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87K views 252 replies 57 participants last post by  derone 
#1 ·
2001 STS 34,000 miles

My 2001 STS has been back to dealer nine times for this 60-75 MPH Shake/Shimmy. Cadillac zone rep drove the car and said it is OK. This problem comes and goes. after having a tire store balance the tires it lasted 300 miles. Now time to balance again, this game is getting old. Went 300 miles without any problem, now Shake/Shimmy again.


Owned 92 STS and it drove perfect, no shake/shimmy. Also owned a 1997 Concourse, drove perfect too. What did Cadillac do to their front wheel drive. They have replaced the tires (1.5) sets, 6 balancings, front control bushings replaced. Cadillac customer care offered free tires and oil changes for two year. I said "No thanks I just want my car fixed. They said they would continue to work on it. I think Cadillac dealers need special hotels for owners of this Shimmy/Shake problem. They can balance at night while we sleep. The dealers are getting tired of seeing me as they have no solution.

How many thousand Cadillacs are out there that have a Shake/Shimmy problem.

Frank in Dallas texas
 
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#180 ·
went throw the same thing you did! 2001 sts 17 in rims. i found the fix, thought about calling caddy and selling it to them. dealer also told me it was a bad rim regarding the offset design or the rim. anyway here is what i did. luckily i used to work at a local service station and had access to a tire balancer. i removed all the tires on the car. removed all the weights that were on the rim, and spun each one. i took the roundest two tires and saved them for the front of the car, the least round for the back. i then balanced each tire in the static mode (that means you just put the weight on the inside of the rim.) after the tire balanced out perfect in static mode, i then balanced it in normal mode (that means you put weight on inside and outside of rim.) without removing the previous weight i put on in static mode. after i got a perfect balance in normal mode i went back to static, again without removing any weight put on so far. i did this back and forth till i got a perfect balance in normal and static modes. You will do this from 2 to 4 times a tire, and also have weights spreed all over the rim. some directly across from each other, you may be tempted to remove some weights as you go. DO NOT. i tried everything and this really WORKS. sounds crazy and long, but IT WILL WORK! and save you time in the long run
 
#181 ·
ohioplayer77 said:
went throw the same thing you did! 2001 sts 17 in rims. i found the fix, thought about calling caddy and selling it to them. dealer also told me it was a bad rim regarding the offset design or the rim. anyway here is what i did. luckily i used to work at a local service station and had access to a tire balancer. i removed all the tires on the car. removed all the weights that were on the rim, and spun each one. i took the roundest two tires and saved them for the front of the car, the least round for the back. i then balanced each tire in the static mode (that means you just put the weight on the inside of the rim.) after the tire balanced out perfect in static mode, i then balanced it in normal mode (that means you put weight on inside and outside of rim.) without removing the previous weight i put on in static mode. after i got a perfect balance in normal mode i went back to static, again without removing any weight put on so far. i did this back and forth till i got a perfect balance in normal and static modes. You will do this from 2 to 4 times a tire, and also have weights spreed all over the rim. some directly across from each other, you may be tempted to remove some weights as you go. DO NOT. i tried everything and this really WORKS. sounds crazy and long, but IT WILL WORK! and save you time in the long run
so pretty much a GOOD balance will fix the problem?

Since i will be taking my seville on a road trip next week, i think i will have all four tires rotated and balanced and hopefully that will fix or lessen the vibration.

Any updates from anyone else?
 
#182 ·
So where are we guys ?? I almost made the mistake of trading my 2001 STS for a 2004 DeVille...I took it (2004) for a ride and felt the same thing, not as bad...seems to me GM/Cadillac is in a pickle with certified pre-owned. I have thrown 1K at the problem (specific Michelins with "load" balancing)...helped but did not cure...what drives me nuts is they know there is a problem but try to shrug you off...my car is certified but they can't fix it...not a way to do business..love the looks of my STS but the shaking makes me mental.
 
#183 ·
Some people have had luck with balancing the tires with the Hunter Road Force machine. Some (myself included) have not. To date, since November 2004, I have had five sets of tires, and four sets of wheels on my car, and it still has the shimmy. So I am unoptomistic that wheels and/or tires is the root cause. I am through throwing money at the problem, and am living with the issue. Other than this one problem, it has been the nicest vehicle that I have ever owned. The positives of the car far outweigh the negatives. I see the shimmy as an annoyance. I hope that you also can come to grips with it.

Don
 
#184 · (Edited)
Ha...I remember buying my car...thinking gezzz...it needs a balance job...

My thoughts about it....3 years latter....

Everything...struts...tires..steering..brakes... is mounted to the cradle..

The cradle is really mounted too loose. The fastest way to snug up is to cut 1/2 inch off each 'tulip' upper cradle mount (metal part).

Alignment of the cradle is important. There are pilot holes in the rear of the cradle to align the cradle to the body using a pilot rod.

Most GM vehicles....have a torque axis engine mount. If you can imagine a line from the rear crank snub up through maybe the top of the passenger strut...that is torque axis. These cars have no torque axis engine mangement.

I have researched into 2001 Eldorado upper dogbone engine mounts. Drivers side should work ok....passenger side would be too tight...too tight with AC lines. Too tight...too tight....


Tires: Hmmmm.....did a quality control report 20 years ago in college about tires....

Tires are the hardest part to make...

No 2 are the same...

Something to think about...

Also...where is the soap? Years ago....soap was used to lube the tire during tire mounting....when is the last time you saw THAT done????

I think....soap was taken away...OSHA or something like that...the business would have to keep a MSDS sheet on file for the damn soapy water. A stored file on site on how to handle the soapy water in a accidental spill......no more soapy water here....

Have all of our sidewalls been damaged due to this???

I have a new set of tires sitting in my garage....tire sticker cleary states....'lube tire bead prior to mounting.'

Screw up the bead/sidewall during mounting....you WILL have a bad tire with invisible damage.

My local Chrysler dealer has a Hunter machine. I am going to mention I need to talk to the tire guy before he mounts the tires...soap and balance down to 10 pounds....I am also going to slip him $50 to do it right.

Back to engine mounts......side ones....too loose....get a 2x4 and set between the control arm and the bottom stud of the side mounts...then pry and wiggle.....hello.....look kind of loose??? Imagine 70 mph...

I currently have urethane chunks trapped in between the mount and the metal bracket. I got the urethane from skateboard wheels found at Acadmy Sports.

Also playing with slotted washers...to change the drive line angle.

Next car....if she shakes...walk away.


Logan Diagnostic
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#185 ·
Adding one more voice to this thread ... wife's 98 STS w/89K miles.

Two original alum. rims leaking due to sever corrosion. Put two new rims and swapped front tires (crappy Conti Premiums) and rear tires (Nokian M&S). For the two weeks prior to the new rims and the tire swap (when I was driving the car daily) the shimy was nearly imperceptible to me. Infact, I figured it was a rotor going again as I replace front about every 8 months.

My wife says she has been complaining about it for a year or so ... maybe I really don't listen to her. Anyway, after the rim/tire swap I immediately noticed the shimy. Just like everyone else it starts around 30,tends be worst in the 65-70 range and almost disappears past 90.

Interestingly, the tire tech (who I trust) said one of the Contis was hugely out of balance and was 'hard' to get balanced. Perhaps a cord is going as well? (PS: They are crappy tires for this car. My fault. Trying to 'soften' the ride for the wife. Yeah, I know ...)

It also seems too much a coincidence that with much firmer sidewalls in the front now the car exhibits vastly more shimy. Maybe the overly soft sidewalls on the Contis were absorbing a lot of the shake?

One thing that leads me to think perhaps the cradle bushings are suspect is that under hard acceleration the shimy disappears entirely. Gone. If I lift my foot at all it comes back immediately.

Maybe the cradle mounts only enhance whatever else is going on?

I'm leaning towards new rotors (again), a set of new, matched tires, and an alignment ... even if it doesn't fix the shimy the beast needs it anyway.
 
#186 ·
I started reading through this a couple months ago right after I bought a 2000 STS, and finally just read it to the end hoping for solutions, not just people lamenting about their shimmying cars and experiments. I now realize there are no solutions, at least not easy ones. No pinpoint silver bullet fix to the problem that I had hoped for, even if it meant a big job with that cradle or what-not.

I bought this car for a comfortable highway vehicle, and now see that I'll probably unload it soon for something else. It was not expensive when I bought it ($12K with 65K miles), but what a shame because it's beautiful inside and out, but that 70 (or so) MPH slight vibration is quite irritating, enough that this is not the luxury road master I thought it would be. Not like the nice Impala SS I drove on the highway for about 8 years - that was a nice comfy highway car!

My local Caddy dealer won't touch this problem. They made that VERY clear, telling me "some of our owners even go across town to the truck tire places and have their tires shaved." Good luck with that. I didn't ask you about tire shaving, I asked about Hunter balancing. They don't want to even try.

Too many variables, and I don't have the luxury of play time with cars that I once did, nor the desire. I'll take Logan's advice - if the next car I'm looking at has any vibes at all at speed - walk away. Too bad Cadillac missed the mark on this beautiful STS, and thanks to all on this forum who have spent time contributing their efforts to resolving this shimmy problem. However, after reading nearly 200 threads, I believe this problem is affected by a number of variables to different degrees for each vehicle. Tires/rims, hubs, cradle bushings, maybe even brakes, and then it still seems to be a hit-or-miss proposition, and lots of money and time trying.

Could just be time for that fancy Japanese car I've been avoiding for the past 20 years...how sad!
 
#187 ·
Update on shimy in our 98 ...
Recently replaced two severely corroded original wheels with two A+ used wheels. Also replaced the mixed set of tires (crappy Contis and okay Nokians) with a set of Kuhmos. My initial take was it felt good and the Kuhmos were a HUGE improvement in handling and noise.

Wife reports shimy is virtually gone ... at least it has gone from a major handling issue to an almost unfelt annoynace. While swapping tires also discovered the two original wheels not replaced were badly corroded too. Balancing was tricky as well.

Am watching for good used wheels and will swap out the other two when possible. If lucky this will eliminate the shimy in the STS ... the shimy in the wife is still fine :) .
 
#188 ·
Hello all,
My 99 STS had a shimmy for the last few months. I took the car to Discount Tire and asked for a balancing with the Hunter Road Force machine. I stayed in the service bay talking with the tech while he performed the balance. I found out that that machine applies 1500lbs of force to the tire and is able to match both the heavy spot of tire to the heavy spot of wheel. Anyway it flagged the right rear it was at 35lbs out. He then checked the wheel for run-out it tested ok (0.004 in) then he warranted the tire (Michelins Energys) and rebalance the tire and wheel. The car is now smooth as silk for a mere $ 22.50 for a new warrenty, now I love it again.:)

What I am upset about now is all the corrossion I found on the wheel where the bead of the tire seals. :mad: Means future rim leaks. :mad:
Frank
 
#190 ·
I owned a '96 until recently and still own a '97 STS with the Z-rated suspension plus an '02 STS. I'll tell you the '97 has it all over the '02 as far as driveability is concerned. The '97 is solid as a rock on the highway. I love driving it. The '02 shimmies like all get out on the highway. Lots of toys in it but for the pure enjoyment of the drive the '97 wins hands down. This is even true with the 127K miles on the '97 and 56k on the '02. Go figure.

I'm going to spend some concerted effort in December to see if I can't get the shimmy problem solved by using some of the recommendations on this thread. I'm going to focus initially on getting the tires Hunter balanced. The car has relatively new Hancook (at Chinese brand I think) tires on it. The '97 have 2 of them on the rear and I've had no problems yet. I recently had my mechanic take a stab and the vibration problem and he found one of the wheels is warped/bent and moved it from front to rear which improved the problem but did not resolve it. I'll probably look into replacing this wheel too. It's the stock 17" wheel so I should be able to get one on ebay I suppose.

I'll post here as I get some results, good or bad.
 
#191 ·
Re: Shake Shimmy 2002 SLS

I Also Have A Similiar Problem, It Comes In At About 55mph And Goes Away At 65. Also Just Had The Rack Replaced Last Week And No Improvement. I'm Thinking Possible Axles Half Shafts.

I Just Purchased The Car With 122,000 And Seems To Run Great In Every Other Respect.

The Car Has Michilins

Thank You
 
#192 ·
I am not sure if this has been discussed here or not (this thread is waaay tooo looong to read), but I just found out that 98+ Sevilles and 00+ DeVilles have different stabilizer bar links.

I thought it may be worth sharing with you guys. I believe this shake-shimmy occurs only to those cars. I thouhgt this may be just a coincidence, but may be related. Mine (95 DeVille), other DeVilles up to 99, Sevilles up to 97, and all Eldorados have end links with ball joints. Cars suffering this shake and shimmy have end links with elastic bushings...

Just a thought, has anybody tried to replace link bushings to see what happens (assuming that those cars exhibited no shake-shimmy when new)?
 
#193 ·
my car also has this problem. It is a 98seville. I have 20s on the car also. My question is did these cars have the same problem brand new? it not, it can be fixed.

if the car shimmys at 55-75, why would it smooth out if i do 75+? Their is even more force beging put upon the car at the greater speed, however no shimmy. Strange.

Its very sad a cadillac rides like this.
 
#194 ·
The thread that never dies.
The other day, a friend of mine was picking up another car and he asked me to drive his Buick back for him. It's a '96 Century. When I hit the highway with it, it shimmied like hell. When we got back to my place, I asked how long it had the shimmy and he said awhile. I got the floor jack out and started checking things. When he couldn't tell me the last time the front end was lubed, I got the grease gun out and did the balljoints and tierod ends. When we took the car out, the shimmy was gone. Even though there wasn't any noise, the joints needed grease. That got me to thinking about the Caddy shimmy. Since the balljoints and tierod ends are sealed, how do you know that they have enough grease in them? Maybe the shimmy comes from a lack of the proper amount of lube.
 
#195 ·
I was considering installing torque struts (dog bones) on my Seville to see if that had any effect on the shimmy. With pictures taken by Jim Hare (thanks Jim) I figured that it can be done, but several issued arise. Fuel lines, dip stick location, power steering hoses, and possibly hood clearance, all need to be modified. Too much for something that may not help. I may try and design my own style torque strut to experiment with though.

Don
 
#198 ·
There's no way to tell if the engines are exactly the same because something as simple as a thread change will change all the part numbers. You can always look under the hood on a DTS to see the layout and if it looks like it'll fit, pick up the assembly at a junkyard when the wrecks start rolling in, which in NJ usually doesn't take too long. If you haven't seen it yet, the dogbone mounts on the side of the head, right above the drive belt tensioner.
 
#199 ·
Last week at a car-wash plant my engine was on and when the brush is cleaning the trunk - SHIMMY

This week engine off - NO SHIMMY


Somebody pulled the fuse of the compressor for the self leveling system?

And then with 5 big persons and a full trunk - shimmy gone...hm...

Compressor - shock isssue?

Is this heavy car not heavy enough at backside for this shocks?
 
#200 ·
I have a 99 Seville STS. The car started the shake/shimmy thing around 55,000 miles. The car never did it before that. The car was vibrating violently. I went through various tires and tire balancing at 4 different shops. A band-aid was replacing the lower control arm, and that took care of 80% of the shaking. It's a lot stiffer than the old one. I have all the tires inflated to 32 PSI cold, alignment done, and road force balanced.

The car needs new shocks/struts so I am going to get these replaced along with the strut mounts, springs, bushings, and other worn out suspension parts. After replacement I will repost my results.

GM has a definite design flaw; these cars are only shimmy free for a small period of time. I have also replaced the spark plugs, plug wires, coolant hoses, brakes, rotors, tires, filters and so on but these are just maintenance parts.

Outside of the usual parts every car needs, I found it annoying that a car of this caliber has a bad front end suspension design. The dealers just give owners the run-around, and all Cadillac wants to do is give owners a coupon for money off a new one.
 
#201 ·
I am about to purchase a 2001 STS. If the car has a shake at 70mph speed should I be concerned? Do you think a simple road speed balancing will likely fix the issue?

Thanks in advance,
David

P.S.
Did anyone fabricate a new engine brace, like the dogbone that was mentioned before?
 
#202 ·
I am considering fabbing up an upper mount on the cheap. I do not think it will help, but I have to try. My sugestion to you is simple. If you test drive a Seville, definitley get it into the 60-75 mph range. If it doesn't vibrate then you are golden. If it does vibrate, assume that it will always do it no matter what you attempt to do (including road force balancing), and decide if you can live with it. I didn't notice the vibration until I had already signed on the dotted line and was driving home. I will not get rid of the car for this vibration issue though. It is a minor annoyance wrapped up in a superb automobile.

Don
 
#203 ·
I wouldn't at all assume that if a car you are test driving has a vibration at speed that it'll just ALWAYS do that. There are so many unknowns. You have no idea if the tires are properly balanced, or if they're perfectly round. You have no idea of the wheels are improperly torqued. There are a variety of solutions to this problem that MAY solve it. True, sometimes there seems to be "no solution" with some vehicles. But writing it off as unsolvable after a single test drive is jumping to conclusions in my opinion.
 
#204 ·
You are correct in saying that. But considering how many have the vibration between 60 and 75, it seems that these rarely get resolved. If it vibrates at other speeds, then it isn't the infamous "shimmy". And assuming that it will always vibrate after the test drive is a good way to go. It would be real disappointing to pay for the car with anticipation of curing the ill, and not being able to. I have spent about 5k trying to figure it out and haven't yet. So if you test drive a '98 thru '04 Seville, or a '00 thru '05 Deville, and it vibrates/shimmies between 60 and 75, and then goes away above 75mph, assume that it will always do it, and pay accordingly. Or just walk away. Not saying it is impossible to fix, just not probable.

Don
 
#205 ·
Wow, I remember reading this way back when it started, can't believe people are still having this problem. Since it seems systemic, at a predictable speed, and repeatable, I'm wondering if it has to do with the active shocks and some sort of resonance that they can't quite deal with on the Sevilles. Has anyone reported on conversion to say the passive Monroe, Gabriel, Boston, or Arnott suspensions?

Dadillac are you running OEM front struts? Are your stabilizer bar links bushing and not ball joint type?
 
#206 ·
My SLS came from the factory with passive units. I replaced all 4 dampers on the car so it is highly unlikely that it is a shock or strut issue. I am going to do an experiment by removing the rear shock air pump fuse, and disconnecting the air lines. I will post my findings when I have done it. And my sway bar links are a design I have never seen before. They seem to have the upper and lower bushings, with a very wide center section. Just as wide as the bushings. I do not believe that a sway bar issue can be the cause of the shimmy as it happens on straight flat highway. The sway bar is just a long for the ride on such roads.

Don
 
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