My '00 Super Black GXE went into the shop two months ago, and had a lot of work done to it, including new axles/CVs, new struts/mounts and I believe some new linkage & tie-rod-ish parts. There was other work done as well (an emissions canister near the trunk was replaced, e-brake cable I believe, and more....), but the front end stuff was the majority.

The problem:

If you drive this car like a granny, it's perfect. Absolutely no problems.

But if you drive.... let's say like a State Trooper who's in a bit of a hurry (brisk and direct), there is an issue. I you press kinda hard on the pedal (so your toes kinda curl a bit and you try to hit the sweet VQ torque/hp sweet-spot) the front end vibrates. Weird thing is, it doesn't happen as dramatically when you ho in a straight line as when you do something like turn left onto a freeway with cars behind you. The vibration is more dramatic after a left turn from a stop than a right turn.

The shaking won't jar your fillings out, but the shake is audible, you hear trim pieces rubbing and making noise from the vibration.

I asked my mechanic to check it out, he drove it on a snowy day, and he drives soooo slow and gentle.. when I asked him to step on it it was like nudging a snail; he didn't seem to have any concept of driving briskly, as if that's just not something you're supposed to do in a car. I can however understand that because of the weather he didn't want to ditch my car; so no harm, no foul.

After the indeterminate test drive, both the shop owner and the main mechanic shrugged their shoulders and said "sometimes a little vibration is a result after front end work like this. We'd likely have to disassemble all of our work to find the source".... they gave the impression that they just didn't feel it was worth it to them to want to fix this.

I need to take it back to him now that roads are clear.

I feel like the personality of my car is completely lost! I do a fair amount of 55-65 mph zone driving, and quite often have to accelerate quickly from a stop. This vibration is distracting... there's no way for me to change my perception of it and just say "oh, that's just my lopey VQ30, gawd it's teh powahfullz"...

Any advice on sourcing this problem and resolving it with my mechanics? They're nice guys, but it's an old man garage, riddled with vintage performance cars and some oddities. They have a small and very, very loyal customer base.

Thanks in advance.

 

Did it vibrate before the work was done?

 

Absolutely not.

 

Newer parts can reveal problems w/ some parts that aren't in good shape.

I would go back and YOU be the one to test drive while the mech rides shotgun. Tell him it didn't vibrate at all before the work was done.

It could be motor mounts

EDIT: you did say more obvious on turns, hmmm. Ball joints?

 

Ball joints, possibly wheel bearings. Wheels are balanced? Alignment is in spec?

Can you isolate the vibration in any way? Even though your description was detailed, we could use more info.

 

PLUS ONE ON THAT.....Cause Damn that is alot of money...

 

so vibrating while your car is accelerating?

 

Also one thing to note, just because they replaced parts doesn't mean they were installed properly, or they used parts that weren't defective.

I just read the symptoms again, and in addition to phatboislim's comment above, I'm now thinking that it may be a bad axle. Often CV's are poorly rebuilt that give you these types of issues.

Try to isolate the vibration first.

 

yea thats my thoughts as well...a bad axle...i was looking at your mods and you arent dropped so an axle replacment should solve your issues

 

probably the axle in my opinion. sometimes aftermarket axles arent perfectly straight/balanced and it can cause a bit of a steering wheel shake especially under acceleration.

im saying this cuz after i replaced an axle i started to get a slight wobble in the steering wheel under acceleration. i know its not the tire balance cuz as soon as i get off the accelerator the shaking stops and its nice and smooth.

basically after this long schpeel, check out the axles and see what brand they installed.

 

Since it happened right after you had work done, it makes sense that the issue is related to that.. If I hadn't known that I would have thought engine mounts... I replaced a lot of front end stuff and still had issues until it was determined i had 2 bad mounts

 

Probably the axle, if it wasn't there before the work it has to be something they changed.

 

on axle, have had the same issue

in addition - 3.5k for repairs - that's a lot for things you mentioned...
for that money you could probably redo entire suspension with dealer parts....
find another mechanic - that's from personal experience, after i got burnt

 

x1000

 

sounds like an axle/shaft issue. I would ask them to either warranty the shaft or replace it with a different make

 

 

Lol. The past 7 posts have ALL said that it's the axle. I think a consensus has been reached.


....now we just need the OP to come back and confirm, once they get it fixed.