Steering Wheel Vibration at Idle?

[slavrenz]

Hey guys,

I wanted to see if anyone else's vehicles have a lot of vibes through the steering wheel while you're sitting at the stoplight. I idle at a steady 700-750 rpm, and I have replaced all of the following within the last 10,000 miles:

- All 4 engine mounts (w/ OEM mounts)
- Ignition coils
- Spark plugs
- Spark plug wires
- EGR valve cleaned

The car drives smoothly (other than the usual bumps that come from such a stiff suspension ), and the vibrations ease up when it's idling in Park or Neutral, but when I'm in Drive, it gets to the point where my wife asks me if something is wrong with the car b/c the idle is so rough. However, b/c my tach is so steady, I don't think it's anything like a vacuum leak.

One idea I had was the bushings on the steering rack - they are 110,000 miles old. Has anyone ever had to replace these? Other than this, any ideas would be helpful.

 

[Tzar177]

Have you tried to raise the idle a little bit?

 

[slavrenz]

Have you tried to raise the idle a little bit?

I have played around with the idle screw but it hasn't really done anything. I would like to keep the idle where it is supposed to be (700 +/- 50 RPM), but the vibration is driving me crazy.

But if your question was whether or not the vibe goes away at higher RPMs, yes it does.

 

[P-Funk!]

Change the EGR?
Check the PCV

 

[mWxo3]

Turn on the ac. Does the vibration get better or worse?

 

[slavrenz]

Change the EGR?
Check the PCV

The PCV valve was changed a couple of weeks ago. As for the EGR, whenever I've taken it out to clean it, it looks almost new with no carbon buildup, and given that my idle is steady (only the car vibrates, not the tachometer), I don't think this is the problem.

 

[slavrenz]

Turn on the ac. Does the vibration get better or worse?

The vibration gets a little worse, which would lead me to think the engine mounts were worn out. However, they are all brand new, which confuses me even further.

 

[lssna]

My wifes 01 miata does the exact thing and I appreciate you sharing what you did to try and solve the problem. I did half of them. Its really puzzling, sometimes I wonder if the torque converter sol.or other ones in the trans is not working properly because at a stop light when you click it in to neutral it smoothes out. Another thing is there was a recall for the ecu to be reflashed for emissions or fuel mixture or something and I was wondering if that change has anything to do with it. Other than that the thing runs great but it just sucks at a stop light. I hope someone out there can help us.

 

[tweety2300]

Did you torque your motor mounts down correctly? It seems exactly like a motor mount and it is possible a bolt or 2 has loosned up or one is ripped(even though its new) I would go through and check through all your motor mounts and check to make sure all the bolts are tight