Low speed steering wheel vibration/wobble

I have a 2002 VW Passat which was recently serviced. After the service I noticed that I felt a vibration in the steering wheel at low speeds whenever I made small turns with the wheel. For example, I might make a right hand turn on to a new road and then as I straighten the wheel, I can feel the steering wheel wiggle back and forth a little bit. Once I get above about 40 mph I no longer notice the problem. I'm taking the car back to the dealer to have them check it out. During the service they rotated the tires as well as checked the brakes. They suspect that perhaps the tire is out of balance. If I felt a vibration at higher speeds I would be inclined to agree with them, but at higher speeds things seem fine. Even at low speeds I don't really notice much unless I turn the steering wheel a tiny bit. When I do that, I get the steering wheel wobble that I mentioned earlier. The car felt fine before the service and the car only has 20,000 miles on it. Is an out of balance tire the most likely problem here, or could the shop have messed up something when they were checking on the brakes?

Thanks.

Reply to
James Howe
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The most likely cause is the wheel nuts are loose. STOP driving it immediately and check them out.

Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines

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Reply to
Dave Baker

Since the problem is felt in the steering wheel, good chance that one of the tires that was on the rear, and now on the front, has developed an internal break in the belts, or the belts have broken loose from the encapsulating rubber.

Have the tires rotated back to orig> I have a 2002 VW Passat which was recently serviced. After the service

Reply to
Mike Behnke

Definitely verify that the lugs are tight first as Dave suggests. If they are tight, then I would also suspect a bad tire (belt separating). Rotating the tires back to the rear should make it feel different, but you may still feel a shake/wobble in the rear. Shouldn't be as noticeable in the steering wheel though. I have had this happen several times and the symptoms are just as you describe (shake slow, no problem fast). If this is the problem you keep driving, it will get worse and eventually break apart. A good tire shop can test this. In one of my experiences, the tire problem was obvious once it was removed from the car.

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Reply to
bobby

Hi James,

Have you checked tyre pressure ? You may be sceptical that this could cause your problem, but exactly the same thing happened with my '95 Golf about a year back and tyre pressure was to blame (each wheel was down to 22 psi - should've been 30).

The sudden onset of colder weather can lower pressure, which explains why I first noticed the problem at the start of Winter. Perhaps it's starting to get cold wherever you are in the world ?

Of course, if I'd checked tyre pressure more regularly, it never would've gotten to that stage. I've learned my lesson !

Hope this helps ... Tony

Reply to
Tony Brooks

my steering wheeldeveloped a 1/2" wobble, what is the causes from this.. also its not the tires.

Reply to
woodlf1952

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

no it actually probably is the tires, or A tire. KB

Reply to
Kevin Bottorff

Front wheel drive? If so, and if it happens under light acceleration, it could be a CV or tripot joint. How did you check the tires?

Reply to
Bill Vanek

If it's not the tires then its a bent wheel or bent hub. Or the lug nuts are about to fall off.

Reply to
Paul in Houston TX

Does it wobble slower at slower speeds and faster at faster speeds?

Reply to
jtees4

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