S550 Vibration at highway speeds
 

Question…I’ve been an enthusiast my entire life. Fourth Stang and over 40 cars.

I bought my 2019 GT premium vert about 4 weeks ago. My only other vert was a beautiful 2007 Saab 9-3 2.0T. Well, that’s if you don’t consider my Daihatsu Rocky a convertible 😉 (google it).

I realize verts aren’t as rigid as hardtops. And they experience “cowl” shake over bumps and uneven roads. However, my GT has what I believe to be a harmonic vibration at highway speeds. No shake at the steering wheel. I feel a high frequency vibration in the seat. At times, the inside rear view mirror vibrates as does the passenger seat. Is this normal for my car?

I took it the dealer and they had two techs and the service director drive it. The techs said it’s normal for the vert and the director said it’s the smoothest vert he’s ever driven.

Already eliminated the usual suspects…alignment and wheel balance. Alignment checked three times. New Contis and road force balance.

Am I just being a picky old man??

Any thoughts appreciated.

Welcome to the forums! :wave:

Picky? Perhaps. These aren't luxury cars and they are not built that way. They do use lower durometer bushings in the suspensions to help mitigate the NVH (Noise Vibration Harshness), but it's still a sports car and will have vibratory things bigger, more luxurious cars won't.

That said... if you feel it, you feel it. And if you see it, you see it. The rear view inside mirror shaking is the one for me that says you indeed have a complaint. No way that should be happening, unless you have dat bass turned up for what. What may need to happen is a static test on jack stands/alignment rack. Or on a dyno. If they'll do it. It's not exactly the safest thing to do, but if you can get the car suspended on the axle (the fronts won't matter to this test) and then go 'drive' it while someone's looking, you may find the problem that way. It may show itself obviously. Or, if it doesn't show up, that's actually great! It means you've eliminated, for the most part, the entire drive train and rear suspension, and your focus is now on the front wheels and suspension. Either way, you know more. Ostensibly, as it could be this requires a road to do the thing, and the problem is then likely your tires and you need to get other ones. Or there's a suspension issue that only happens on the road.

You might also go get a ProfessionalGoer and attach it to various points of the car and go recreate it. One angle looking at a wheel, another angle looking at the axle, another looking at the driveshaft at the gearbox... that kind of thing. You may be able to visually find the issue that way.

It would not surprise me if the dealership is not wanting to find this because time and effort (and therefore money) is going to be a huge expense, so they drive it and say "eh, it's fine." You might need to investigate other dealerships and/or mechanics to get the proof.

It would be somewhat helpful for you to be able to drive the car and *exactly* recreate it. Like, it is only on a left curve at 35MPH or going straight at 43... that kind of thing. Consistent replication of the problem is a key requirement for these mechanics, as the more they have to guess, the more it will cost, or the less likely they'll even find it... or look for it/notice it.

I'm gonna guess an out of balance driveshaft or half shaft, just a teensy bit. But again, you might need to do more investigative work to prove it out.

Hope that helps! And yes, I know exactly what a Daihatsu Rocky is, no need to do a search for me. :) How very cool! :nice:

I too do NOT think you are being too picky; if you can see the rearview mirror shaking, that does not sound "normal" to me . . . maybe a video of that, would be enough to prove your case?

If you feel it through the seat and not the driver's wheel, that suggests it is NOT in the front end; driveshaft, half-shafts, or rear end seem like good guesses to me also. (assuming you can trust the wheel balance and run-out)

Just checking: you have the original OEM/factory wheels on the car, right?

EDIT: I meant the "steering wheel" of course, old guy brain fart ;-)

[QUOTE=Bert;7066532]I too do NOT think you are being too picky; if you can see the rearview mirror shaking, that does not sound "normal" to me . . . maybe a video of that, would be enough to prove your case?

If you feel it through the seat and not the driver's wheel, that suggests it is NOT in the front end; driveshaft, half-shafts, or rear end seem like good guesses to me also. (assuming you can trust the wheel balance and run-out)

Just checking: you have the original OEM/factory wheels on the car, right?[/QUOTE

Yes. Factory 18s. But new Continental extreme contact tires.

Thank you for your reply. This is my fourth S550. So I know they’re not luxury cars. None of the other three cars vibrated like this one. All smooth as glass on smooth freeway. I’m leaning toward out of balance drive or half shaft. Perhaps from the factory. Car only has 18k miles on the clock.

Is it happening all the time at highway speeds? I ask because I also get the "seat of the pants" vibrations - but only on a specific stretch of interstate. Nowhere else. So it is the road surface, not the car.

Just want to make sure the issue is consistent and couldn't be roadway-related.

Lol…of course it is not roadway-related. I’m no “road scholar”, pun intended. Nor am I an idiot. Thank you.

I regret my response offended you, friend. I tend to ask the "5% questions", just to be sure. Best of luck rooting out the issue.

:(

Lil' less vinegar in your responses wouldn't hurt, friend OP. We're tryin' to help, we don't know your level of expertise, we aren't there to experience and/or have a gander, and honestly asking is better than assuming. We are not accusing you of any lesser brain power whatsoever, we're coverin' whatever bases we got, because even the smartest of us don't know it all. :dunno: Always learnin'... :yup:

Still wish you good luck with your situation, hope you find it soon! :nice:

I am more than mad. So I’m sure my patience is wearing thin. My apologies if I was too terse in my response. I am at wit’s end. My car has a very apparent and easily felt vibration between about 71 and 76 mph. The frequency increases with speed. At 80 the vibration frequency is so fast, the car feels less shaky. But the vibration is still there. Most of my commute to and from work is in the heavy vibration range.

The service director at Grand Prairie Ford, (if I had his name with me I’d call him out), drove my car. He had the gall to tell his service writer to call me and tell me my car was the absolute smoothest convertible he’s ever driven. They would not hook the car up to any sort of testing equip to analyze the harmonic vibration to find the source. I don’t know why. I’ve opened a case with FoMoCo. They tell me to take it to another dealer. All the dealers in my area are backed up 2-3 weeks. AND you have to leave your car to keep your place in line! Pure greed. I can’t be without a car for 2-3 weeks. Just sitting gathering dust in their parking lot. Sure, FoMoCo will reimburse for a rental. A whole $45 per day. Have you looked at rental rates today? $100 per day. I can’t afford to rent a car. So I’m stuck. Screwed. Frustrated.

Well, the dealership happens to have the guy's name, but that's not necessarily important.

If this is your daily, and only, well... I dunno what to tell you. But I can tell you that I did a quick search for March 8 through 10 and found plenty of cars that fit that 45 dollar bill. And since you are a local resident and not from out of state, they should waive the 10% (or whatever it is now) stadium fee, locals do not pay for that. It's a visitor tax to pay for JerruhWorl' and the Ragners Playpen. Or so I understand things, but man, finding that exact info is really difficult. Still, check into that. There's also the airport luxury rate and a local place may not charge such rates. Finally, Grand Prairie Ford is big enough they may have their own rent car desk or partner up with one, especially for the collision center, so you might look at that avenue.

The 2-3 weeks thing? You don't leave it there. You schedule for that day, wait the 2-3 weeks, THEN drop it off. Use it until then. Yeah, it'll vibrate, oh well, but you'll have the appointment. And if it vibrates itself into not vibrating anymore, great! If it vibrates itself into breaking, less great, truth, but... at least you'll know what it was now.

I know it's frustrating. And these esoteric problems, *to many others* who don't have to keep the car or use it, are infuriatingly difficult to get them to work on, precisely because they aren't using the car. What you should do is get back to Grand Prairie or whomever else you're gonna go to and get the service manager involved directly with you. And get him to *get in the car with you*. Or a tech. NOT the writer. And YOU drive the car and make it do the thing.

You do that while you're driving and they see it, feel it, they can then work with that. If they're guessing at how to make it happen, it won't happen. This is the same issue of "it did it this morning." But at the dealership it doesn't. That's because you drove it, warmed it up and /or aren't at the same angle as you are at home, as their stuff is usually flat. That kind of weirdness is more common than you think, and is why its vitally important to exactly replicate, and teach them how or show them directly, the problem so they can't say "I don't see it/feel it."

I again wish you luck with this, and truly hope this helps and you get it figured out! :nice:

Thank you for your thoughtful words. It is my daily and only. Not sure where you found rentals so cheap. I could not find anything much under $100 per day in the DFW area. Perhaps you can send a link? GP Ford has neither loan cars nor an on-site or affiliated rental agency. One of the first things I asked them.

I spoke with the four dealers closest to me and every one of them told me I’d have to leave my car with them until they get to it. Said this is how I hold my place in line. Of course I asked why the need for an appointment then? They all told me the appointment is just a time to drop my car. If I take my car with me, I lose my place in line. All four dealers are 2-3 weeks backlogged. Don’t know how dealers in your area are operating. But that’s how they operate here. Pure greed.

Once I am able to get my car into a dealer, I will ride with the tech to be sure they feel the vibration. Again, thanks for being thoughtful.

No problem, it's frustrating for sure. Hang on for the link.

When I had to turn in the car for the airbag, I was scheduled. I only came when they were ready for me, and then I waited. I got the car back the same day. However, this was some time ago, I'll admit. But that's the last dealership visit I've made, I don't much make them. When I have, I've always had it scheduled to show up when they wanted me, and it was back out in a hurry. This seems quite odd, truly.

I don't see how *all* of those dealerships wouldn't do the same thing for this. Matter of fact, I went to Grand Prairie Ford's website and set up an appointment. I didn't confirm it, however, but I did that. It went a couple of weeks out. So... :hmm: :idea: Perhaps you would like to do the same? :heh: I mean, you already know it's 2-3 weeks out. So make the appointment 2-3 weeks out, and voila, problem solved. :nice:

Silly of me, I know. Probably wouldn't work. Still, at this point I'd be at least talking to Ford corporate about this. This seems ridiculous to me, as if they'd just not want your service, or Ford's money (I assume this is still a warranty item, or you'd not be bothering with any Stealership for service after that, there's really no point unless it's a programming issue.) Plus it's sowing ill will towards Ford, something that corporate don't much cotton to, or so I've heard. I mean, it's literally *nothing* to set up an appointment for later if they're backlogged, even at 3 weeks straight up, and then have you bring it in so you're not out nearly a *MONTH* of not having your car for an issue that doesn't stop the car from otherwise working (so far).

I can't believe it's greed. Unless you're at the tail end of a warranty and then they can charge you, then sure. And if that's your suspicion, contact the General Manager(s) at the stores in question, and then contact the regional manager at Ford, then Ford directly... and if you have to get past the GM, you might mention BBB or a news channel. Oh, sure the news channel may not do it, but maybe they do. I mean, they're stonewalling for what reason exactly here? That's my question, and an investigative exposé wouldn't necessarily be out of line ya ask me... :unsure:

In regards to a link... not so much. I dunno why but Kayak (where I did a quick check) won't work with the link I get when I do a search. Just go to kayak.com and input dates and such. Don't do DFW, tell it Grand Prairie or even the city you live if it's not that, and let it just search around. I did one for March 28-29, 24 hours, noon to noon and got a couple of vans, and a few Turos in there, all under the pricing. Can't say about any restrictions though. Still, if you can pay 5 bucks outta your pocket, you can get a Hertz car. And up from there. There's also priceline, experian, hotels, booking, or you can go direct to hertz, enterprise, alamo, dollar, budget and even turo. Yeah, it's a slog, but dividends can be had.

My biggest issue is the unknown time/date, and how they appear to justify you renting a car for 3 weeks before they even look at it. This is where Regional and Corporate and then BBB / Investigative reporting come in. What an utter load of hog wash. :shame:

This is why I am the warranty on my cars. I ain't got time for this malarkey. But then I've never experienced what you are experiencing, to be honest. Maybe Dallas (siphons with a large amount of negative pressure) compared to Houston for this kind of stuff? :dunno: Just really *really* stupid.

I'm sorry I ain't got more. :( Good dang luck though, truly.

/Also, I worked for a Toyota dealer group, and it was kind of a big enough deal that we had rent cars in the places... so much so that the dealerships started to self-rent, after having Toyota Rent A Car in there, which was bought by Enterprise, then the dealership took it all over in house. So maybe my thoughts are skewed regarding the rent car thing... ah well.

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