Hi Scotty and Team.
I've just recently discovered a problem that has been occurring at high speeds recently. My car is a Ford Fiesta 2008 1.6 Petrol. When I am driving around 100km/h or more and I put load on the engine the car begins to shake and vibrate. When I no longer have load there is no vibration even though it is travelling at 100km/h. As I drive more the vibration seems to gradually worsen.
Last time I was under the car (few weeks ago) I discovered the drivers side CV axle had play in it, much more play than the passenger side CV axle. I also discovered that some grease has leaked out of the boot on the driver side. The thing is however, when I make full lock turns the CV axles are quite and do not clunk?
Is this my problem? Any other components I could try inspect as well?
Thanks and hope to hear.
Any codes at all?
Nope. I was thinking it may have been a misfire/ignition issue as well but no codes come up. I haven't changed spark plugs in a long time too. If it was an issue related to that a code should pop up I was thinking..
In addition to your CV axles, check all other front end parts for any play -
You might need to change the CV axle on the driver side.
Yep. I will be putting that on my number 1 to do list. Thanks mate.
I would do both at the same time. The you know you're starting out good.
Could also check motor mounts if you get excess vibration during engine load only
I was thinking of checking these as well. But, how do I check them without removing them as they are in very tight spots being a front-wheel drive as you would imagine..
Can you jack up the car? If so you can use a BAP, big a prybar lol if not you can do a simple test with a friend. E-brake, then pop the hood, turn on car and hold regular brake while shifting the carto drive. As the brake is held and the car is in drive (very important) hit the gas for a quick rev and DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES let go of the brake pedal. Your buddy should see the engine lurch forward or backward. (If not this you can also go to an open area with the hood popped open and just roll the car forward or reverse and then abruptly stop. You want to seethe engine move as it will be significantly obvious.) And of course if you are uncomfortable with any of these options a mechanic will be able to take a look haha
Thanks mate! I'll definitely give this one a go. Great tips there, saves me pulling the mounts off. Awesome!
Hi mate. Finally did some inspecting around my engine mounts --
Came across this today underneath the car. The bottom engine mount connecting the transmission and motor to the chassis. Do you think this is the issue, the rubbers seem worn. Is this worn out and do you think this is causing the vibration at highway speed?
Here's a link to the image on Image hosting : https://ibb.co/d5M9rV5
Yup, that's worn out. Can add to the problem.
I haven't gone under the car to check anything yet. But today I took her out for a long drive again and I realised that the vibration / shudder is not occurring while under load going down hills. It occurs mainly when there is a lot of load on the engine going straight and especially up hills at high speeds only.
I also realised the car is making a funny noise at low speeds when taking off like 'brrrrrrr' or something like that while in first and second gear taking off slowly.
Although there's no slippage between gears whatsoever, could this be a torque converter issue at all?
It well could be. Does it clunk if you load test it with a crowbar, with the car jacked up?