Weirdest vibration issue !!!

**johnnywishbone** · 16-04-2018,07:18 PM

I have a 2010 2.0 tdi A5 which has recently developed a really weird fault. I do the same commute to work every day and after roughly 10-15 minutes of driving, while I'm on the motorway, a vibration starts through the steering wheel along with a low frequency drone. At first I thought wheel balancing but it disappears after around a minute and doesn't come back for the rest of the journey (around 40 minutes). It doesn't seem to be speed related either as I've slowed down/sped up etc but still the same. I've also dipped the clutch to make sure it's not dual mass flywheel related. I had the wheels balanced as a matter of course but still no good. Really strange fault and quite annoying, anyone got any ideas ?

Cheers,

JJ.

**Rob69** · 16-04-2018,09:21 PM

At the risk of saying something stupid, could it be a section of motorway road surface, failing that have you tried swapping front wheels to back?

**Crasher** · 16-04-2018,10:01 PM

The MLP platform is very prone to lower ball joint wear which causes odd wheel vibrations and we are starting to see a few racks fail due to internal wear on early cars like yours.

**johnnywishbone** · 16-04-2018,10:01 PM

Thanks for the reply Rob69 but no, it happens on different sections of road but always after about 15 minutes driving. I could swap the wheels but can't get my head around the fact it dissappears after a minute or so ??!!

**johnnywishbone** · 17-04-2018,08:15 AM

Thanks Crasher, I'll certainly have a look at the lower ball joints but still don't understand how the problem disappears ?!!

**Crasher** · 17-04-2018,11:08 AM

That could suggest a heat related change in something which would normally point to a tyre, what is it on?

**johnnywishbone** · 17-04-2018,03:37 PM

So the car is a 2010 2.0 tdi Sport running on 245/40/R18. I've given the tyres a once over and no sign of flat spotting or uneven wear. I'll give the lower ball joints a look this weekend though and then maybe go for tyres.