Diagnosing engine vibration.

It feels as if the car came with a massage chair option lol. Its that bad at idle and then as soon as I touch the gas it goes away.

In order to rule out the alternator pulley can I remove the accessory belt and run the engine?

Can a worn out camshaft cause vibrations through the steering wheel and dash?

I would like to narrow this down before spending any more money on parts...

thank you for you help.

car has 200k
BSM delete

It sounds like an axle. Are they the original ones or replacements? Oh, and where in VA are you?

The cam can do it. Mine did.

I have heard about the axle causing an issue. I don't understand how it can happen with the trans in park or neutral. I am sure they are original. Is there a way to test this instead of just putting in new axles? I am in Williamsburg. My Bently cd showed up today so I will look into removing the belt and running the engine. I should know right away if that is the source....

Try this search in this forum for "axle vibration" http://forums.tdiclub.com/search.php?searchid=17307609 Quite a few of the threads will pop up.

Ok I will do the search and start reading. This is a completely different animal than my mk4.

I noticed that the tensioner for the accessory belt bouncing around maybe 1/4". Is this normal?

CBM said:

I have heard about the axle causing an issue. I don't understand how it can happen with the trans in park or neutral. I am sure they are original. Is there a way to test this instead of just putting in new axles? I am in Williamsburg. My Bently cd showed up today so I will look into removing the belt and running the engine. I should know right away if that is the source....

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Axles won't cause vibs in Park or Neutral. Don't be sure your axles are originals. I bought my car with 79k original miles and it already had Chaxles on it!! Tensioner and Alt pulley can cause some vibs at idle mostly. Good luck

Here is another resource for B5 DIY http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/b5-2004-2005-vw-passat-tdi-forum-faq-diy-bhw-engine/

Your engine mounts are collapsed.

imo000 said:

Your engine mounts are collapsed.

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I would think this is the case as well but I do not have the tell tale red stains. I guess it is possible that it has been so long now maybe that it has washed away. I got the car up on ramps this evening and crawled around and the trans mounts are all dry rotted and cracked so I have some new ones on the way.

I have a set of engine mounts on hand but I am not sure how to test the old ones to verify a failure. So many things can cause or contribute to an in cab vibration.

The whole nose of the car rises when put in gear. What does that tell me? I have not owned this car long so I can't say what is "normal". There is a center mount under the radiator that looks dry rotted as well but I can't tell if its allowing movement at all. With 200k miles is it just an r&r and be done with it? It's $300 in mounts that could go towards other repairs...

Transmission mounts (replacement) made more of a difference than the engine mounts on mine, I replaced all four.

The tranny mounts are also way cheaper than the engine mounts.

You can always just leave it as is and live with it. After all it's a diesel that supposed to shake and vibrate a little. Mine is like that and only can notice at idle, doesn't bother me one bit.

^^^ mounts either tranny or engine or both.

imo000 said:

You can always just leave it as is and live with it. After all it's a diesel that supposed to shake and vibrate a little. Mine is like that and only can notice at idle, doesn't bother me one bit.

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Turn on the heated seats and cancel the chiropractor!

Seriously its that bad. I have to fix it. The Bentley on cd is probably the worst manual I've used. I looked for about 10 minutes and could not find a procedure to change the accessory belt. Also did not see anything about removing valve cover and the position the cam needs to be in to get it off. I had to come to the forums to find out. Thankfully I can return it and get some hard copies on amazon.

I have parts showing up this week so I will post up results once I get the tandem pump and mounts swapped out. I can't keep this thing running for more than a few minutes the tandem pump is leaking so much oil. I also saw coolant mixed with the oil on the floor so the coolant flange below is gone too. I took the advice of somebody on the forum and ordered one up to replace at the same time with a sensor so that was good advice!

CBM said:

Turn on the heated seats and cancel the chiropractor!

Seriously its that bad. I have to fix it. The Bentley on cd is probably the worst manual I've used. I looked for about 10 minutes and could not find a procedure to change the accessory belt. Also did not see anything about removing valve cover and the position the cam needs to be in to get it off.
!

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Accessory belt http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/serpentine-and-ac-belt-removal-b5-passat-tdi/

Whole lot more B5 DIYs http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/b5-2004-2005-vw-passat-tdi-forum-faq-diy-bhw-engine/

owr084 said:

Accessory belt http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/serpentine-and-ac-belt-removal-b5-passat-tdi/

Whole lot more B5 DIYs http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/b5-2004-2005-vw-passat-tdi-forum-faq-diy-bhw-engine/

Click to expand...

Thank you, they do have a lot of info. Appreciate the links.

Any thoughts about running the car without the belt to see if vibration goes away?

-update-

I found 90% of my vibration. Worn out transmission mounts. Took about an hour to replace. Sorry for the large pics but it makes it easier to see the cracks. I have a feeling the rest of my vibration is hidden in the alternator pulley...

Good morning all. Thought I would add some info. I have a 2005 b5 bhw wagon. I'm at a loss with my engine vibration as well. Geared bsm was done. Rear transmission mounts and bracket replaced. Still vibrates at idle at a stop light and less vibration when I switch to neutral. My tech checked the axles and they dont have any play when checked by hand. They are original vw axles. Anything else anyone suggest?

Bruca003, I had symptoms like you describe and did not have much play in my axels that I could feel or find(different story when the cv is removed and you can mess with it in your hand They have a good amount of play), but the boots had some rips anyways so $75 off rock auto and about 30 mins per side I replaced them, One came out nothing out of the ordinary the other driver side when loosened had fluid come out of the cv hub that mounts to the transmission it of some type. after swapping both axels the vibrations in drive and reverse went away, they also sound and feel like the vibrations felt and sound like they come from the floorboard and into the glove box.

That was all after I had already replaced leaking motor mounts and transmission mounts just to be sure nothing was broken, this was at about 215,000 miles.