| Subject: | 1999 Mitsubishi Galant ES Vibration |
| Question: |
Recently I bought a 1999 Mitsubishi Galant for $5000.00. It's loaded and the interior/exterior are in great condition. It has a 2.4 L, 4 cyl. engine, 90,000 miles on it and it's front wheel drive. Prior to buying this vehicle I checked with Consumer Reports, Lemon-Aid Car Guide 2002, Edmunds, Kelly Blue Book and NADA websites. They listed it as a “Recommended” rating and $5000.00 to $6000.00 private owner sale price. According to my hours of research the Galant's brakes continue to be its Achilles heel. The previous owner did inform me of replacing the rotors once and brake pads 2-3 times during his ownership, which I do not feel is too excessive. The problem I'm having is not with the brakes but with vibration. While I was test driving the car I noticed it would vibrate at almost any speed. I figured a new set of front tires would fix the problem so I bought the car. This vibration is mostly felt during acceleration and when coasting there's very little. One test I performed was raised the left front side, started the engine, put it in drive and ran the speedometer up to around 55. While accelerating, the vibration was terrible through all 4 gears, especially great through 3rd and 4th. I did the same test on the right side and there was no significant vibration to speak of. I do not think the problem is with the tire although I've been wrong before. What do you think, CV joint, transaxle or ???????????????????????????????? Please Email me with your answer. Thanks |
| Answer: | Les, A bad CV Joint would mostly give you problems when you're turning a corner. It's possible the axle could have a problem, but I've never had an vibration problems even with bad axles. You may have a bad ball joint. I would recommend checking the ball joints and tie rods. Another problem could be with your balance shafts. If the balance shaft belt has slipped or the balance shaft got out of phase, then you will feel a noticable vibration at any speed. Bad wheel bearings or even an unevenly worn brake rotor can cause vibration
on just one wheel. I'd focus mainly on that left side tire and wheel assembly.
Check the rim for any bad bents or cracks. You can even just take off
the wheel and bring it to any garage and ask them to check to see if it's
balanced propertly. |