Your automobile shouldn’t vibrate when you drive it. You might be tempted to think it’s a tire or wheel problem, and it could be, but other issues can also make a vehicle in motion vibrate. Dave’s Auto Repair can help you figure out why your car, truck, or utility vehicle has a vibration when you drive it, and, as you’ll see below, the sooner you get the problem fixed the better to avoid damaging your car.
1. Wheel and Tire Issues
Your wheels and tires are literally where your car comes in contact with the road, so it’s important to start there if you’re feeling a vibration as you drive. Tires themselves can wear unevenly, which causes vibration, but there’s more to it. If your wheels are out of balance or out of alignment, that also affects how the tires wear and how they cause the tires to meet the road, i.e., wheel vibration.
2. Brake Problems
When you’ve got worn brake pads, you’ll start to notice a vibration or shimmy when you press the brake pedal. The worse the problem is the worse the vibration is. You might even find that your car pulls to one side or the other, depending on which brake is in worse condition. You may also hear strange sounds, such as grinding or scraping, and you’ll find it more difficult to stop your automobile.
3. Clogged Air or Fuel Filters
You might think that fuel and air filters don’t have anything to do with vibration in your car, but you’d be wrong. Both fuel and air are necessary for combustion, so if either filter or both filters are clogged, your car’s engine isn’t getting the mix of air and fuel that it needs. This can cause the car to vibrate as you accelerate because the combustion can’t keep up.
4. Dirty Fuel Injectors
Fuel injectors can be a problem, too, and for a similar reason. When the fuel injectors are clogged or dirty, they’re spraying fuel inconsistently. That means that the engine isn’t getting what it needs in order to fire properly and you’ll notice a vibration. Old fuel injectors can also crack, which leaks gasoline into the engine and causes surging and performance problems.
5. Suspension Issues
Your car’s suspension, primarily the shocks and struts, reduces road impact as you’re driving. They also help to keep your car under the best control possible. When your struts and shocks wear out, that leaves the ride bumpier and you might start to notice some odd vibrations that you didn’t notice before. Worn shocks and struts can ruin your tires and cause suspension damage.
Contact us at Dave’s Auto Repair in Goshen, IN, and we can let you know exactly what’s happening with your car’s vibration and what it will take to repair the problem.
