sshhlexus

I have a 1993 LS400

The problem I have is that the whole car shakes or wobbles, with a jerking motion in the steering wheel, this happens at any speed even if going 1 MPH and while braking or not braking.

I had a mechanic swap one rear wheel with the full size spare, this cured the problem for a few days. Exactly one week later the problem returned.

What could be the problem. Thanks in advance.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

how many miles on the car? most likely your strut rod bushings are shot among other bushings. the mechanic should be able to assess this problem easily as it's pretty apparent if you can feel it at even 1mph! are the lug nuts tight and wheels centered to the hubs? steering rack ok? motor mounts? could be one or all of those!

is the motor purring, with no check engine lights? does the car shift smooth?

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

my thoughts are you have a busted belt in a tire or two , but I would think anyone could see this or even feel it with your hands, but let us know what your problem was/is.

sshhlexus

140,000 kms or 86,800 mi yes only for a 1993

no problem with motor, no check lights, car shifts smooth... I did the correct ECU fix, last year.

All 4 tires look even from the outside, I put equal air pressure into each. The movement or wobble comes directly from the road.

I hoping it is another one of the tires, cheaper fix that way.

oldskewel

iTrader: (1)

so you're saying the problem was fixed by swapping one of the rear tires, and then the problem returned while that swapped tire was still on there, right?

If so, then that means it was not the tire itself, but something related to changing it that fixed it. Did the mechanic raise the car on a lift when doing that? If so, my guess would be that taking all the weight off the suspension allowed something to shift and that is what fixed it. Front or rear, don't know.

What I would do is to jack the rear up so the tires lift off the ground, then lower it down and test drive to see if that fixed it. If not, then do it with the front, and go from there. Maybe kick/wiggle the tires while it is in the air to be sure you give things a chance to settle into the "fixed" position.

And BTW, jacking 1 vs. 2 vs. 4 wheels at a time will have different effects, so consider this when doing your tests.

sshhlexus

I wasn't there when he did the work nor did I ask him what he did. We all assumed it was a tire. It was the rear left tire, driver side that was changed. Tomorrow I will bring it to another mechanic and I will ask more questions and try to inspect it myself.

dicer

Like another post. You probably have a blister in one or more tires caused by not avoiding huge holes in the pavement or worn tires. Also you could have a bent wheel, or the wheel was not installed right or the bead on the tire may not be even around the rim. Can you move the wheel or wheels at all when they are jacked off the ground? Give it a try.

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

just rambling thru my thoughts, back in the seventys I had 5 gas stations and one of them was a tire center and I had a machine that "trued" tires, it was amazing how many tires were out of round...
that tire shaver paid for its self in one year ( thankfully ) then computers got into the act and tires got better, like cars did when the computers took over.... but I was wondering about some of the foreign tires... maybe out of round?? we also checked radial "runout" with a dial indicator..
oh well .... dad always said a "hint to the wise should be sufficient"...

sshhlexus

Problem Solved.

Front tire, left side, had a swell around the circumference. Changed all 4 tires since the rear tire replaced by the spare also had a similar swell. All this occurred I think by the onset of heat in Florida, temps are into the high 90's with the road maybe being 100 degrees or so.

Thanks everyone for your replies.