Questions and Answers

Plymouth Voyager Wheel Shimmy Q. About a 1,000 miles ago I noticed a vibration/shimmy on acceleration at about 38 mph and would smooth out at 50. This is speed dependent, not rpm dependent. If you put it in 4th or 5th gear at 38 and ease up to 50 you can avoid the shimmy, but are in danger of being run over entering freeway. Runs all day at freeway speeds straight and smooth.

I put new tires on front I thought, Wal-Mart put them on back and I didn't notice at the time.

Next I took it to a unnamed repair shop for diagnosis and alignment. They told me I had a leaky rack and pinion and tie rod ends were loose and transmission stabilizer needed replacing. Quoted about a $1,000.00 for that. I have checked tie rod ends by jacking one side up and checking for play and I don't see any.

Leak will have to be addressed but I don't think it is the problem at hand. I asked them to align the front end replace the stabilizer. They could not find a stabilizer so only aligned the front end. No change in problem.

I went to dealer and got stabilizer and took it back to have them install it. Mechanic had quoted me $30.00 on the phone. When I got there office manager wanted another $20.00 because they were not getting profit on part they couldn't find. We settled on a extra $15.00 and they installed it.

No change in problem. He did say left front tire was out of balance so I took it back to Wal-Mart and had them re-balance tire. Guess they did back one because I still had not noticed old tires on front.

I then went online and did some more research and from my symptoms the left axle/CV joint could be bad so I took it to a Mienke shop in Houston, TX. They put axles on it three years ago. They said the axle was bent and I agreed to have it replaced for $200.00. They then tried to sell me a expensive brake job including rotors and calipers by showing me the rust dust on parts and claiming they were over heating. Rotors and pads have less then 20,000 miles on them and brakes work excellent.

Old axle apparently was bad I had noticed a click when first backing up that seems to be cured and it came apart when they removed it. Still no change in basic problem. They suggested it might be in the transmission or out of balance flywheel. This problem came on fairly soon so I doubted the flywheel could have worn out of balance that soon unless a piece of the clutch fell off and I doubt that would happen without serious noise problem. New clutch about 30,000 miles ago.

I went home and noticed the new tires were on back. I put them on front, checked pressure and test drove it. Most improvement to date but the problem is still there. I decided to put the tie rod ends on myself but when checked them again I can find no play so put that on hold. I'll do them when I replace the leaking rack and pinon. It's been about 20,000 miles since I last had to add power steering fluid. There is no play in steering and it drives fine at 0 to 38 and 50 to 80. If tire swap made a improvement it makes me think this is a front end problem and not drive line. Am I off base?

I don't want to pull out the transmission when it may be something else in front end. We love this little van and finding a replacement with a 5 speed is almost impossible. This current problem is irritating but I have never had a manual transmission leave me by the side of the road and love the performance and MPG with a 4 cylinder.

It amazes me that Americans are too lazy to shift gears and would trade it for poor performance, milage and reliability. And now most models don't even offer manual transmissions. Has anyone ever calculated how much oil we have wasted on automatics?

We currently are 1,500 miles from our home base and need to use this vehicle to return the first of December. We have put a couple of thousand since problem was first noticed and after replacing tires it doesn't seem much worse then shortly after I noticed it. If we get it there I have a front end shop I can trust to give a honest diagnosis. Beeline alignment in San Diego California.

Minor different problem, occasionally it will race a little at stop lights and it doesn't seem to be a sticky throttle cable but have not ruled that out entirely.

• 1993 Plymouth Voyager
• 2.5 liter
• 5 speed manual transmission
• 183,000 miles
• P/S, A/C
• Rack and pinion steering

Thanks,
John

A. What you describe sounds to me like a wheel balance problem. Now a tire can be perfectly balanced and still give a shimmy at those speeds if it has a defect. Defective tires can do strange things.

If you can definitely eliminate the tires as the cause of the shimmy, then we have to look at the front end and steering parts. A bad power steering rack can cause a shimmy as well as worn tie rod ends. I seriously doubt if it's the clutch, flywheel or transmission.

Another thing you may want to try is an on-car high speed wheel balance. Wheel balancers work on the premise that the hub and brake rotor assemblies are balanced. But this is not always true.

Also the mounting of the wheel can make a difference. You can try removing the wheel, turning it one lug and remounting it to see if it makes a difference. Mark one with paint or tire chalk so you know where your starting point is and then put a match mark where you get the most improvement.

Added 11/19/2005

Vince, Thanks for your reply. Yesterday before I read my email I took the vehicle to "The Alignment Shop" in El Campo, Texas that had been referred to me by a friend. The owner/manager Vince rode in my vehicle and told me that I needed a right front inner CV joint. I did. 1 hr and $160.00 later car was cured.

I asked him if previous CV was defective since it had less the 20,000 since install. He said not really, the rebuilds just aren't as good as new ones but only cost a $100.00 instead of $500.00. If CV joint is on second overhaul it's not likely to last as long as first overhaul.

It was refreshing to find an honest capable mechanic that didn't try to sell me something I didn't need. My hats off to Vince at The Alignment Shop.

He said the key to diagnosis was the way symptoms showed under acceleration, but he knew what it was before I reached 30 MPH anyway.

Thanks,
John