Steering Wheel vibration & "failed" CV axles?

Has anyone experienced steering wheel vibration on their TDI's with the DSG under acceleration at high speeds, especially on long sweeping turns? I have had 2 sets of axles replaced by the dealer in less than 15k miles to remedy this issue. It gets better then progressively worse. Almost like a differential issue. The car currently has 30k miles. Any info is appreciated.

Harley

Are the inner CV joints also replaced?

Seems to me that the dealer is just replacing parts as opposed to trying to find the cause. I would try another dealer.

The first time they replace both axles and according to them the inner joints had excessive play. The second time (6k later) the replace only one axle (1k0-407-454-hx) due to it being unbalanced. However, 4k after the last replacement the vibration seems to be coming back again.

As dumb as it sounds, you make sure your wheels are balanced? On my winter wheels I had one throw a weight and it cause some excessive vibration at high speeds.

simoco said:

As dumb as it sounds, you make sure your wheels are balanced? On my winter wheels I had one throw a weight and it cause some excessive vibration at high speeds.

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This. If not the wheel it could also be the tire. Just changing tires on my Wife's Passat made a night and day difference in steering wheel shake.

Yes

Experienced the same-vibration with a heavy foot accelerating-but I've been assuming that it was just the cheap Optimo tires deforming with the acceleration (with manual tranny). I'd be interested to know if it was something else like an axle or hub. A misbalanced wheel would cause shaking with steady state speed, not just during acceleration.

I thought it might be the tires at first, but dismissed them since it only happened during moderate to hard acceleration. As soon as you let off the accelerator it stops and new axles fix it...for a while. I'm due for tires, so I'll have the rims checked. However, I'm worried there is something going on the the DSG or that the axles can handle the behavior of the DSG. Especially when it "bucks".

Swap the tires front to back to check the tires.

a few other members here have had axle issues with vibrations that's only been solved by changing out the axles. No mater how many tire balances, it was the axle causing the issue.

Wheels are balanced. I'll see how this current sudle vibration evolves. It could be the 3rd time for axle replacement inside of a year/15k miles. At what point can VW be held accountable?

Not the wheels

740GLE, is there another thread on this already?

Being the wife's car, I don't drive it much but after putting a lot of miles on it over the weekend and testing the vibration, I'm convinced it's not a wheel/tire balancing issue. Maybe the EDL is malfunctioning, and is locked much or most of the time, leading to the axle vibration? I know it has never seemed to work properly when I need the traction, which is weird because that would be the opposite problem. Thing gets stuck going downhill.

harley7991 gonna send a pm.

If you're 'due' for tires as you say you are, I'd start there before chasing mechanical issues. I had a similar shake when my Conti's wore out and new tires fixed it.

Had the same issue, what fixed it was the dealer reinstalling the dsg software. I thought no way would that have anything to do with the steering wheel vibration.

The vibration acceleration at high speeds is completely gone

jymontoya said:

If you're 'due' for tires as you say you are, I'd start there before chasing mechanical issues. I had a similar shake when my Conti's wore out and new tires fixed it.

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Just replaced the OEM Optimas w/ Michelin Primacy MXV4 @ 46k; still have the acceleration vibration.

Car901...you sound like you are having the exact same problem I am.

I bought a CPO 2010 JSW TDI w/ DSG. It had some brand of tires on it I never heard of, but when I looked them up online they were pretty darned cheap. I started noticing steering wheel shake and vibration in the car that was worse when the engine was under load and could go away completely while coasting.

I took it back to the dealer and they performed a tire balance. That didn't solve it so I happened to be driving by a Discount Tire and had them do a rotation and a balance to see if that would cause any change. No change. I went back to the dealer and they did a roadforce rebalance. Still no change.

Finally out of frustration, and that I didn't like the cheap tires on the car, I had four new Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires installed this evening. I'm at about 44K miles. Guess what...the vibration is still there!

I'm taking it to the dealer first thing tomorrow morning and dropping it off. It's very frustrating.

Well, like others in the thread have experienced, they say the axles are bad. They've ordered new ones and will be replacing them next week...hopefully that takes care of it.

Have the dealer reflash the trans software it fixed ours completely

I’m currently experiencing vibration when lifting foot off accelerator pedal. I replaced both axles (non OEM) a few months ago and I’m thinking I may have not put enough grease in the inner CV bearing. I took one off already (driver) and I don’t see any pitting or any metal. Replaced it with another non OEM axle, but still need to replace the passenger side. I’ve read a lot about vibration under load, upon acceleration, and not like in my case, on releasing the load. Any thoughts? I did find some unusual wear on the passenger side tire. That leads me to believe my alignment off. Mainly though, not sure what could cause the vibration when lifting off accelerator.

Nice dryrot there

I had to replace both axles recently. Went through checking wheels, tires, etc... I used OEM axles only to replace (local expert shop; not dealer, replaced them) problem solved. New tires ONLY after replacement with an alignment and 1 new wheel that had a crack in it. The tires were due and the wife hit a curb with the passenger rear. When the axles were going bad, it felt almost like the pavement was rippled. It progressively got worse with all the elimination routines for other problems. Process of elimination left taking it to the expert and telling him what I had done. He told me this was a common problem at the miles we had on the car.

Dry rot can lead to tread separation, which can cause the vibration issues (and blowouts, crashes, etc.).
Replace the tires before fretting over anything else that may be causing the vibration.

mittzlepick said:

Nice dryrot there

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Fogcat said:

I had to replace both axles recently. Went through checking wheels, tires, etc... I used OEM axles only to replace (local expert shop; not dealer, replaced them) problem solved. New tires ONLY after replacement with an alignment and 1 new wheel that had a crack in it. The tires were due and the wife hit a curb with the passenger rear. When the axles were going bad, it felt almost like the pavement was rippled. It progressively got worse with all the elimination routines for other problems. Process of elimination left taking it to the expert and telling him what I had done. He told me this was a common problem at the miles we had on the car.

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akjdouglass said:

Dry rot can lead to tread separation, which can cause the vibration issues (and blowouts, crashes, etc.).
Replace the tires before fretting over anything else that may be causing the vibration.

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Well I found my problem! thankfully it was not due to any axle or suspension issues. I simply had a slight motor mount issue. see pics.
I will say "simply" because I checked the engine movement when starting it and noticed zero to no movement on the engine, but upon working on isolating a possible issue with the pulleys, I noticed a little something out of place from under the car. check the pics out. I think the engine did not move upon starting because the mount was kinda wedged in the rubber bushing but once under load, it caused the entire car to shake, which felt like suspension movement.

Glad you found the problem. Easy fix, too.

Yes, except for purchasing 2 new axles haha