99 Aurora back on the road three weeks ago after replacing the ignition switch,(There's a thread on here somewhere!) and now I have ANOTHER issue. Yesterday morning I was on my way to work and noticed a shimmy started in my steering wheel and the gas pedal. After a few miles it got a little worse, and after the 30 mile trek and a few hundred yards to go I would have sworn the right front tire had gone flat! I slowly limped into the lot and parked, got out expecting a flat tire and was shocked to find nothing wrong at all. Puzzled, I drove home and tested some things: At 60mph, I shifted into neutral, still vibrated. I then accelerated back up to speed, no difference in vibration. The vibration is worst in the center and a little less when turning right or left. If I take my hand off the wheel, the car wants to veer left. Braking has no effect on the vibration, either. There was no grinding noise, but there was the slight "flopping" which along with the vibration sold it as a flat.
I just jacked up both sides and checked for any obvious causes such as the control arm bushings, the sway bar bushing or link, and the cv axle will not budge when I try to push it up or down. The wheels, both of them, have very slight play when I pull and push with both hands at 9-3 and 12-6 oclock positions. The wheels should be rock solid with NO play, correct?
I suspect the hubs need replacing and was hoping that someone on here had the same symptoms and could offer advice on how to proceed...The lack of a grinding or similar sound like the other descriptions throws me off where the hub is concerned, so the cv axle is still in the mix, I guess.
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Post by renaldo0613 on Jan 15, 2014 23:30:20 GMT -6
Ok. First things first. If its pulling to the left then my guess would be something has happened on the driver side for sure. Double check all suspension/steering componets on the driver side again. Inner/outter tie rod, sway bar link, shock/struts and mount, control arm busings (i think its 3 of them per control arm). Usually when a cv axle goes bad it will lead to a clicking noise. When a hub assembly on these cars go bad, usually its a humming sound associated with it. Im not sure. Hard to diagnose nosies via internet. Good luck. Keep us posted.
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tigger
Administrator 
Posts: 2,844 
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Post by tigger on Jan 16, 2014 0:16:20 GMT -6
What shape are your tires in? Look for a separation (a bubble) inner and outer sidewalls.
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RCA1186
Administrator
Rob
Go Pack Go!
Posts: 4,837
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Post by RCA1186 on Jan 16, 2014 9:48:19 GMT -6
Exactly I'd guess a separated belt in one of your tires.
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Post by renaldo0613 on Jan 16, 2014 17:53:52 GMT -6
Exactly I'd guess a separated belt in one of your tires. Well if it's pulling to the right, then it should be the front driver side tire?.. Swap the tires in the front and see if the car pulls in the opposite direction. |
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Post by papacadillac1 on Jan 17, 2014 5:17:15 GMT -6
With a dirt driveway and no carport I'll be pulling into my neighbors garage and jacking up the front end onto jackstands where I can get a real look at everything. DST has it where Sunday is the soonest I can do it. Thankfully I have my S-10 to fall back on. Interestingly, I did manage to get a good look at the drivers side cv where it goes into the transaxle and there's a good bit of nasty dried grease underneath. Sunday I'll be sure to investigate that more closely, but I'm gravitating toward that as the chief suspect!
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Post by papacadillac1 on Jan 19, 2014 10:16:57 GMT -6
Just finished inspecting the driver's side cv and the inner boot basically suffered a rupture based on the grease and grime collected underneath and surrounding it. Pushing down on it lightly produces a nice clicking sound, so I can only imagine the movement when the car is moving at 60mph. Also, the inside tread of the tire is worn in pretty good which explains the pull to the left. Anyway, I'm going to research and tally costs for both cv joints, new sway bar links and the bushings that the swaybar runs through at the body a few inches from the bend, and a new seal for the tranny/cv opening(Can't remember the name of it, but you know what I'm talking about). Two new tires are also in order as I can't comfortably ride on them after looking at them closely. The rear tires are great so they'll be swapped up front and the new tires will go on the back. The rest of the suspension parts look and feel okay, so I'm confident that replacing the parts listed will solve the problem and add a few years to the ol Aurora.
Now to figure out where the $$$ will come from!
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Post by papacadillac1 on Jan 22, 2014 12:40:43 GMT -6
Update: Looking at the driver's side tire, the inside first inch and a half of the tread is scalloped as if it had been pressed in somehow, which looks like it was rubbing. I turned the wheel while watching and the coil turns slightly wiith the tire. My guess is the strut assembly, or a part of it, has failed and the tire was damaged as a result of the strut (The disk part of it) rubbing into it. Anyone had this happen?
I guess after studying it I should plan on getting new struts and mounts.
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Post by papacadillac1 on Jan 22, 2014 17:02:17 GMT -6
Okay. Everything I've looked at says that a uniform cupping of the inner edge of the tire indicates a bad strut. There's no rubbing. I'm not an expert, just trying to be logical. I'm going to end up replacing the struts and the strut mounts as the bushings up top on both look original and when the wheels are turned the rubber looks REALLY OLD.
Hopefully this will solve the problem. Also going to replace the swaybar links, swaybar mounts, and any other dried up looking bushings that are visible since they're easy and cheap and I might as well since I'll have easy access to them with the wheel and strut assembly out of the way.
Now it's just a waiting game til payday!
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Post by Toronado3800 on Feb 20, 2014 19:30:02 GMT -6
Okay. Everything I've looked at says that a uniform cupping of the inner edge of the tire indicates a bad strut. There's no rubbing. I'm not an expert, just trying to be logical. I'm going to end up replacing the struts and the strut mounts as the bushings up top on both look original and when the wheels are turned the rubber looks REALLY OLD. Hopefully this will solve the problem. Also going to replace the swaybar links, swaybar mounts, and any other dried up looking bushings that are visible since they're easy and cheap and I might as well since I'll have easy access to them with the wheel and strut assembly out of the way. Now it's just a waiting game til payday! How did all that go? Nothing like the middle of winter to be working on your car. |
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Post by papacadillac1 on Feb 28, 2014 20:44:55 GMT -6
Examined the front left wheel that was scalloped on the inside...there's a puncture, and a rather large one. I'd say around an inch and a half long. The tire is on the back left right now and I have a set that my brother picked up from the "pull a part" in Columbia that I'm picking up Sunday. I have been driving the car for the past few days and haven't had a repeat of the symptoms on the front, and since the drive to work and back home is 60 miles round trip, after a week or two I should have seen some kind of problem with the front left tire(which originally was the rear left tire), but there's no problem at all. My theory is that I'm going to swap that scalloped tire Sunday afternoon and let all of the air out and dig in that cut and find a chunk of metal...that would cause the tire to be out of balance and jump a good bit. Haven't fixed anything really since the ol' wallet is thin right now, but if this turns out to be the problem, I'll only be out 40 bucks for two tires.
I am going to replace the bushings that need replacing along with the sway bar links, but at least I think they're out of the lineup as suspects. I'll post the results in a few days.
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Post by papacadillac1 on Mar 8, 2014 18:37:27 GMT -6
Update...I took the Rora to a local tire shop who said the right hub was fine, but the front left hub was on it's last legs, along with the inner tie rod being toast. The package from RockAuto just came this morning...tomorrow will see a new set of inner tie rods and new hubs on the front. I also went back to the Pull a Part and found a beautiful hood and supports from a nice donor car which also had a practically new set of swaybar bushings which I grabbed(haven't found anything online for a stock replacement and didn't feel great about trying to fabricate a set, so, SCORE). While there, I grabbed the cruise control module, so hopefully that works.
Been a great day at the salvage yard, and tomorrow should be even better. Mid week I should be able to strap some new rubber to her and pop that hood on and be driving a much improved Aurora!
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Post by papacadillac1 on Mar 10, 2014 18:20:33 GMT -6
Hubs done in no time. The inner tie rods...YEEAAARRRGGHHHH!
None of the loaners from the suto parts stores in the nearest town carry the tool that can handle the size that this joint needs. I don't know if it's the stock original inner tie rod, but the joint is blue. I messed with the frickin thing for a while until I had to go online and just buy one which should be here tomorrow or the day after. Frustrating when they build a car and seem to integrate these little parts in a way where you have to have "special" tools to solve the issue.
Oh well. While I'm waiting for the tool to get here, maybe my ego can heal.
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Post by papacadillac1 on Mar 14, 2014 18:21:10 GMT -6
Ok. Tail between my legs. Went in this morning after calling the tire place. They happily installed the inner tie rods, new rear tires, and aligned all four corners. All better. Steering is tight, tires track down the road and want to stay straight. I'm not used to driving without worrying about tires. What now?
Brakes.
Oh, the front hubs went on in NO time. I had no idea it would be the tie rods that would kick my butt. It always comes down to the tools.
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Post by Toronado3800 on Mar 14, 2014 22:17:12 GMT -6
Just wanted to say thanks for the updates Pappacadillac. A good completed thread ads alot to the knowledge base.
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