Thread: Strange vibration/rattle... 02GTP

bet ur sway bar is broken.

youll be ok driving it as long as thats whats broken.. just get it fixed when ya can. id suggest getting a gmpp sway bar. theyre solid instaed of hollow like the stock ones.

Would a broken sway bar cause catastrophic failure like when a tie rod breaks? I'm not very familiar with suspension components other than shocks and springs.

A broke sawy bar will not cause anything catastrpohic. The car will not stay planted to the road as nicely as it should when making agressive turn's \ corner's. Nothing to worry about at all. None of my Drag Car's run Sway bar's and I drive them on the street more then enough with zero issues. But on a Daily Driver I'd look into getting the item replaced if that really is an ungoing issue. But I doubt thats what the issue is with the sympthoes you are explaing. Did you buy the car new and it had this issue or used?

Originally Posted by SlowNA06

You Might be able to hold this off a bit with a little bit of stop leak but it will eventually need to be replaced.

The fluid remains full and I haven't added but a *tiny* bit to it. It whines a lot, but ONLY when I turn left quickly while in motion. Adding fluid seems to have no effect on function. I haven't checked the fluid in probably 2 weeks now. The pump itself doesn't whine even when the wheel gets tough to turn at times. I can't really turn the wheel without bogging the engine when the car isn't moving, such as squeezing into a tight parking spot. The wheel will just plain stop turning if I try to steer while not moving. The power steering rack is wet at that plug thing. I would expect consistent whining of the pump if it were the pump because I've driven my share of cars with bad powersteering pumps and they whined all the time. Is the assumption correct?

Originally Posted by SlowNA06

This shudder is your ABS system checking itself - should do that at 3-4mph after start then never again until next start. Perfectly normal.

Interesting! I suspected the ABS system myself. Do certain cars do it more than others? It takes longer for it to check itself when I reverse. I know because I've tried it.

Originally Posted by SlowNA06

Something is moving/shifting in the suspension... when you shift. Okay, enough wisecrack from me. Is this clunk a noise, jolt, vibration? Does it happen when you shift back to drive? Trans fluid full, pink, cool and froody?

The "groan or clunk" has only occurred when I move the car immediately after first started when it's cold. It's more of a noise but I can definitely feel it. The car is already in gear and the "groan" is within literally 6 inches of moving. I definitely think it's the power steering since it occurs when I crank the wheel. It's not the transmission. My Tempo had a broken transmission/motor mount and talk about a clunk. The engine could literally move itself around... Going on a tangent there...

BTW. Tranny fluid is pink and healthy. Power steering is a recent development. Cars these past 3 years have been dollaring and 50-cent piece-ing me to death.