Drive ability issue Need some advice.
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 95
Likes: 0
From: Allen Texas
Drive ability issue Need some advice.
2000 Coupe AT 150K miles.
This is the wifes car and I do drive it on occasion.
While driving down a smooth road or the highway on light acceleration you can feel the rear end shift left. When you let off the accelerator and began to coast the rear end shifts right. On the highway it can get pretty squirrely. It's to the point where I don't want her to drive it anymore until I can fix it.
It started doing this a couple of years ago but was mild. At that time I put on some new Bilsten shocks front and rear. It still did it but was mild. As recent as yesterday I replaced the rear tie rod ends, CV joints, Diff seals, Rear hubs. Checked the upper and lower busshings and ball joints and they seemed to be fine.
One of the hubs was bad which is the primary reason I went to work on the rearend.
I previously had thought maybe we had a bad engine mount but they seem fine also.
What can cause this ? Trans mount and DIff mount seem to be ok. Can the wheel alignment cause this ? I have not seen any abnormal tire wear. I plan to get a 4 wheel alignment soon and see where we are at after that.
Its almost like the the power is not being evenly applied to the rear wheels. Any help is appreciated.
This is the wifes car and I do drive it on occasion.
While driving down a smooth road or the highway on light acceleration you can feel the rear end shift left. When you let off the accelerator and began to coast the rear end shifts right. On the highway it can get pretty squirrely. It's to the point where I don't want her to drive it anymore until I can fix it.
It started doing this a couple of years ago but was mild. At that time I put on some new Bilsten shocks front and rear. It still did it but was mild. As recent as yesterday I replaced the rear tie rod ends, CV joints, Diff seals, Rear hubs. Checked the upper and lower busshings and ball joints and they seemed to be fine.
One of the hubs was bad which is the primary reason I went to work on the rearend.
I previously had thought maybe we had a bad engine mount but they seem fine also.
What can cause this ? Trans mount and DIff mount seem to be ok. Can the wheel alignment cause this ? I have not seen any abnormal tire wear. I plan to get a 4 wheel alignment soon and see where we are at after that.
Its almost like the the power is not being evenly applied to the rear wheels. Any help is appreciated.
Pro
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 720
Likes: 2
From: Walnut Creek CA
Because it's happening under accel and brake and is opposite during braking, I would guess that it is something with the wheels or at the suspension. That alignment may be part of the solution (inconsistent front toe would be my first place to look). While you've got it on the rack for alignment, ask them to take a look at all of the bushings and links in your suspension to see if there's anything obvious going wrong there.
Good luck
Good luck
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 95
Likes: 0
From: Allen Texas
Rob. Thanks for the reply. Issue is not really related to breaking. Only on accel and decel. You can feel it shift right once the power is not being applied to the rear wheels. Will definitely look for more suspension issues. I had the rear completely apart this morning and addressed all the bad parts and then some. Will see if i can get it in a alignment shop in the morning.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 29,065
Likes: 1,839
From: cookeville tennessee
2000 Coupe AT 150K miles.
This is the wifes car and I do drive it on occasion.
While driving down a smooth road or the highway on light acceleration you can feel the rear end shift left. When you let off the accelerator and began to coast the rear end shifts right. On the highway it can get pretty squirrely. It's to the point where I don't want her to drive it anymore until I can fix it.
It started doing this a couple of years ago but was mild. At that time I put on some new Bilsten shocks front and rear. It still did it but was mild. As recent as yesterday I replaced the rear tie rod ends, CV joints, Diff seals, Rear hubs. Checked the upper and lower busshings and ball joints and they seemed to be fine.
One of the hubs was bad which is the primary reason I went to work on the rearend.
I previously had thought maybe we had a bad engine mount but they seem fine also.
What can cause this ? Trans mount and DIff mount seem to be ok. Can the wheel alignment cause this ? I have not seen any abnormal tire wear. I plan to get a 4 wheel alignment soon and see where we are at after that.
Its almost like the the power is not being evenly applied to the rear wheels. Any help is appreciated.
This is the wifes car and I do drive it on occasion.
While driving down a smooth road or the highway on light acceleration you can feel the rear end shift left. When you let off the accelerator and began to coast the rear end shifts right. On the highway it can get pretty squirrely. It's to the point where I don't want her to drive it anymore until I can fix it.
It started doing this a couple of years ago but was mild. At that time I put on some new Bilsten shocks front and rear. It still did it but was mild. As recent as yesterday I replaced the rear tie rod ends, CV joints, Diff seals, Rear hubs. Checked the upper and lower busshings and ball joints and they seemed to be fine.
One of the hubs was bad which is the primary reason I went to work on the rearend.
I previously had thought maybe we had a bad engine mount but they seem fine also.
What can cause this ? Trans mount and DIff mount seem to be ok. Can the wheel alignment cause this ? I have not seen any abnormal tire wear. I plan to get a 4 wheel alignment soon and see where we are at after that.
Its almost like the the power is not being evenly applied to the rear wheels. Any help is appreciated.
With all you have checked that is it for sure from what you are saying and my car is doing now... It is bad
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,938
Likes: 65
From: Rochester Hills MI
it sounds like the clutch packs in the differential to me. there is a way to jack the car up and spin one of the rear wheels to check the clutch packs. Bill Curlee had some great instructions i saw in a post a while back. Perhaps he can chime in.
Pro
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 743
Likes: 30
From: Farmington Hills Michigan
I had something like this happen to me last year. When I would slow down quickly or moderately, the rear of the car would shift to the left and the car would crab down the road. I could get it to do this with the brakes or with engine compression braking. When I would then accelerate, the rear would shift back to the right and the car would straighten up. It took me awhile to figure out what the issue was but I eventually found that I had a bad poly bushing in the left rear lower control arm (where the control arm attaches to the rear subframe). To diagnose the problem, I went to a parking lot and stopped hard from around 40 mph. I then checked the thrust angle of the rear wheels. I'd then drive the car around the parking lot and come to a slow rolling stop and check the thrust angle again. It was substantially different. The left rear wheel's was toeing out under braking and this lead me to the bad bushing. I hope this helps.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 29,065
Likes: 1,839
From: cookeville tennessee
It for sure can be a # of things these cars today if one little part gets just a little bad the car will do almost anything for sure. Man should take it to a good shop that knows what they are doing on the car and get it totally checked out. Robert
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Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 95
Likes: 0
From: Allen Texas
I had replaced the rear tie rod ends along with the other parts I decided to replace after 150K onc the hub bearing went bad. One of the tie rod ends was so bad the joint had began to rust. I think this was the main issue with the shifting from left to right on accel and decel.
Took the car Saturday to the Goodyear here in Allen, TX. They did a good job and provided a printout of the before and after alignment settings.
Now she drives purrrrrrfect again. Thanks for all the replys.
Took the car Saturday to the Goodyear here in Allen, TX. They did a good job and provided a printout of the before and after alignment settings.
Now she drives purrrrrrfect again. Thanks for all the replys.