light chassis vibration, opinion needed
i'm looking for some forum opinion on my vibration case. please chime in if you can.
a while ago, vibrations started to happen with my early 463.
vibration speeds are around 12-15 kmh (7-9 mph), around 50 kmh (30 mph), and around 85-100 kmh (53-63 mph)
all prop shafts (front, back has been taken down, balanced and greased) and CV boot wobble has also been repaired.
the vibrations has toned down a lot, but there's still some light tremor that i can feel around my left thigh and butt (the G is a RHD). so it's coming from around the CV boot or Transfer case area.
both front and back shafts had been taken down again & put on the balancing machine. it's still spot on.
the mechanic is suspicious on the transmission and transfer case rubber mountings.
is it a possibility that the mountings may be the cause of the leftover vibrations?
coincidentally, the light vibrations is still happening in the same speed as before (the shafts were repaired & balanced)
and last newbie question, does the CV boot have to be balanced after repair? or does it have to be installed in a specific position?
the repair shop is the only commercial shop in indonesia who has the prop shaft balancing machine, and mechanic claims that they do not have the machine that can balance the CV boot, and never seen any that can.
thanks for reading.
Hello Shochu,
The cente prop. shaft (p/shaft) can cause such an imbalance, considering you have checked the other p/shafts. You have not mentioned of any attention paid to the tyres. Checked to see if these are balanced firstly, making sure intially, that the tyres run true and that they are not excessively, and unevenly worn in areas.
The centre p/shaft, one in between the gearbox (g/box) and transfer Box (t/box); to some 463 models, are fitted with cv joints at the p/shaft. end develop limited articulation as the grease in it, hardens. To properly check, remove the p/shaft. Check for articulation of CV joint and, or U/joints. Movement must be free and smooth. Check for play as well. If o.k. refit and re-grease the shaft. Note, wear occurrs on the p/shaft slides, which can cause imbalance, more in particular with front p/shafts. (t/box to front diff).
You mentioned t/box mounts, these can cause vibrations but as in the manner you have described your imbalance, I would say the probability of these being the cause, would be minimal.
After all that is done and you still have an imbalance, then the t/box its self could be the cause of your problem. This is a difficult one to simulate a problem with, all you can check for is any excessive backlash on the flange area. One final suggestion is to make sure the flange faces mate perfectly. From my past experience, I have had some improved results by sandwiching thin flat washers inbetween flanges of each bolt.
Good luck,
one other thing i forgot to mention
i don't know whether or not this means anything, but the vibrations seem to go away when i lift my foot off the accelerator pedal (even though the speed is still the same). it is as if when i press the gas pedal, and the tire traction against the road increases, the vibration is felt the most.
fwiw, all 4 tires are new. the one that has a very slight uneven wear from previous wheel bearing problem has been moved as spare. and the wheel alignment has been done after the wheel bearing was changed.
one other thing i forgot to mention
i don't know whether or not this means anything, but the vibrations seem to go away when i lift my foot off the accelerator pedal (even though the speed is still the same). it is as if when i press the gas pedal, and the tire traction against the road increases, the vibration is felt the most.
fwiw, all 4 tires are new. the one that has a very slight uneven wear from previous wheel bearing problem has been moved as spare. and the wheel alignment has been done after the wheel bearing was changed.
Schochu, it is perfectly normal that vibrations appear under load and disappear when you lift the throttle. Unfortunately this does not help to find their source.
Good luck
so i came back from wasting some time and money in the tire shop balancing and doing wheel alignment :(
tires are just a couple of months old, and the truck is driven almost everyday. on days when i use the other car, the G gets moved out of the way. so chances of flat spots on the tires are quite low.
the center CV shaft after repair feels solid enough without any shake or play when grabbed by hand. (this after the repair)
strange thing is that the vibration speeds are exactly the same as it was before the CV shaft repair, rear shaft balanced, and one of the joint replaced on the front shaft & balanced.
so, the next question is, could the prior vibration directly cause anything to weaken?
i guess the next thing to try will be the rubber mountings on the transmission and transfer case.. we'll see how that goes. if they're not the, i'm stumped. maybe i'll just leave things be. :(
is vibration free '97 463 with 110,000km really too much to ask for?
It's unlikeley but you could just check your engine and gearbox mounts.
It's unlikeley but you could just check your engine and gearbox mounts.
gearbox mount = transmission mount?
i'll try to get them replaced this weekend or next, if i can find the parts
we'll see if that changes anything..
thx for posting
dentsmithy wrote:It's unlikeley but you could just check your engine and gearbox mounts.
gearbox mount = transmission mount?
i'll try to get them replaced this weekend or next, if i can find the parts
we'll see if that changes anything..
thx for posting
Your mechanic should be able to tell if they are worn without having to replace them, but if one of them was damaged it could throw the prop shaft out.
i had the transmission / gearbox mount changed today, sad to say, that didn't change anything. i'm still struggling to find myself a set of transfer case mounts, none of the part shops have them, and i already called a few dealers, also without any result.
but i'll get them soon. hopefully that changes something..
i had the transmission / gearbox mount changed today, sad to say, that didn't change anything. i'm still struggling to find myself a set of transfer case mounts, none of the part shops have them, and i already called a few dealers, also without any result.
but i'll get them soon. hopefully that changes something..
Over here it is entirely normal for any MB dealer to not stock GWagen parts but most wear and tear parts can be had within one working day because they are stocked by Mercedes-Benz España... most of the others can be ordered by the dealer to Mercedes-Benz Germany and sent over...
same thing here, they also don't stock a lot of parts, especially for Gs because of the low quantity of vehicles around
big difference:
if you're lucky, the main MB parts center in jakarta will have the parts, takes 2 days to get to your dealer
if not, they'll see if they have the parts in singapore (which doesn't make any sense because i don't think there are any Gs over there), 2 weeks shipping
if god hates you, they will have to order from germany, 4 weeks shipping (unless you pay extra for the courier service)
i must have done something really bad lately, no TC mounts in JKT or SIN :(
i finally got the TC mounts last weekend and had them replaced.
didn't change a single thing, even though it is evident that all TC mounts & the gearbox mount were due for replacement
i guess i'll let things be, for now :(
after a couple of more days driving, it does seem that the vibration is significantly less than before, although not completely gone.
funny, i could've sworn there weren't any change during the trip coming home from the mechanic.
my take on this is that some of these vibrations were caused not by one singel thing but my the combinations of multiple smaller issues. after each time something were replaced/repaired the noise/vibration gets better. i think now it's up to the point where i think i could really accept it and wouldn't bother looking for further cause anymore.
thanks everyone for your input.
they really helped me out a lot.
I don't know about the 463, but the driveshafts on the 460 have little arrows which should be matched on the corresponding markings on the end the driveshafts would be bolted on. If the driveshafts are not aligned as indicated they would cause vibration.
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thanks a lot for your input rakesh,
the CV boot/joint (center shaft) has been repaired, free of play, and properly greased as well.
the tires are new and not unevenly worn.
but i'll try to have all tires rebalanced and wheel aligned to see if there's a change.
rubber mountings will be the last desperate thing to try, i guess..
not thet the vibrations is harsh, but since it happens in my cruising speed of around 90-100 kmh, it is quite annoying since i will go on the highway everyday to work.