Vibration

[v6mikey]

Just arrived in Morfa nefyn for a week with the sharan fully loaded.

The last 20 miles I had a vibration under load.  It drives fine when you haven't got your foot planted, but put your foot down and it feels like the exhaust is catching on the car or an engine mount has failed.

Is there any common failures I should look for first.

Any help?

[Mirez]

Wear on the inner "flower-pot" CV joint is a likely candidate. Although I had the exact same a while back which was wheel balancing - strange but true

[gregers]

probably as above,but check gearbox mount??

[v6mikey]

it certainly fells mount or exhaust related. 

Its a bit difficult to have a quick look underneath now its lowered and my belly has grown. lol

Spotted a garage a couple of hundred yards away, will have to have a look on monday.

[v6mikey]

Just had a quick look round the car and the only thing I can see is a loose heat shield from the exhaust. The shield will touch the exhaust, but I would be suprised if that is the issue.

[Mirez]

Heat shields generally produce more noise then vibration - is it something you can feel or just hear?

[gregers]

to check gearbox mount,lift bonnet (engine off  )grab engine and try lifting/rocking if you can then that may suggest gearbox mount/stabilizer bar.
if not then follow other advice given.

[v6mikey]

I have been researching this a bit more on the net and I reckon it's the engine roll restrictor or stabiliser.

I put the handbrake on and put a bit of pressure on the engine in gear and the engine moved a lot.

I should be able to get it into a garage tomorrow, so I will keep you informed.

[gregers]

iirc you shouldnt be able to move the engine at all,so you may well be correct.they do sometimes come up on ebay.

[v6mikey]

Well I certainly could not move it by hand!  Lol.

[v6mikey]

probably as above,but check gearbox mount??

You were right.  The gearbox mount has completely sheared off the gearbox. All 3 bolts left flush in the gearbox.  Don't know what is holding it, but the garage cannot fix this week.

So, what do I do.  Do I try another garage to see if it can be fixed or do i risk limping it home on Saturday? 

Why do these thing happen just when you don't need them?

[Mirez]

Eek! Well its technically not a mount, its a roll restrictor designed to stop the engine rotating under load. It's not at all advisable to drive it like that, with the engine rotating you risk damaging the A/C and exhaust system.

If you really must drive it then you want to minimise engine rotation as much as possible, so very gently on the power, no engine braking and minimal number of gear changes... should make for a fun journey back

It might also be possible to get under there with a ratchet strap around the box and subframe to at least give it some support?

[v6mikey]

Well, it's in another garage! I can't believe that 3 large bolts have just sheared off the way they have! What could have made it do that?

Pick up a hire car tomorrow.

[gregers]

i had mine go (mk1) when on a day trip to bluewater from east sussex,yep as said makes very interesting journey time,
of course i never new what it was until i got home,and in hindsight i wouldnt of driven it.
but hey ignorance is bliss as it turned out.

mine went as i was gently comming out of a junction,im thinking they go 1 by 1 until the last 1 gives up and says YOUR HAVING A LAFF.
iirc the part itself was about 80 quid.but no doubt thats gone up 

[v6mikey]

The sharan won't be ready for us to go home, so going home in the hire car.    far too cramped.

They are waiting for a few more bolts that are coming on Monday. I will have to return next week to pick it up.  Nightmare.

I had a look under the bonnet today and they had managed to get one of the bolts out of the gearbox cleanly, so it's all looking good for a successful repair.

[Mirez]

Well that just sucks?!

What hire car have they given you? I got a KA last time lol - I refused it and got a C-Max which was all they could offer... still!

So you've got to drive it home and then what? Fly back out or drive back out?

[v6mikey]

Hired a seat leon from national, the largest car they had. We are here with friends so we have had to share some luggage and leave the bikes in the sharan.

It's about 3 1/2 hours drive to pick up the car or 6 1/2 hours on the TRAIN!!!!   I thought trains were supposed to be fast!  lol. 

I don't have any breakdown recovery so it was the only option.  The way I see it, I have been driving for 22 years now and never had breakdown recover, so I must have saved a few bob.  I may reconsider now though.

[v6mikey]

All fixed!  Picked the car up today, 7 hrs round trip. Set off at 5am this morning. They have removed and installed new bolts and everything seems ok for now.  (280 quid)

The only thing now is a strange sound from the starter motor for some reason.

I must remember to get breakdown recovery!!!!

Now, what could have made this happen, I still cannot get my head round this.  Something must have caused the bolts to shear. The car had a new clutch and dm flywheel just before I bought it. Should the bolts have been replaced? Or we're they torqued up too much or not enough? There must be a reason for something so important to break!!

[Mirez]

IMO Poor design, trying to launch a 1.8tonne vehicle with a reasonably torque-y engine is going to create a tremendous amount of rotational force which the designers have restricted with just the one unit. A lot of smaller cars have a front mount as well, so why they only used 3 on a Galaxy is a little weird.

The top mounts are only supporting the weight of the engine and gearbox, they have little roll restricting capabilities so that job falls almost entirely to the back restricter. Imagine the vehicle fully laden on an incline, the forces and naturally increased and all that's holding the rotation of the engine is that one bit of metal and 3 bolts...