wobble during acceleration

T

Tindias

Active member
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Location
Washington
TDI
2001 Golf
I have a 2001 golf with about 170k miles. Recently i have noticed a wobble when i accelerate. It feels like it is coming from the front right tire area. It will go away if i ease off of the throttle or if i reach a high enough gear/speed. Could this be a bent rim or motor mount failing? Any help would be great.
 
C

cvairwerks

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Location
North Texas
TDI
2001 NB 2004 Audi A8L gasser 1999 A4 Avant gasser
Check that you lug nuts are torqued properly...loose lugs can do this, but will result fairly quickly in a spectacular failure...
 
I

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
Motor mount is my bet. I had this problem at about the same mileage, felt like an unbalanced wheel when climbing hills. Went away when I eased off the accelerator. Had the tires balanced twice, no help. Finally replaced motor mounts and that solved the problem.
 
T

Tindias

Active member
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Location
Washington
TDI
2001 Golf
I inspected the mounts and found that the passenger side mount was a little loose. I torqued down the loose bolt and took it for a spin. It helped for about 15 minutes and then it came right back. This morning I inspected it again, a new bolt was loose now. I torqued that one down and it helped a little, but not completely. Could I have a bent rim or axle that is causing them to come loose or is my mount just toast?
 
T

Tindias

Active member
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Location
Washington
TDI
2001 Golf
They are stretch bolts, replaced when the T-Belt was changed. These were way too loose to just be stretching tho.
 
oilhammer

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Inner CV joints. Take the axles out, clean and regrease the inner joints, and if necessary replace the boots. I bet that fixes your problem.

DO NOT INSTALL "NEW" CHINESE AXLE ASSEMBLIES IN YOUR CAR!!!!
 
T

Tindias

Active member
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Location
Washington
TDI
2001 Golf
The problem is it only wobbles during acceleration, if it was the joints wouldn't it wobble all the time?
 
oilhammer

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Tindias said:
The problem is it only wobbles during acceleration, if it was the joints wouldn't it wobble all the time?
Click to expand...
Nope. The inner joints' grease gets thick and dry, and they wobble under acceleration, the whole car can vibrate pretty badly.

I have a neat tool for greasing these without even taking the boot off, to see if it helps. It is quite common.

 
T

Tindias

Active member
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Location
Washington
TDI
2001 Golf
Ok, I will give that a shot before I purchase the mounts. One question tho, why would my mount bolts be loose? Could the vibration from the CV joint cause them to shake loose?
 
T

Tindias

Active member
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Location
Washington
TDI
2001 Golf
Update: Changed motor mounts, it helped a little. One was pretty worn out and needed to be replaced. Found that the boot on the driver side axle was ripped open. Replaced both axles just to be safe and so far everything seems smooth. Thanks again for the help guys.
 
oilhammer

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Tindias said:
Update: Changed motor mounts, it helped a little. One was pretty worn out and needed to be replaced. Found that the boot on the driver side axle was ripped open. Replaced both axles just to be safe and so far everything seems smooth. Thanks again for the help guys.
Click to expand...
Oh no..... :rolleyes:
 
C

Chris B

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2001
Location
N. central Illinois
TDI
2002 Jetta Wagon 5 spd
oilhammer said:
Nope. The inner joints' grease gets thick and dry, and they wobble under acceleration, the whole car can vibrate pretty badly.

I have a neat tool for greasing these without even taking the boot off, to see if it helps. It is quite common.

Click to expand...
How/where does the tool grease the C/V joint? I assume the outside clamp has to be removed and then a new one installed? Slick idea, and I'm sure my joints could use a shot of C/V lube!

chris
 
oilhammer

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
You slide it up the shaft, under the small end of the boot. If there is a clamp present, you will need to loosen/replace it. Not all boots have a clamp on the shaft, however.
 
C

Chris B

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2001
Location
N. central Illinois
TDI
2002 Jetta Wagon 5 spd
oilhammer said:
You slide it up the shaft, under the small end of the boot. If there is a clamp present, you will need to loosen/replace it. Not all boots have a clamp on the shaft, however.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I'll make up one of those, get me some C/V grease and have at it!

Chris
 
D

decanedemon

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 25, 2009
Location
Shawnigan Lake BC
TDI
01 TDI Jetta Commuter Rocket
Is there a problem with replacing the shafts. I noticed an OH NO! Along the way here.
Is this a quality/tolerance problem or something else . I must have missed something. Excellent idea for the tool by the way.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top