Front end vibration/steering shimmy

[Gelfpeople]

Had the same problem on a 97 MPV. Bought the car used serval years ago. When I brought it back to the dealer they swapped the two front tires and the problem went away. Made them put two new tires on anyway and have not had the problem again.


Gary

[ob-wan]

The front end & the steering wheel of my 98 MPV badly vibrates between 60 & 65 mph. I have the problem since I put Bridgestone tires at 30k miles. I guess the originals wore out so soon due to South Florida heat. The shaking is very obvious to all riding in the car. I tried wheel balancing several times & that didn't work. At 50k miles my front tires were badly feathered & worn out. This time I only changed the front tires with Michelins. Now at 57k miles I have had alignment done & all wheels balanced several timesplus had one rim changed on dealers recommendation. Still the problem wont go away. Mazda dealer says that MPVs have this problem. Tire dealer (Costco) says he has balanced them almost to perfection. Any ideas guys? On highway you will find me driving either at 50 mph or 70 mph.[/b]

I bought my 2003 MPV used, with approx. 35,000 miles. Since the test drive (which should have been my signal to not buy it) it's had both braking vibration AND driving vibration, noticeable over 55mph. The dealer replaced brake pads and put new tires on it. Still vibrations. As for the brakes, after I bough it... replaced front rotors and pads. Still vibrated. Tested parking brake going about 55mph, and the whole van shook. So it was isolated to rear brakes. Replaced drums, as the old ones had obvious hot spots. Still no change however! Still violently shakes when braking.

As for vibration while driving, even though the tires from the dealer were fairly new, I took it to a shop to find the problem. They said it was the tires, because they were cupped. Okay, so I replaced all 4 tires with brand new Kumho's. Still vibrated, although it was ever so slightly better. Took the van to "my" mechanic, someone experienced that I trust, and he rebalanced all 4 tires, checked the trueness of the wheels and tires. Still has the vibration.

Other forums and consumer complaints suggest secondary drive-train components as a possible source of the problem. I just don't know how willing I am to go through much more troubleshooting. At what cost do I troubleshoot until I finally give up, and look back at the wasted money!?

So anyone with a SUCCESSFUL fix, I'd appreciate an e-mail.
Thanks!
OB

[rdoan1976]

Another thing to look for are bent rims. I have a bent rim on my Miata that causes shaking when I drive over 65 mph. If it is that, there are shops that can re-machine your rims to stop the shaking.

[Netopia]

I work for a tire place and I'm A.S.E. TECH> It can be only a couple of thing's
1.Tires or bent rim's (a tire can be brand new and still give you a crappy ride)
(And any body can balance out a bent rim & just say it was fine it balanced out perfect)
Watch them spin your wheel you have that right!

2. an alignment only pull's your wheel's straight and keep's them from wearing down quicker
(IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR SHAKEING)
3>could be your wheelbearing's
4.you have way to much air presure in your tires (I mean way too much)like 90 psi in a 35 psi tire seen it a lot on van's

[2000MPV]

My 2000 MPV is in the shop having the left hub bearing replaced. This was a result from the van vibrating and possiblly pulling to the right.

[shepherd1@hotmail.com]

I have a 2003 MPV that was new last November. The vehicle has had bad vibration problem from day one. The dealer balanced tires, aligned, generally mucked with suspension and finally replaced the stock 15 inch tires with Michelins. It's better but it still shudders on the highway. I've heard that this is a common problem with all 15 inch MPV's. Anyone else heard the same thing? [/b]

We have an '03 MPV LX and have had the same front end vibration from the beginning. We had OE Dunlops for around 3,000 mi. and the vehicle was in the shop for no less than 4 times (at least a total of 12 days) for rebalancing and analyses.

Finally, the dealer could not rectify the vibration problem, so we had new tires (Goodyears -- can't remember the type, but 215/60R-16) which performed well for about 15,000 miles. We then experienced the vibration problems and routinely brought the vehicle in for re-alignments and balancing, which mildly helped the situation.

Now, we have 58,000 mi. on the vehicle and the vibration (same Goodyears) was unbearable. To rectify this, we had the front brakes done (the lateral run out on the old rotors was well beyond specifications), new tires (Nokian WRs-allweather...love'em), and new struts and shocks. As it turns out, the OE struts are crap and the rear shocks are not designed for use unless the van is loaded down. As a consequence, the rear-end shocks cannot effectively keep the rear tires on the road, so you end up with cupping or flat spots. The same happens with bad struts. So, we had to spend another $600.00 on struts and shocks and now we have absolutely no vibration.

This is the tip of the iceberg for the annoyances that we have had to deal with as MPV owners. Just this week, we had to have all of the sparkplugs and coil/wires replaced at 58,000 mi. and the dealer would not even consider pitching our case to Mazda. Basically, the OE coil/wire packs are of poor quality and go bad. I suppose we were lucky to get this far, but we had the van into the dealer at 46,000 because our gas mileage had dropped by 25%. They could not dianose the problem because there were no parts failures, but they failed to practice old-fashioned know-how, take the plugs out and inspect them. So, we have driven at least 12,000 miles on a faulty ignition system. From what I can tell on other web-sites, is that a number of people have had repeated visits to their dealer to remedy the same problem. So, to replace 6 spark plugs and the three back coilpack/plug wires cost us $600.00. This high cost is due to the labor needed to completely remove the intake manifold to access the rear plugs, and in part to the high cost of each coilpack (~$80.00/each).

In fine, the MPV has Ford's fingerprints all over it. I own two Mazda vehicles and will not be a return customer given that Mazda knows about persistent problems and will not step up to the plate and provide after warranty assistance even when you have a documented problem they could not solve.

[wong_kin@hotmail.com]

We have an '03 MPV LX and have had the same front end vibration from the beginning. We had OE Dunlops for around 3,000 mi. and the vehicle was in the shop for no less than 4 times (at least a total of 12 days) for rebalancing and analyses.

Finally, the dealer could not rectify the vibration problem, so we had new tires (Goodyears -- can't remember the type, but 215/60R-16) which performed well for about 15,000 miles. We then experienced the vibration problems and routinely brought the vehicle in for re-alignments and balancing, which mildly helped the situation.

Now, we have 58,000 mi. on the vehicle and the vibration (same Goodyears) was unbearable. To rectify this, we had the front brakes done (the lateral run out on the old rotors was well beyond specifications), new tires (Nokian WRs-allweather...love'em), and new struts and shocks. As it turns out, the OE struts are crap and the rear shocks are not designed for use unless the van is loaded down. As a consequence, the rear-end shocks cannot effectively keep the rear tires on the road, so you end up with cupping or flat spots. The same happens with bad struts. So, we had to spend another $600.00 on struts and shocks and now we have absolutely no vibration.

This is the tip of the iceberg for the annoyances that we have had to deal with as MPV owners. Just this week, we had to have all of the sparkplugs and coil/wires replaced at 58,000 mi. and the dealer would not even consider pitching our case to Mazda. Basically, the OE coil/wire packs are of poor quality and go bad. I suppose we were lucky to get this far, but we had the van into the dealer at 46,000 because our gas mileage had dropped by 25%. They could not dianose the problem because there were no parts failures, but they failed to practice old-fashioned know-how, take the plugs out and inspect them. So, we have driven at least 12,000 miles on a faulty ignition system. From what I can tell on other web-sites, is that a number of people have had repeated visits to their dealer to remedy the same problem. So, to replace 6 spark plugs and the three back coilpack/plug wires cost us $600.00. This high cost is due to the labor needed to completely remove the intake manifold to access the rear plugs, and in part to the high cost of each coilpack (~$80.00/each).

In fine, the MPV has Ford's fingerprints all over it. I own two Mazda vehicles and will not be a return customer given that Mazda knows about persistent problems and will not step up to the plate and provide after warranty assistance even when you have a documented problem they could not solve.[/b]

May I ask what brand or model of new struts and shocks you've used as replacement. How did you find out the struts is bad?
$600 seemed decent for both parts and labor cost, if that really improve the ride. My 04 front end shakes like the car itself is absorbing the shocks but not the suspension. I didn't have the coil problem yet, but I heard another 04 owner had already replaced one of the coils.

[atashashane@hotmail.com]

I may not have the same model as you, but I had a similar experience a year or two ago. The front right wheel would vibrate violently between 40 and 50 mph, regardless of acceleration or deceleration. The tires were rotated and balanced and the problem was almost gone. after a while, it came back again. The shop should be Performing Wheel Alignment and it was fine ever since.