Good vibrations?

N

Nojuego

Registered
Well I finally got the beast('95 LSC) on the road only to find out I have a slight vibration from the rear of the car on the highway when I hit around 60ish. I know the driveshaft has a tendency to vibrate at speed but are there any other problem spots I should check first before throwing $400 bucks at a part I may not need for a while? Although i'd hate to lose the stock massaging seats but i'm sure the little vibration will turn into something big in time.

I think I cracked the radiator too when I tried to jack the car up from the radiator support(before I went and looked up the lift points). Anyone happen to know a good place to get a cheap radiator?

Thanks
 
For the radiator you can call 1-800 radiator and they will have one to you in a day for about $120 the last time I got one from them.

For the drive shaft vibes, a tech article that Driller came up with addresses the actual alignment of a IRS, and ofcoarse we know that our two piece designs can be solved by either getting a good one piece 93 DS or poping for a new one. I got mine from Rinehart Automotive. Here is link on the alignment stuff


http://home.flash.net/~ivc1/cobra/irsvibes.html
 
Thanks for the reply. I don't know if it is the driveshaft at all. I was just wondering what, besides that, could cause the vibration. If all the little parts check out ok then i'll have to replace the driveshaft.

On my way to work this morning I got a check engine light. Nothing on the message center. Then as I got to Dunkin Donuts I got a check air ride message. The car is up at all 4 wheels and the whole thing seems to be functional. I'm gonna stop by autozone when I get out of work and see if they can't pull the codes for me.
 
What year did the Mark VIII go to ODBII? I'm going to assume at least 94 like the Cougar and Thunderbird did. If it isn't ODBII then Autozone usually won't read your codes. You could rent a code reader from O'Reillys or somewhere similar and do it self then.

That aside, I'm assuming you got your wheels balanced? That's usually the first place to start with a vibration.
 
So because I have OBD I autozone won't read my codes?? That sucks. I was just thinking about the tires too. My friend had to grind and rebead the rims because they were corroded and leaking. I figured he would have balanced them at the same time but it's possible he didn't. It doesn't feel like a balance issue but that could be because of the air suspension absorbing most of it. I'll give my friend a call later and ask about the balancing.
 
OBD1 scanner costs <$30 so it is a worthwhile investment.

Yea I'd check tires/wheels/balancing as a first step.
 
or you can use the eec plug under the hood and a jumper wire and count the check engine light flashes for the codes, thats how i do it in obd 1's
your vibration could be the drive shaft, the rear alignment, bad balanced tires or flatspots, you said you just got it on the road, how long has it been sitting on them tires, they could be junk. also the check air ride message came on but its up on all 4 corners, thats a tell tale sign of the compressor not venting like its supposed to, usually when the car is all the way up and normal looking, and after going over 50 mph then slowing down and getting a check air ride message, usually that is a non venting air compressor.
 
I called autozone earilier and the guy said he'd do it for me, I just gotta go at a time when they'll have a few minutes to go out and check them for me. If I can do it myself though that would be great. Is there a guide around here as to how to get codes manually? Also, is there a printable guide to the codes themselves? I did a quick search but all I could find were some broken links.

The tires themselves were brand new(still had the rubber "hairs" on them) but sitting for at least 6 months to a year. The wheels were corroded inside and the tires couldnt keep air in them for more than a day so I had my friend fix them. He said I will need new rims in time but these will do for now, I just have to keep an eye on the pressure.

I checked the wheels and it seems I am leaking air from the rear drivers side bag. The previous owner replaced the rear passenger side but broke both his arm and was unable to do the other side. After seeing the rear end up after getting the car started I thought it was fine and turned my attention to other things. I still have a new rear bag so I can try to replace it this weekend, weather providing. Think that could be the cause of the check air ride message or is it definitely the compressor?

I didn't have any messages other than the low coolant thing last night driving home(first time driving the car since it was parked) so this morning's check air ride message was confusing. I drove up the block to Dunkin Donuts at lunch and all was ok. I'll have to keep an eye on it on the highway later tonite when I go home.
 
Well all was well on the ride home from work except for the vibration. No check air ride message or check engine light at all. One thing though, it says I average around 13-15 mpg. Is this normal? I've read some people on here getting around 20ish. The gas in the tank now is the same gas that was in there when the car was parked and the previous owner probably used regular gas. Could that be causing the low mpg?
 
it would all depend on how and where you drive?! And of course as to what maintenance was done...

How old are all the filters?!
Spark plugs?! Wires? Oxygen sensors?!
How many miles on the car?
 
I have no clue about any maintenance done to the car before I got it. I guess it would be smart to just change out everything since the car was sitting for so long. The car has about 160k miles on it. I'll change all the filters/sparkplugs/etc. this weekend. Guess i'll have to just deal with the low gas mileage for a few days. The car has about 160k miles on it, what should my mpg be close to once I change out all the old stuff? I drive mostly 50/50 highway/city.
 
My 50/50 milage is about 18-19. All road is 25-26 depending on terrian. Oh yes, if I feel frisky, milage goes to pot! 12-15
 
If your car was sitting for a long time on the tires it is a very good chance the tires are out of round. I would still get them balanced and then see how the ride is.

As for your check engine light. The good thing about ODB-I is that you can pull the codes that have caused the light to come on with any ODB-I scanner (not sure if you can do it with the counting method, but I bet you could). If the autozone doesn't work out for you, look into renting a code reader, as most places will let you rent them for free. If you can't rent one, look into buying one for about $30. It is well worth the money.

The good thing about renting or buying a code reader is that it should come with the list of code definitions. They are posted online if you do the counting method, but can be difficult to find. Worst case, post the code here and someone with a factory manual or code reader can tell you what it corresponds to.

For the average economy I'm pretty sure it caculates since the last time it was reset. If that included a lot of idling, short in town drives, agressive driving and little highway then 13 to 15 average is almost normal. I would say it is for sure on the low side. When is the last time it was reset?

Using regular gas or old gas could decrease your MPG, but not by a large amount I wouldn't think. If something was seriously wrong with your gas then your car would not be running ok.
 
If you mean by pressing the reset button then the last time I reset it was shortly after I hopped on the highway. Started at 42, dropped to 14 by the time I got off the highway and 12 when I pulled into my driveway. I just stepped out to grab some food and it was at 3 as soon as I started the car and got up to 5 by the time I got back home(10 min drive on clear city streets?). Is that normal?
 
As said before it depends on how you are driving. I get around 20mpg some city some highway. I am careful of the throttle (mostly). No car will get good mpg leaving stop lights with tires smoking.

My T-Bird was dumpimg fuel because of a bad O2 sensor, but was not
as bad as your describing.
 
I'll just have to replace everything. I got up to 24 this morning, reset just before I got on the highway and it creeped its way up from 4-24. Dropped to 23 between the time I got off the highway, stopped at Dunkin Donuts and got to work. It must have been the way I was driving it yesterday that was causing such drastic drops in my mpg.
 
How fast are you driving on the highway?

When you reset it last, you say you got home it was at 12, but after getting some food it was at 3. I'm assuming you didn't leave the car running. Because it shouldn't make that drastic of a change, unless you might of reset it in the last few minutes.

How long were you on the highway after you reset it?
 
You really need to give us a tank average. Like you went 300 miles on 15 gallons...

The scenarios you desribed above will have very different outcomes depending on how many lights were green etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top