[ElleB]

Hi all,
  I have a mate that just bought a 2012 plated, Nov 2011 build  petrol auto CW .

The car has less than 500 clicks on the clock and he called me yesterday to ask about a vibration that transfers up through the steering to the steering wheel, so much so that after a period of running an a Sydney freeway,  a numbness develops in his hands!! There is a "rumble" sound to go with it...

 When it is taken out of gear, the whole thing goes away, so it is definitely drive chain related.
 He took it back to the dealers, and they blamed the new wheels that he fitted post purchase, but he soon quashed that with the , " put it into neutral, and the noise and vibration goes away episode."

 They took the car, gave him a courtesy car and did some tests, put some standard wheels back on and found that the "issue" was still there, but to a lesser extent, they said. They tested another new vehicle and found that it also had a similar "issue".

 So, get this    ...the answer was....that's just how they are !!!   

 Now my mate is a cluey guy...so he wouldnt have a bar of it, so they are looking into it further.... when it coasts there is no vibration, no noise.... so it IS something related to the drive train, a bearing under load  or a fault in the auto trans.   

 So, has anyone on the forum had the same experience?. I note in an old thread there is some discussion about " There is a TSB to add a pad to Auto gearbox mass damper cable on some cars to reduce some vibration noise, but this seems to be more than that!!!

I will get him into the forum, but just want to give him some back up right now..

 Cheers
   Elle B
 

[Dazzler]

That is bad Tony.. 

Trish's CW is a manual so no help there.

Hopefully, we can help you support his cause if the issue drags on...

[eye30]

They took the car, gave him a courtesy car and did some tests, put some standard wheels back on and found that the "issue" was still there, but to a lesser extent, they said. They tested another new vehicle and found that it also had a similar "issue".

 

Seems as if there is a fault with the box...... Be interested on the response from HY

[Phil №❶]

I don't think it's the trans at all. Engine delivers power to the trans, trans rotates the drive shafts to the front wheels. Vibration travels up steering column & creates numbness. This is a steering or suspension, engine / trans axle mounting issue IMO. 

[AlanHo]

Once upon a time I had a similar problem on a corolla - turned out to be a dodgy CV joint on a drive shaft that was vibrating under load - but not on over-run.

[2i30s]

I'm with Alan on this fault,it sounds like a CV joint fault or an unbalanced or bent drive shaft. 

[ElleB]

Thanks for the thoughts guys!! The latest is that the dealer has 3 suspect cars and that they are waiting for a "specialist" to be available next week to look at it more closely, but their initial opinion is that it is to do with the engine "harmonics"...

 Maybe that is Tech speak for ...."we are not sure yet" or "could be a number of things" 

Anyway, it seems to be something that has just surfaced with the latest builds, so I will keep you all posted... certainly might be something that buyers need to be mindful of !!! 

Not a good feeling for me, having recommended the i30 to my mate !!!

[Dazzler]

Doing a google, engine Harmonics seems to relate to balance shaft issues. Does the 2.0ltr Petrol have one or more of those? (like the Mitsubishi Astron engine did)   

[ElleB]

Good question Dazz,  I dont know..... I am a CRDI man ....

 No doubt the " forum team" will soon let us know....

 BTW   I had cystoscopy check up today and so far so good!!!   

 

[Dazzler]

 BTW   I had cystoscopy check up today and so far so good!!!   

 

Ouch .. rather you than me (but good news all the same)

By coincidence, I got a mostly clean bill of health from my doctor today too..

[Phil №❶]

Something doesn't add up here. If I remember correctly, the balance shafts on the Astron engine rotate at 4x engine revs. We traded a Magna & one of the reasons for the trade was the chaff cutter sound the engine was making due to these shafts.

For a vibration to affect the driver's hands, it would have to be so significant that the engine would basically destroy itself. No mention has been made as to weather the vibration varied according to engine speed. It should be possible to create the vibration standing still if it's in the engine. 

[ElleB]

Sorry guys, I cant add in the fine detail yet  I have not seen or felt the "vibes," just reported what my mate said, he lives a good distance away, so I cant pop over the fence and check it out as yet.

 Hang 5 until I get some more info, otherwise it is all conjecture, given that it seems to be a new problem, strange that all 3 cars are at the same dealers though!!!....

 

[2i30s]

my money is on the drive shafts being either out of balance or bent,or the torque converter in the transmission is UN balanced. . 

[ElleB]

Well I thought that I should give you all an update on this unusual problem.

 It went on for days and days, but in short, they changed the drive shafts.... no difference, changed the hubs and knuckles....no difference...they were stumped,      ..but still persisted.

 Next was the auto trans, maybe the torque converter was not locking correctly. But, that was a big job ( and expensive), so they hesitated and went back to basics..
 Needless to say the car went to this and that Hyundai specialist for their opinion, but to no avail.
 They would not entertain the idea of a replacement  new car, so whilst a loan car was made available, the M8's new car was being pulled apart with this and that being changed.

 Eventually, after 250Km of test driving, they went back to the wheels and put on a set from another i30, running Hankooks, as against Kuhumo's......    Presto, the vibration was gone.
 They then took the Hankook tyres off the stock rims and put them onto the mates aftermarket alloys..... ..No vibration, so they then deduced that it was a fault in the OEM tyres.  less than 500 Kms.

Strangely the rims and tyres all ran up perfectly when balanced, so nothing was suspected, However, and we still do not know why, but it seems that at least 1 of the tyres , when under load was creating the vibration. When the car was in neutral, the vibration was not there, engage drive and it was back.
  So the deduction thus far was that there was a fault in the layers or belt or compostion of the tyre that was " activated" when under driving load, but not when just " free wheeling".  ( Trev...any comment)

 To Hyundai's credit, given the time and stuffing around that occured, did the right thing and fitted a full set of Michelins, filled the tank and brought the car back to " like new".   

 So,  this was a "1 off" occurence, and I hope that they get back to Kumho and see what the story is , but at least my mate is up and running and  everyone has learnt something from the excercise...

Now I just hope that he has many miles of happy motoring......

[Dazzler]

Thanks for that Tony.. I like a happy ending 

[Phil №❶]

Well, that's not a fault I would have ever picked, I'll store that one away for future reference. Thanks for the update. 

[Dazzler]

Strangely enough, Alanho I think it was mentioned a faulty tyre causing a hard to locate vibration a while back (I think it was on one of his previous vehicles) ?

[AlanHo]

Strangely enough, Alanho I think it was mentioned a faulty tyre causing a hard to locate vibration a while back (I think it was on one of his previous vehicles) ?

Cor dazz - I wish I had your memory. You are quite right. I had a Toyota Avensis that developed a loud rumble - for all the world like a CV joint or wheel bearing on the way out. The dealership checked all the mechanical bits to no avail - but after swapping the wheels front to back the noise came from the opposite end of the car.

Close inspection revealed that the centre third of the tread on two tyres had de-laminated and was no longer bonded to the carcass. You could see the bulge and press it down with the fingers once you knew what you were looking for. As the tyre rotated this "loose" tread was being moved back and forth along the carcass causing the loud mechanical noise. In my case it was more the noise, rather than the vibration that I had noticed as I recall.

[2i30s]

good call Alan,and brilliant Hyundai for bending over backwards to find and rectify a suppliers fault.