Rice

There are many reasons why a car may vibrate. However, the most common or likely are wheels and tires.
I had vibration on my car and got rid of it.
Here's how:
The first thing I did was to balance all 4 wheels. That helped a little, but failed to eliminate all the vibes.
Then, I bought 4 new tires and balanced again. This was not too bad, considering that my old tires were... old. This decreased vibration, but not by much.
Finally, I realized that one ore more of my rims were bent. Since I couldn't just buy 4 new rims, I began experimenting by moving rims from front to back. I knew, that if that changed the way my car vibrated, then, in fact, those were the rims. That also gave me a hint of which rims were good and bad. Sure enough, when I switched the rims around, my vibration pattern changed. Now I knew that it is definitely one or more of my rims that are bent, since the rubber is new and balanced.
How did I figure out which rim is bent? Well, I got lucky there. Right at the time of my trials, my friend wrecked his 96 LS. So, I took his rims and began experimenting with the combination of his and mine wheels. Eventually, I got it right.
Now, I don't have any vibration at any speed
If I didn't have extra 5 wheels to play with, I would've just bought one new rim and substituted it for each of mine until I found the culprit. Those who have an unused spare, can use that to do the diagnostic.

SRK

You method would work well, but at the time of balancing, a good tire shop would have noted any run-out on any wheel. There are tolerances for radial and axial run-out which they should check for.

Lexkost

I had a vibration problem , balanced tires 3 times no luck and then I took it to another place and they got them right .......and then I had front rotors turned and replaced rear rotors with new .........Car has NO vibration at all.............It is smoother that ever!!!!! and even smoother that when I had stock tires and wheels!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LSPilot

Thanks guys. '98 LS, your theory is a sound one. The only comment I have is that, the 'phase' or 'waves' of vibration are not even or consistent. For example, if I set the cruise at 70 mph the car will vibrate pretty heavily for awhile and then it will settle into that speed--the vibration will almost completely disappear. Then, if I change the torque on the drivetrain (by disengaging cruise, or speeding up, etc.) the vibration will come back. If I remain on the new speed for, say 10-20 seconds, the vibration goes away again at the new speed.

I'm no expert, but I think I have a good concept of what a wheel out of balance feels like. It's usually speed-specific and felt mostly through the steering wheel. IMHO, this is a different animal. The vibration feels drivetrain related. I've read through an awful lot of posts about this car being cranky regarding wheel balance, so I know you are all going to roll your eyes at the next paragraph.

I just ordered a new rear transmission mount from www.newlexusparts.com for under $60.00 shipped (dealer wanted $90). It may be a shot in the dark, but I took it to Johnson's alignment here in L.A. about an hour ago. He's well known as a real pro (read very expensive) and got my '97 E420 'just right' about 6 months ago.

Anyway, from my description of the problem and his inspection of all the bushings, he told me the rear transmission mount looked like the culprit. He originally thought motor mounts, but he had me put it in and out of D and R and rev the engine. There was almost no movement of the motor. When I got underneath and looked at the trans mount, I could see what he meant. It was cracked and nasty and you could clearly see that if it didn't stay rigid, it could throw the whole drivetrain out of whack.

I almost paid the stealership price just so I could come home and install it, but I know better than that. I'll keep you all posted on any developments.

-Josh

98 LS

Josh ...........

Yes, it sounds like you are on too it.

Also, it goes without saying that your bushings in the drivetrain and suspension need to be sound.

98

LSPilot

98LS, you're definitely right about the rest of the bushings. While I was under the car today we actually did inspect the drive shaft bushings. They both looked good. Also we inspected the control arm bushings and the radius arm bushings. According to the tech, they all looked fine. One other note is that the struts have less than 5k on them and the tires less than 10k. The car has 134k total.

I had the new trans bushing in my hand today, but walked when the dealer quoted me $90. The rubber on that bushing looked a whole lot different than what I saw under the car today. The one on my car is squished and cracked. Hopefully this is it. The part should come in this week. I'll keep you all posted.

-Josh

sonbum1

iTrader: (3)

Hey LSpilot good luck with that tranny mount make sure you post your results also if you haven't done so go look at retrodrives web site, he has so much info avalible on the LS with a section on vibrations, I had a problem with my car vibrating, from his site I learned that the lexus dealer ship does a very high speed wheel balencing, so I had that done........big difference

Lexozz

This vibration problem again? Well I still have it! Yes it is the wheels out of balance, the most common problem, but when you take your LS to the tire shop make sure they clean the spot where they are going to put the weights on. If not they will fall right off and you've just wasted your money unless they garantee that type of work. I know most shops don't! There was one time I had to demand that a tire shop rebalance my tires because the weights fell off. Even after all that hassle the damn things still fell off again. You just have to find a good tire shop that takes their time to do the job right.
For you guys in Brooklyn, NY there is one good shop that took their time on my LS, can't remember the name but it is on Remsen Ave. the corner of Lenox Ave. They do great work!

LSPilot

So LexOZ, you're saying that the transmission bushing didn't help with your problem?

Thanks for the tip Sunbum. Looks like I need to sack up and go to the dealer for the 'high-speed balancing on the car' trick if the 'transmission bushing' trick doesn't help. Actually, maybe I'll just do the dealer balancing first thing tomorrow so I can rule that out completely and GET EVERYONE THAT KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT OFF MY BACK!!! I hope everyone got the subtle humor there.

BTW Retro, nice site dude! That was an awesome article on the drag coefficient. I was just telling my dad today that when I drove the car back from Austin last week, I got 29 mpg on one tank--and I was averaging 80mph!

I ran the tank way down below E because there were no services for an 80 mile stretch in Arizona. When I filled up, my trip meter had 525 miles on it since the last fill up... but I only put in 18.1 gallons! According to the book, I had almost 4 gallons left! That means this thing could have a range of over 600 miles even cruising at 80 mph! Let's just say my new baby Lexy had me at hello...

Screw Mercedes, Lexus ROCKS!!!

persian451

get the same problem too with the shift **** shaking and steering wheel vibration around 60-75mpg, anything higher or lower than that it rides smooth. I had thoughts about the motor and tranny mounts. I just got new tires and had everything rebalanced so I dont know if it could be the balancing.

I would change the mounts but I heard labor costs is a pain

Lexkost

Easy and free test rotate ONLY one side of the car and note vibration if no change do other side Also remember flat spots make sure tires a warmed- up while checking the vibration, if no change after all this look elsewhere.

LSPilot

Hey Persian451, yes the actual motor mounts are a lot of labor to R&R. One thing to test if the mounts have gone bad is to open the hood and, from the driver's seat, look at the top of the engine. Shift into Drive, see if the engine rocks more than a quarter of an inch or so. Then hold the brake firmly and rev the engine while still in gear. If you see the entire motor swaying excessively inside the compartment as you gun it this is supposed to mean that your motor mounts are bad.

Mine are good (luckily) but the tech thought the tranny mount looked worn. If the new tranny mount doesn't help, I'm headed to the dealership for a high-speed balancing.

Lexkost; when I originally test-drove the car, I noticed a vibration that seemed like wheel balance. In anticipation of my 20-hour drive home, I got the tires balanced and rotated. This did nothing to affect the vibration at all. Either they didn't balance them correctly and I was stuck with the same situation as before, or this vibe is unrelated to wheel balance.

Hopefully the trans mount will get here soon so I can put this thing to bed!

-Josh

Shaffer

I have not posted about my vibration here yet, but have on the LexusOwnersClub. It seems like vibrations are very common on these cars, because they are so smooth otherwise.

My only complaint (other than the downshift buzzing from the drivetrain - see other topic) is that my car has a vibration at speeds between 40-60 and seems to be getting worse and covering more speeds. The tires are nearly brand new, so I do not think it is the tires. It is a faint, but noticable vibration. It does not shake the steering, but vibrates the entire car. Any suggestions? Someone mentioned driveshaft, or u-joints. Would a bad engine/transmission mount cause this? Another symptom is that when my car is first started and it is idling at about 1500 rpms- there is a vibration coming from the engine every second or so, as if something is out of round. After it warms up for about 3 minutes- it goes away. Could this be a sign of a bad motor mount?

Thanks for any advice.

SRK

It is still necessary to check the alignment of all four wheels to ensure that toe in or out is not causing the vibration. My car drove well enough when I bought it, but I still had a guy I trust do the alignment. As is typical with these cars, everything is fully adjustable. Very easy to align actually. The car was transformed and is rock steady at all speeds. And its a 92! Don't chase the bad wheel bad tire thing if they are eliminated at this point - have a good alignment done.

theomms

steering whell and shifter vibration waves at 60+ that that come and go at infrequent and variable intervals

i have that exact problem

my car has 129,000 miles

i have had wheel balace, bent rim, and alignment problems on different cars but all of those vibrations are constant; they do not have the "wave" effect.

98LS may be right about a two malfunctioning parts, but to have the same two parts malfunction in such a way as to cause the same exact symptoms in three or more cars seems unplausible. stranger things have happened before.

i am going to the dealer this week some time to see what they can tell me.i will let youu guys know what happens

this problem sucks, but at least i dont feel alone.