Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Vibration throughout the whole car

Okay, this is a weird problem I am having with my car. From about 35-50mph, the car will vibrate pretty bad. Now, heres the kicker, the vibrations ONLY occur when I step on the gas hard. Even if I am at like 35mph, in 5th gear, and go to full throttle, where the car will obviously not accelerate hard, it will still vibrate (even a bit harder in this particular gear/speed setup) At a constant speed, however, the car is just as smooth as it should be. Could this really be a wheel out of balance? I dont know what else it could be, but if it was a wheel out of balance, the fact that my foot is on the gas shouldnt have anything to do with it, correct? PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME!!! This problem is driving me crazy! Thanks!!!! -Nick

This is just a guess, but you might want to check the motor mounts...

This may not help any, but I'm having the same problem with my Mystique. I can feel the vibration in all gears, but it's worse in 2nd and 3rd, at full throttle, when the rpm's are about 4-5 k. I've had the problem for a couple of months, but it seems to be gradually going away. Maybe I'm just getting used to it. I'ver tried changing tires front to rear, changing tires from the Mystique to the Contour, new driveaxles, new brake rotors, two motor mounts (roll restrictors)....I do have a very slight vibration when cruising, but it becomes much worse when I accelerate. I'ts also worse going uphill. Sound familiar?

Sounds very familliar... Do you have a 5 speed or Auto? You seem to have changed all the parts that I would have thought the problem would be. I dont think mine is going away, I think its the same or a bit worse... Someone has to have some ideas as to whats wrong with our cars?!?! Thanks... -Nick

Well, usually I would expect an engine vibration under load to be caused by a misfire. For that I would look at plugs and more specifically plug wires. When's the last time they were looked at/changed? I think you are correct that it isn't an out of balance wheel.

Karl

Nick, mine is an mtx. I've got a concurrent post going about what I think is excessive air flow coming from the oil filler. Big Jim suggested a pcv problem could cause the air flow problem. With 88SVT's idea about an engine misfire, I'm wondering if the pcv could be causing both problems. My plugs and plug wires were changed about 10K miles ago.

Sounds like an engine miss. Check your plugs and wires.

I had a similar issue, replaced the front and rear central mounts, didn't solve it. Turned out it was the transmission support mount, its a two piece unit. Main section bolts onto the left inner fenderwell, other section bolts to the top of the transaxle. The two pieces are helkd togehter by a bolt from the bottom thru the rubber isolators. On mine the bolt FELL OUT. I had already special ordered the new mount from the dealer at around $180.00 and they wouldn't accept a return, so I now have an extra mount short of one metric bolt.

Check that mount. A sure sign of the bolt fallout is a clunk when backing up and or hard accel and torque steer. (car pulls one way or another when accel and goes the other way on decel)

Install procedure says you should have the dealer re-align the motor to prevent torque steer and unnecessary wear on CV joints/suspension.

This is a wild ass guess based on my Saab experience, but here goes...

Those symptoms on a Saab usually mean a tripod bearing is bad - it's the interface between the transmission and drive axles. I don't know what it's called on a 'tour (Big Jim, help me here?) but you may want to check that out.

Scott

Geeze, I sure hope its not either of the previous 2 posts, that seems to be an expensive fix either way. Im gonna try and get the car on a lift and check for that bracket. Anyone else know what Pigeon is talking about on the contour? Thanks for all the help so far... -Nick