# Excessive engine vibration?



## zr1000a1 (Jan 25, 2012)

My guess would be a heat shield. At certain rpm, vibration and resonance causes the feel and noise. Check along firewall and body, and around the cats. Sometimes the catalytic converter's own shield (or outside casing) comes lose and vibrates. Might also be making contact with exhaust. Check exhaust hangers and rubber bushings. Might need a little adjustment. Noise and vibration might only be around a certain rpm, when it hits a certain resonance, then goes away by 1900-2100 rpm or so. Hopefully there are no exhaust leaks or bad gaskets along the intake and exhaust track, causing vibration and idling problems.
Tougher to do engine mount checks with a manual. With an automatic it is easy to observe excessive play by observing engine while putting in reverse and then drive a couple times while checking for movement. Sometimes power braking a little will also help while checking. With a manual, might be able to have someone observe from side of car (watching toes and side mirror) while checking in first gear with clutch engagement and disengagement a few times, then repeat in reverse.
A slight coil or plug misfire might cause more noticeable vibration at certain rpm's, but I think you would probably feel that at idle too.
Edit:
The way the turbo is incorporated into the manifold might transmit more vibration and resonance if impeller is slightly out of balance or bearing is a little out of spec, but I doubt that you could feel it, unless exhaust is rubbing against the shields. Even then, I doubt it, and there would be other noise noticeable throughout rpm range.
Good luck.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

zr1000a1 said:


> My guess would be a heat shield. At certain rpm, vibration and resonance causes the feel and noise. Check along firewall and body, and around the cats. Sometimes the catalytic converter's own shield (or outside casing) comes lose and vibrates. Might also be making contact with exhaust. Check exhaust hangers and rubber bushings. Might need a little adjustment. Noise and vibration might only be around a certain rpm, when it hits a certain resonance, then goes away by 1900-2100 rpm or so. Hopefully there are no exhaust leaks or bad gaskets along the intake and exhaust track, causing vibration and idling problems.
> Tougher to do engine mount checks with a manual. With an automatic it is easy to observe excessive play by observing engine while putting in reverse and then drive a couple times while checking for movement. Sometimes power braking a little will also help while checking. With a manual, might be able to have someone observe from side of car (watching toes and side mirror) while checking in first gear with clutch engagement and disengagement a few times, then repeat in reverse.
> A slight coil or plug misfire might cause more noticeable vibration at certain rpm's, but I think you would probably feel that at idle too.
> Edit:
> ...


Thanks. I drove it a bit more today and isolated the problem between 1700 and 1800RPM. When the car was cold, it caused a pretty loud vibration somewhere in front of the passenger area, either in the dash or somewhere near the firewall. As the car warmed up, that noise went away, but you could still hear a distinct vibration around those RPMs. Just curious if anyone else had this kind of issue. 

I'll just have the dealer take care of it.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Has anyone had this issue? I'm noticing what may be excessive engine vibration on my 2012 Cruze Eco MT. My wife can feel the engine's vibration in the floorboards of the car when I accelerate past about 1600RPM. It sounds like I have an mild aftermarket exhaust or an exhaust resonator removed, but the whole system is completely stock. I even put the intake duct back in (which I removed to bypass the intake resonator), to make 100% sure that wasn't it, and that's not it.
> 
> I've also heard this before when an engine mount went bad. The vibration causes an exhaust-like noise. There's also noticeable vibration in the steering wheel when accelerating, especially below 1500RPM. I don't recall it being quite as bad before.
> 
> ...




XtremeRevolution,
I would like you to keep me posted on the outcome of your visit to the dealership. They will be in the best position to get this issue properly diagnosed for you. If you have any further questions please feel free to message me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Chevy Customer Service said:


> XtremeRevolution,
> I would like you to keep me posted on the outcome of your visit to the dealership. They will be in the best position to get this issue properly diagnosed for you. If you have any further questions please feel free to message me.
> Thank you,
> Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


Thanks. 

I've been in close contact with GM regarding my first issue with this car; the front suspension popping noise. I'm waiting for the part to be delivered. I understand they were ordered last week with an ETA of 5-12 days. Not sure if you are in the same office, but I've been working with a lady named Rachel, service request number 71-1035532273. 

I will be calling back and filing another case if the dealership gives me absolutely any trouble with this problem. Thank you for keeping up to date on our issues Stacy. Your presence is very much appreciated.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

I have an appointment set up for tomorrow at 8:00 to have them replace the strut assemblies on the car, which arrived today, and will drive around a dealer technician to explain this problem. I will report back on the exact cause and remedy when that is determined.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Well, I'm not sure what happened, but the vibration is gone. It could have been related to the strut issue I was having, as that may allow the vibrations to be transferred into the car more easily through the wheel bearing. I will update this thread if the problem comes back, but today was fairly cold out and the car was butter smooth.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Well, I'm not sure what happened, but the vibration is gone. It could have been related to the strut issue I was having, as that may allow the vibrations to be transferred into the car more easily through the wheel bearing. I will update this thread if the problem comes back, but today was fairly cold out and the car was butter smooth.



XtremeRevolution,
I am very happy to hear that you are not experiencing this issue any longer. If it does come back please let me know. I hope you are able to do nothing but enjoy your Cruze now! 
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## gt_cristian (Apr 7, 2012)

I am having a similar issue on a 2013 LT A/T. When the engine is cold, it vibrates right before each gear change after 1800 rpm. On the highway I hear a constant BRRRR comming from the engine compartement (passenger side). 

I managed to record this vibration : a little at 9s and very clear at 54s. The engine was already warm when I got this.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I had this with my Lancer. It turned out to be ice build up in the front wheel wells that was interfering with the struts and springs. Once the ice melted the vibration went away. Had you been driving in snow and ice before this started?


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## gt_cristian (Apr 7, 2012)

Well, it did it since it was brand new. And I keep it in a garage so I doubt ice could be forming.


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## Aussie SRi-V (Aug 25, 2012)

Interesting reading about the engine range vibrations.
I had one at 1700-1800 RPM in the 2012 SRi-V (very loud). I located the gremlin under the dash on the RH side. 
It was the RH floor heater outlet vent pipe. The way they are connected to the heater box is very poor.
The bracket is weak and the plastic clips average. If the pipe was hot, the noise was shocking. Cold, quiet as a church.
Was very frustrating trying to find it.

Removed the pipe, adjusted the bracket to provide more locking force and a little selastic to work as a joint compound.
No more 1700-1800 vibration rattle...


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

^that has actually been a common issue with these cars. I have not heard mine rattle yet, but know what to do it this happens to it. Thanks for that tidbit sir. 


Sent from my iPhone using AutoGuide.com App


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## Eco (May 13, 2011)

This is absolutely hilariously timed.
My wife and I just got the car back from having the new valve cover with integrated updated PCV.

Well first thing I noticed is that I lost fuel economy pretty quickly. It COULD just be due to the winter temps, but I noticed quite a bit of fuel economy loss on the highway, even running higher tire pressure than I had been running.

However, maybe a week later, my wife and I were driving around and I thought. Man, the car feels weird, and sounds pretty strange.

In fact it sounded pretty odd at about 2000 rpm in our 6MT Eco.

It actually sounds a bit like a modded Civic! Yes, that's it, it sounds like a refined exhaust leak, definitely louder.

I figured it was perhaps due to ice somewhere and engine vibration could be the cause.

However my wife says that she notices a loss in power, and she's not normally sensitive to those kinds of things. She says it takes more pedal to get going, which is the total opposite end of what happens with a boosted car in the winter...

Personally I thought that it was more of a drag issue, it felt like the car didn't coast forever like it normally felt like. I felt like I constantly had to stay on the gas to maintain it's speed.

But here I am thinking this is a new car quirk that I'll have to live with (reduce fuel economy, slower) because there is NO WAY a tech who doesn't own the same car will be able to tell me anything other than "normal operation".

However here you are OP describing the EXACT same issue, so I know it's validated.

Now... What the heck to do about it?


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## gt_cristian (Apr 7, 2012)

I had the car at the dealer and they could reproduce the vibration and noise, but did not find anything loose. They heard the noise comming from the front end, engine compartement, passenger side. They will contact GM to figure it out.

I realized two things today:

1. When in "P" if I accelerate above 2000 rpm, it vibrates and makes an exhaust-like sound.
2. When in "N" if I accelerate above 2000 rpm the same happens. It seems to resonate very well between 2200 and 2500.

I recorded the sound here, while driving: Cruze LT Engine vibration - YouTube
I will post a couple of videos at idle and while cruising later today: http://youtu.be/ZyXWtZraTSI


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## gt_cristian (Apr 7, 2012)

Ok, my dealer had a GM engineer looked at this issue today. They confirmed the rattle noise at 1800 rpm and each gear shift when the engine was cold and they fixed it. Cold weather made this vibration obvious and we had -14F today.

It was coming from the evaporator pipe (muffler) being close to a fuel rail. They repositioned the evaporator hose by removing the fuel rail support (sometimes it is hard to understand what those techs write down )


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I bet they simply moved the fuel rail support to put more space between the exhaust and the support it was rattling against.


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## gt_cristian (Apr 7, 2012)

I did not get a chance to look at it yet. It is awfully cold here this week (-13F) hehe bur I think they just moved it further away.


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## gt_cristian (Apr 7, 2012)

Does anyone know if engine mounts require any particular maintenance if we want to avoid vibration as the car ages? Given there is rubber involved, would it be a good idea to apply silicone or other lubricant on engine mounts?


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Not much to do with an engine mount for maintenance aside from replace it when it goes bad. The rubber will lose elasticity as it ages, and the mount will eventually fail. Driving aggressively or driving a modded car will put more force into the mounts, speeding the aging.


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