BAD Vibrations

[tirona]

good, than i don't have to worry about the hb recall then.

rspinajr, i;m not a mechanic, but this is what i'm thinking:
1) the vibration at high speeds could be bad roads, or you could have bad tires, or one of your wheels could be slightly damaged. have you ever hit anything, or maybe the previous owner? do you have original mb wheels, or do you have other ones? what size?
2) if you compress the suspension of course you will hear something, it;s probably still on original shocks and it;s a 11 year old car.
3) erase the codes and if cel comes back, than something is wrong. if it doesn;t, it;s probably nothing to worry about. wouldn;t hurt to clean the maf, and replace the air filter if it hasn;t been replaced for the last 3-4 years.

[ruBENZ_00E55]

My contribution:

1) The vibration: Harmonic balancer; motor mounts; front end alignment; uneven tire wear.

2) The creak: Front end bushings; springs.

3) The CEL: MAF sensor; O2 sensor.

Hope this helps.

[slybydesign]

I will say this much, when I had the HB replace along with the original pully and belt, 90% of the vibration I was feeling was gone, also I do feel new motor mounts wont hurt, cuz I get slight vibration on idle. I just now had my front tires replaced do to safety issues, tires where to big, 225/60 16 when I needed 215/55 16. This has helped dramaticly. The previous owner, nor myself knew this was wrong untill I rotated my tires last night. The humming-metal type, noise is 100%, because the rim and tire where rubbing againts the springs-unsafe. Now though, I need a new balancing, but its much better ride, even though its alot looser and extra road noise. Hope that help, I just did the tires an hour ago.

[RSPINAJR]

Thank you everybody for the input

tirona - I have the orginal MB 16" wheels with brand new tires. If i do new shocks i would really like to upgrade to make this car feel more planted, any suggestions?

ruBenz - the MAF sensor and O2 sensor are these DIY items?

Say i was to do everything: shocks, motor mounts, springs (would like to lower it a little) MAF, O2,Harmonic Balancer, bushings could anyone priortize the list?

[tirona]

you don't have to do the motor mounts, i would just do lower ball joints, bushings, shocks, and clean the maf. that's the most i would do.

[RSPINAJR]

in that order? any suggestions on shocks? Koni?

[slybydesign]

Originally Posted by tirona

you don't have to do the motor mounts, i would just do lower ball joints, bushings, shocks, and clean the maf. that's the most i would do.

tirona, you said "you don't have to do the motor mounts", just as a learning question why wouldnt you do motor mounts, doesnt new motor mounts help reduce front end vibration. Just curious, thank you

[ruBENZ_00E55]

Originally Posted by RSPINAJR

...ruBenz - the MAF sensor and O2 sensor are these DIY items?...

The MAF sensor is a definite DIY (less than an hour to exchange). O2 sensors is another story...a bit more complicated. Nonetheless, 98% of the time the issue is the MAF sensor.

[ruBENZ_00E55]

Originally Posted by RSPINAJR

...Say i was to do everything: shocks, motor mounts, springs (would like to lower it a little) MAF, O2,Harmonic Balancer, bushings could anyone prioritize the list?

In terms of prioritizing, I would address the creak first. Hopefully, that would remedy the vibration issue. If not, I would begin with the motor mounts, then the harmonic balancer. Hope you have a good indy shop. Good luck.

[RSPINAJR]

I found one - two germans off the boat going there on a suggestion from a friend not sure if I should jut go to a dealer first for a diagnosis