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Pesky Vibration

KyleQ

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Oct 14, 2006
Messages
2,116
Location
Chisago City, MN
Some history -

Car is a 2000 Contour SVT with a full 3L swap and a Torsen differential. I put a new set of Nitto Neogens on the front and watched the techs balance them out to 0 - that was about 2 months ago. I replaced the drivers side trans mount and checked out the passenger side - very tight. I put an Energy Suspensions poly insert in the front roll resistor some did some custom modifications to make it even tighter. The rear is pretty much shot and if I coast in gear and then accelerate I can hear the metal on metal clang as it loads up. The car has 130K on it as of today - drives very tight and responsive.

I was having some vibrations in the wheel and floor when turning right under speed - so I brought it into a shop and they seemed to think that the wheel bearing was shot (big surprise with 18's on the car) So I drove over to Tousley Ford and bought a brand new knuckle from Steve that had a wheel bearing pressed into it from the factory.

After installing the knuckle the vibrations went away in the steering wheel (the hub was shot, I could wobble it by hand at least 1/4") I did notice when I was under the car that the knuckle and cv shaft had junkyard paint on them - so I was also suspicious of the cv joint. I ordered a new cv joint from my local Checker on Friday night and I picked it up Sat morning - used my 25% coupon and it came to around 45 bucks (can't beat that)
I installed the CV this afternoon - excited to finally get rid of that annoying vibration... Well - after road testing it the vibration almost seems more pronounced - as if the MUCH tighter cv shaft was projecting the vibrations better.

SVT Knuckle.jpg
Yeah - it isn't completely together yet. Had problems getting balljoint in... Had to spread apart the pinch joint with a chisel.

One interesting thing - my intermediate shaft bearing slides apart - I don't have to unbolt it form the car to remove the shaft... Is it supposed to do that? I have another friend with almost the same exact setup and he is having the same problem as well. His cv came out the same way - without unbolting that intermediate shaft bearing. The car creates vibrations that are felt in the floor when turning right under speed.

Sorry for the long post - I feel the more information you have, the better you can diagnose the problem without actually being able to drive the car.

Feel free to ask any questions - the vibration goes away when driving straight and does not vibrate turning left.
 
.. I replaced the drivers side trans mount and checked out the passenger side - very tight. I put an Energy Suspensions poly insert in the front roll resistor some did some custom modifications to make it even tighter. The rear is pretty much shot and if I coast in gear and then accelerate I can hear the metal on metal clang as it loads up. ...
What did you replace the drivers' side mount with? And the rear needs to be changed. And the custom mod to the front making it tighter would make the vibration more pronounced.
 
When I had poly filled roll resistors I felt every vibration right through the steering wheel. Plus the car was loud as hell.
I ended up ordering two new OEM roll resistors and using the Energey Suspension "insert" in the front one. Much better!
Who did your diff. install? Was it shimmed correctly?
 
intermediate shaft... I can only assume that you mean the passenger side drive axel, and if thats the case it should be bolted in with two nuts where the drive axel bearing is half way down the axel, there is a 13 and a 14 mm nut that bolts onto a bracket which is attached to the frame of the car. Those nuts missing would almost definately be the cause of your issue. Try to get some photos of your passenger side axel as well.

oh and heads up, when removing the ball joint, pickle fork when used properly is HELLA more effective than any air chisel, takes me 10 seconds to pop a ball joint out.
 
What did you replace the drivers' side mount with? And the rear needs to be changed. And the custom mod to the front making it tighter would make the vibration more pronounced.

Replaced drivers side mount with an OEM Ford mount. I know the rear needs to be done - I've gota spare, just need to remember who fills them with poly.. The custom mod made me feel some vibrations that have to do with the engine, I can only feel it at idle. Could be part of the problem.


When I had poly filled roll resistors I felt every vibration right through the steering wheel. Plus the car was loud as hell.
I ended up ordering two new OEM roll resistors and using the Energey Suspension "insert" in the front one. Much better!
Who did your diff. install? Was it shimmed correctly?


I don't feel ANYTHING through the steering wheel - it is very smooth. My diff was installed by a professional racing shop by their Ford tech. They do some of the best work I've seen.

intermediate shaft... I can only assume that you mean the passenger side drive axel, and if thats the case it should be bolted in with two nuts where the drive axel bearing is half way down the axel, there is a 13 and a 14 mm nut that bolts onto a bracket which is attached to the frame of the car. Those nuts missing would almost definately be the cause of your issue. Try to get some photos of your passenger side axel as well.

oh and heads up, when removing the ball joint, pickle fork when used properly is HELLA more effective than any air chisel, takes me 10 seconds to pop a ball joint out.


Mine is attached to the car - but am I supposed to be able to pull the passenger side drive axle out without removing the bracket?

I removed the balljoint with the big one - picklefork was on the bottom droor and I didn't feel like bending over :p Popping it out wasn't the problem - getting it back in was.. too tight.

1153126788-pry%20bar%20set.jpg


Took me about 10 seconds as well.. the balljoint boot is torn, I'm going to replace the LCA's next year.

Thanks for your replies - it looks like I should be focusing my attention to the rear roll resistor and I seriously thing there has got to be a problem with that axle bearing that is bolted to the block...
 
:censored::censored::censored::censored: - I can't get 10 miles into work and the spedo drops off to nothing... Pull over to find my car pissing out some damn expensive transmission fluid. Car still shifts fine - I"m damn sure the cv somehow popped out.

1110080943.jpg


At least I can work from home... don't understand it - I put around 60 miles on the car before this happened.. I sure how the splines in the torsen and cv are ok...
 
HELL NO!

Get yourself a new passenger axel.

The inner shaft? Wonder if that bracket comes on the new inner... Guess I'll call Steve today..

UPDATE: Well - I called Steve and ordered up a new center shaft with that bearing and retainer attached. Came to around 115 bucks - he said those go bad in the Focus as well... 2 days out - ugh. I'm happy I didn't drain all the fluid and replace it.
 
The inner shaft? Wonder if that bracket comes on the new inner... Guess I'll call Steve today..

UPDATE: Well - I called Steve and ordered up a new center shaft with that bearing and retainer attached. Came to around 115 bucks - he said those go bad in the Focus as well... 2 days out - ugh. I'm happy I didn't drain all the fluid and replace it.

Been there before. My bearing was out on my intermediate shaft and you have to buy it as one big assembly, shaft, bracket and bearing. Fun stuff. Yes you can pull the passenger CV shaft without having to pull the intermediate bracket off. However it sounds as if you already bought all new stuff anyway. Have fun.
 
Been there before. My bearing was out on my intermediate shaft and you have to buy it as one big assembly, shaft, bracket and bearing. Fun stuff. Yes you can pull the passenger CV shaft without having to pull the intermediate bracket off. However it sounds as if you already bought all new stuff anyway. Have fun.

I know what you mean now when you say you can remove just the outer shaft, leaving the center shaft in the car - bolted to the block. The instructions show people prying the shafts apart - leaving the center shaft in place. See - I didn't know that the center shaft is not supposed to come out of the bearing retainer.... so that explains a lot.

Well - I'm almost sure that is why I'm having this pesky vibration when turning right.
 
This is part of the problem - this was around xmas of last year.

1216061545.jpg


Notice the lack of a bracket on the center shaft? Still bolted to the motor because it slid right out... No idea that it should have been attached.
 
This is part of the problem - this was around xmas of last year.



Notice the lack of a bracket on the center shaft? Still bolted to the motor because it slid right out... No idea that it should have been attached.

I figured that was the issue, so its a pretty simple fix, glad to see you figured it out :)

axlesforless.com
 
does axlesforless sell the center piece as well? I thought they only had the outers?

And didn't they used to be gck down in florida?
 
I got my replacement from checker - brand new and I like it. Can't beat the price of 45 bucks with a life time warranty... Gota love those 25% coupons..

I'm excited to get it back together and see how it drives... Been dealing with this vibration problem since SZ....
 
who was it made by? I thought gck was pretty much the only company that made new axles for us. curious for options and part # too, please.
 
who was it made by? I thought gck was pretty much the only company that made new axles for us. curious for options and part # too, please.

DSCI0076.jpg


Cardone CV Drive Axle

Part Number: 662061

High Quality in my book :cool:

About This Product



Unlike traditional new parts, Cardone Select CV axles are designed with CSE (CARDONE Select Engineered) Technology. That's a difference only CARDONE can give you. Based on years of making top-rated remanufactured parts, Cardone has seen where—and why—new parts fail. Therefore they've built in solutions to help avoid those traditional design flaws in this new line of axles. For example, Cardone increased thread size so the thread won't break during install. And they've added bellows to boots to reduce bellow stress. They even optimized shaft diameter to eliminate shaft breakage.

Additional Features & Benefits:
100% Neoprene Boots for excellent Ozone resistance. - Eliminates cracking; a leading cause for failure of CV boots.
3% moly grease. - Provides excellent high temperature and extreme pressure characteristics which extends the life of the joint.
Axle nut supplied 100%. - If axle nut from the vehicle is worn or stripped there is no need to buy a separate axle nut because it is provided.
Splines rolled 100%. - Guarantees proper installation of axle into mating hub and transmission eliminating installation hassle.
Threads rolled 100%. - Guarantees proper installation of axle nut eliminating installation hassle.

I've never had a cv spline into the hub so easily - 72 bucks without any discounts.
 
I was just looking at cardone stuff last week and didn't see it.

No CSK out here but we do have Advance. Too bad I walked out of my job at Checkers years ago. That employee discount wasn't too shabby.

Thanks Kyle.
 
I was just looking at cardone stuff last week and didn't see it.

No CSK out here but we do have Advance. Too bad I walked out of my job at Checkers years ago. That employee discount wasn't too shabby.

Thanks Kyle.

No problem - I'd say I could grab you one with the discount and ship it to ya, but that wouldn't end up being any cheaper. Order one off the site - very nice axle.
 
Alright - got my parts and started tackling this job again...

Here is the root of my problem - I was wondering where the vibration was coming from... this has GOT to be it.
Middle Shafts.jpg
This is that bracket I was talking about - the part is completely shot.

Tonight was a mess - I got working on it, waited for the parts, then started and ran out of time before I had to run to an appointment and by the time I got back I didn't feel like working on it some more.

I had to drop the damn y-pipe to get at the bracket... not happy about it but what can you do...

This is where I left of.. what a mess.
Mess.jpg



This is what my rear roll resistor looks like... There is no load on it - the car is just up on jackstands..
roll resistor.jpg
 
Where is your little metal shield for the intermediate shaft? I still have an int. shaft in the classifieds somewhere. Would have sold it cheeeeaaaap.
 
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