vibration

[daveslights]

Hey all,

I have an interesting situation.

2011 Outback 2.5i Premium

30,000 miles (16 months old)

 

I was having a vibration, which felt like a tire out of balance. I went to the dealer, they did a Road Force Balance and a four wheel alignment (which took almost 3 hours). It was good for a week until I got an inspection (somewhere else) and a tire rotation which was due. the next day the vibration was back. I called the dealer, they said I should not have rotated the tires because they do that during the RFB (something I feel like they should have told me, because I try to keep on schedule with that).

So they did another RFB. This didn't help the vibration at all. I called them back and told them there was no change, they scheduled me a few days later and said a service manager would test drive with me. He did, and he said it sounded like a Wheel Bearing. They gave me a loaner and kept my car for 3 days

 

(it is interesting to note that, I left the car with them on a friday evening. On saturday morning I had to go to the lot to get something out of my car - i noticed it was parked kind of carelessly but didn't think much of it. On sunday afternoon, I had to get something for work out of my car so I went back to the lot and noticed again how my car was parked exactly as it was on saturday. Monday they called to say the car was ready, the replaced both front wheel bearings under warranty. I returned the loaner and found my car in the lot EXACTLY as it had been parked since saturday morning. It definitely had not been moved since saturday morning at 11am. The in and out mileage was the same on the invoice, so they did not test drive after the fix.)

 

I left the dealer and immediately noticed that the vibration was still there, absolutely no difference. I called the dealer and was put on hold. I called back later and had to leave a message for my service writer....over two hours later no reply, I called and spoke with my service writer, he told me he would have to talk to his manager and call me back. that was 24 hours ago.

 

does any of this seem strange to anyone else?

 

Yesterday afternoon I checked my tire pressure it was:

driver front: 28psi

driver rear: 31psi

passenger front: 33psi

passenger rear: 33psi

 

I adjusted them all to 31 psi and still no change. I am surprised the the dealer would not check my tire pressure before giving the car to me, or if they adjusted pressure to the above numbers that they would at least tell me why.

Edited April 25, 2012 by daveslights

[Fairtax4me]

It's possible they removed the knuckle from the car in the parking lot and took the assembly inside rather than the put the car on a lift. Shouldn't be hard to tell if they did or did not do the work. Look for hand prints on the wheel, tool marks on the bolts. You can also remove the brake rotor and look at the bearing and see if it looks new. If it's tarnished and covered in brake dust, then you know they didn't replace it.

 

Which dealer did you go to? Did they try to charge you for the work?

[jamesm113]

Unrelated, but they should not all be 31psi. Check the sticker on the front door. Mine are 32 front/30 rear. The AWD is expecting a pressure difference

[daveslights]

It was under warranty. I'll wait until this is over to talk about which dealership it is.

[daveslights]

now they say it is the tires, the tread is wearing strangely. even though I"ve been rotating tires. if you run your hand from front to back on the tire the tread feels ok, but if you go back to front it's choppy.

They're looking into replacing the tires for me. but I havent heard back yet. hopefully the gold plus warranty covers it.

[Rooster2]

I am thinking a bad tire or bent road wheel.

[ivans imports]

fastest way to ruin your car take it to dealer scary dealer mecanics are piad by the job and all that maters to them is how fast they can get the job done. eg when we asked the local dealer mecanic why he was orbital grinding heads instead of planeing them he replyed { WE JUST HAVE TO GET IT OFF WARANTY ] so who cares if it has problems later waranty will be off dealers and there policys are very shadey do not turst them i'm am personaly tierd of cleaning up dealers slopy shady work i wouldent even let them look at my car ever take it to GD or shawn or somone that cares about there qaulity control and reputation

[CoupedUpSubie]

The vibration could very well be the tires. If they are replacing the tires then the car MUST have an alignment. That is why your tires are wearing weird if they really are. The RFB would have shown a bent wheel.