robobbi

Has anyone had a problem with the steering wheel vibrating when you're at a light or stop sign? My car is 6 weeks old, 1050 miles and yesterday when I was at a light the steering wheel began vibrating. It doesn't do it when I'm driving and it's just in the steering wheel and nowhere else. I know it will have to go to the dealer but I just wondered if anyone else had experienced this. Thanks.

ES350Bob

I have, both former and current ES350 and I thought it was related to engine, mine, both, have the diesel engine sound from cold start, current less than former.

Try this next time you are in the car. Put car in park or neutral and see if it goes away for the most part...switch back and forth between either D or R and park and neutral. Mine vibrates whenever in D or R and seems worse when car is hot--up to temp..

Please let us know what dealer service tells you about it if you are taking it in for it.

robobbi

It does go away when it's in park and reverse - seems only to happen when I'm stopped and in drive - and mine also seems to happen when the car is warmed up. I probably won't be taking it in till next week but I'll definitely let you know.

ES350Bob

Thanks Rob,

This may be a stretch but I thought--may still be--- the vibration was due to engine issues until I read the TSIB on transaxle replacement where it actually says vibration in steering wheel can happen if something is not just right after doing a replacement.

So, I thought if it can be caused by putting in a replacement transmission, then it can be off slightly when they are initially making them too putting them in at the factory and might worsen over time.

Maybe, you could ask dealer service to actually check for that for you as part of what they do even though I know the TSIB relates to a replacement.

wanderer99

My steering does not vibrate - nor floor\door\seats\console - when the vehicle is cold. Does your vehicle vibrate the steering when cold?

After about 3 mins of driving and I then stop at a light, the steering vibrates. As does the floor\door\seats and console. Putting the car into Neutral stops the vibration. Putting it back into drive starts it all again. I never thought to put it into reverse - I'll try that tomorrow.

My problem staretd after my first service at 8000kms. When I reported it to my dealer and went through the demonstration of the problem, I was advised it was normal. I explained it didn't happen before the first service. They still advised its normal.

kingofire

This is very common in cars that see a lot of stop and go driving. If that is the case with you, take the car on the highway and do some wot runs. It could also be a bad batch of gas too. If you cant resolve it then get a 8oz bottle of Tufoil from www.tufoil.net and pour it in your crankcase. You will have a quieter and a smoother engine. People who have a deisel knocking engine, try tufoil too. It will dramatically quiet the engine.

Disclaimer....I am not affiliated nor invest in tufoil. I just like the product and have used it religiously for over 750,000 miles in various cars i have owned.

ES350Bob

And if it does nothing for us we know who to send the bill to right?

robobbi

King - Thanks for the advice and I will take the car on the highway since most of my driving is stop and go. And this isn't an excuse but I'm a female and wouldn't know a crankcase from a suitcase!

kingofire

LOL......how about this, PM me your address and i will send you a complimentary bottle from me!

kingofire

Crankcase is where the oil goes in. First treatment, you put in the whole bottle then consequently you use 1oz per 1 quart of oil. I think the ES350 holds close to 6.5 quarts so just use 6oz. Personally i use the whole bottle every oil change and i see about 1.5mpg increase.

P.S. WOT in my previous post stands for Wide Open Throttle which is basically "gas paddle to the metal"

NGG

My ES350 also did this. I put it down to being front wheel drive, i.e. the engine is connected to the transmission which in turn is connected to the wheels, which are also connected to the steering. So when in gear at a stop sign, the transmission is under load and as it can't turn the drive shafts as they are braked at the wheels, the minor engine vibrations are transmitted via the above connections. My inexpert two cents anyway. Engineering types you may chime in.

dunnojack

definitely engine vibration i would say. somehow the engine doesn't vibrate at the right frequency and everything just resonates, like two sine waves crashing and becoming a huge sine wave.

but what do i know..........

ES350Bob

Robob...

On page 282 of manual is a diagram and #2 is where you would add the oil additive.

On page 387 it say 6.4 quarts total of oil, so king's suggestion to use 6 oz of the stuff seems right.

You may want to wait to add the stuff until after you have gone to service and they review the vibration but the highway driving you don't need to wait to try it.


King...I had no idea an engine could use up to 1.1 quarts of oil per 600 miles as a maximum, seems excessive to me, yet it says that in our manual on page 287 and if using more than that per each 600 miles we are to report it to service department.

dreyfus

I agree, that sounds really excessive, and I wouldn't want to own a car that burned through that much oil.

I once owned a '72 Celica that blew through a quart of straight 50w every 15 miles - but that was only driving it to the dealer after it had blown a seal....

robobbi

I shouldn't assume you're all males but that's just what I'm doing! Thanks for the help from all of you - I really appreciate it....and I'm getting educated on the "workings" of my car - not just the driving of it.