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3K views 22 replies 15 participants last post by  wj170 
#1 ·
Car vibrates like a tire is out of balance at speeds above 60. I have had all wheels balanced twice. My dealer says that the 2003 Northstar engine does get a vibration when getting worn and is not covered under warranty. Car has 41,000 miles. Has anyone ever heard of this? Please respond ASAP. Leaving for Florida on wednesday, 2500 miles round trip.
 
#3 ·
The problem is over different platforms too.
Try the balance as suggested but many members say they can't get rid of the vibration. My '99 is smooth but other 99 owners have had problems.
Hmm, maybe your machanic is on to something although I don't think a "worn" engine is the problem. Perhaps engine mounts?

Good luck with this, and have a safe trip.
 
#7 ·
bvpettit said:
Thanks everyone. I have scheduled a road force test for tommorrow morning along with a motor mount inspection.

Off to Florida with the mother-in-law!
Have the technicians put the tire(s) requiring the most adjustment on the rear of the car after the RFB. I recently had my car done and it made a world of difference - hardly any vibration now. I have two rims that are bent, but not visibly. The RFB all but cured my vibration and the shop put the two worst wheels on the back of the car for me.
 
#8 ·
The road force balance does an amazing job as long as the tech does it correct. I had mine done last Wed. along with changing the tires, no vibration any more. I am more than happy with the way my 99 SLS feels. Good luck and let us know how it comes out.
 
#9 ·
While I'm not familiar with road force balancing I will share an old trick we used to do. When a good tire pro had trouble balancing a tire they would sometimes turn them on a tire lathe and true them up (old racing trick I think). Tires sometimes come from the factory just a little out of round, enough to spoil most attempts to get a good balance on them. Once they'd been trued up it didn't take much counter weights to get them properly balanced.

Something to think about, especially for those who like to see how fast their cars can go.
 
#15 ·
I had the same problem on my '99 SLS
I had about 35000 miles on it when the vibration started
I bought a set of new tires and the problem disappeared. Don't buy the same tires that Cadillac put on stock (Goodyear Integrity). I made that mistake and they wore out too fast. I got the more expensive but much better Goodyear Assurance ComforTred and the car feels like new
 
#17 ·
The car was great for a week and the vibration started again. As for the roadforce balance, as the other guy said, I seached the website and found a mess of dealers thathad the tester. It cost me $79.99. I should have taken the minivan to Florida, it would have been a much more enjoyable ride.
 
#18 ·
Interesting, I took home my STS 2 weeks ago and found the same vibration above 60, read up on this known issue and took it back to the dealer and told them to balance the tires. Got them back, they were balances out to no more than 1/2 oz on each tire, took it out for a test, it still vibrated. Went back to dealer and told them to get it as close to zero as possible. And take off the lock nuts on the wheels (they break sometimes, when removing the wheel). Got them back with close to zero as possible on each tire.

No vibration at any speed... I was happy, $125 well spent ($75 for the speeding ticket(cop gave me a break from 50 over the limit to 20 over), $50 for the balance job).

This reinforces what I have read, that caddy's are very sensitive to tire or wheel issues.
 
#19 ·
bvpettit said:
The car was great for a week and the vibration started again. As for the roadforce balance, as the other guy said, I seached the website and found a mess of dealers thathad the tester. It cost me $79.99. I should have taken the minivan to Florida, it would have been a much more enjoyable ride.
Did you lose a weight on one of the wheels?

Alekto said:
Went back to dealer and told them to get it as close to zero as possible. And take off the lock nuts on the wheels (they break sometimes, when removing the wheel). Got them back with close to zero as possible on each tire.
When I bought my TurboCoupe with the wheel lock option, it came with a weight that was supposed to be mounted 180 degrees from the lock. Moral of the story, they have an impact to wheel balance.
 
#20 ·
I asked about missing weights, he said they were all there (as far as he could tell) the tire was balanced within spec the first time which did not correct the issue, when they balanced it real close to perfect, it made the difference. I watched him remove the lock nuts from each of the wheels and replace with the regular wheel nut, he did not take off anything else.
 
#21 ·
The road force balance is by far the best around. I ordered 4 Michelin Hydroforce tires from Tire Rack for my Eldorado. They shipped to a selected installer here in Memphis. They have the road force balancing machine, but apparently the technician didn't do a good job because I had vibration. I took the car to the tire place where I buy tires for my 3000GT VR-4, and they balanced them again with the road force machine. A world of difference ... perfectly smooth ride now. ;) As stated in the other posts, the machine is great, but it is only as good as the technician using it. Perhaps you could try another shop with the machine before your trip (that's what I would do) because a 2500 mile trip with vibration is not a good trip! :mad:
 
#23 ·
I also experienced slight vibration in the speed range between 65-72mph. I took my 2000 seville in to get the tires (wheels) Road Force Balanced (RFB)and it solved the problem. The techs also recommended to replace my front wheel hubs $$ and the two front tie rod ends $$, but since there is no more vibration due to the RFB, there is no need. Thanks for the helpful link. Here is the link again:

http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/search/findgsp9700.cfm

I recommend bringing your seville to an independent place and not the dealer.
(Same machine, cheaper price) Just make sure they force balance both sides of each wheel to 0.0 oz.
 
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