The Most Common Engine Vibration Causes

The main reason of why vibration occurs is an unstable body in a rotating or reciprocating motion. A car engine has many parts including crankshafts, pistons, flywheels, connecting rods, and more that are in continuous rotating and reciprocating mode when the engine is running. Many engine vibration causes will give different warnings about various engine problems.

Engine Vibration Analysis

Car engine vibration can be of many types, and all those shakes and noises can be scary. However, you can handle these problems well if you know about the causes and detect the symptoms.

The vibration in an engine can arise from simple reasons such as misalignment of a tire. The fixing of such is really cheap as you just need to do a tire rotation or balance. However, some fixes could be costly such as problems related to suspension or steering.

Most car owners ignore the symptoms at early stages, which is a mistake. Diagnose the troubles as soon as you pick them up as it will save you big bucks on repair bills down the road.

engine vibration causes
Source: Perfect Touch Performance

Five Common Engine Vibration Causes

Check out the five most common causes of engine vibration and shakes:

Engine Problems

When the problem comes from the engine, your vehicle will alert itself by creating shudders or jerks that apparently comes out of the engine compartment. It happens when the engine does not get enough fuel, air, or spark for functioning properly. The symptoms include shaking within a particular speed range, shuddering or jerking during acceleration, and shaking after driving for a while.

Axle Problems

The rotating and reciprocating engine parts have to maintain precise tolerances, alignments, and measurements for proper functioning. Some parts, especially the axle, can get easily bent when your car collides with other vehicle or faces an accident. A bent axle will create vibration, which will escalate with the increase of driving speed.

Brake Problems

If the vibration appears at the time of pushing the brake, your car may have a problem of broken o won out brake rotors. Heavy wear and tear can cause the brake rotors to get warped, making it impossible for brake pads and calipers to grip them during the time of applying the brake.

engine vibration causes
Source: Youtube

Wheel Problems

One of the most severe engine vibration causes is related to the wheel. A misaligned wheel or worn out wheel bearings might be the problems if you feel like the vibration is coming directly through the steering wheel. Another cause might be the warped ball joints that cause annoying vibration at driving speeds.

Tire Problems

It’s the most common of all the reasons as almost 80% of car vibrations are related to tires. Such vibrations can be fixed through tire balance, tire rotation, or tire replacement.

However, these five reasons are not the only engine vibration causes. The best solution is whenever you face such a problem, go to an auto repair shop and have your car diagnosed by expert mechanics.