2015 Fusion with Vibrations

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Aug 22, 2017
Messages
205
Location
Middletown, NY
I'm in need of some help. My Fusion has vibrations at highway speeds. I've had my car aligned and all wheels road force balanced and a bent wheel repaired. I still have vibrations. The strangest thing about the vibrations is that it is inconsistent, meaning it comes and goes and changes intensity with no real pattern. Also, when I make a hard right turn out of my driveway, I get a clunking sounds and the car jerks with it. It clunks 2-3 times only and I won't hear it again until I pull out of my driveway again. I've taken it to the dealer in the past while under warranty with no success. It's out of warranty at 78k and I want to know what it could possibly be and what I can do to test/check to verify or rule out potential causes. Is it possibly my CV joint? Or another bent wheel or wheels? I didn't see any obvious signs of leaks or damage when I changed the oil last week.
 
Hmmm!
There may still be some extended or courtesy warranty with this issue considering you have documentation during the warranty period. Should you or the dealership find the culprit, they may still cover it under warranty due to the documentation. GOOD LUCK!
 
Is it only your driveway or anytime you turn right similarly hard? If it's repeatable elsewhere I would get a mechanic to drive along with you and make it happen in front of them. It could be a whole bunch of things and it's hard to pin down over the internet.
smile.gif
 
Sounds like a cv axle to me -which wheel was bent? Maybe cv axle was also damaged/bent slightly -bad cv can be intermittent.
 
If I were a gambler, I’d wager on the wheels still. If it doesn’t vibrate at city speeds, it’s likely to be a wheel induced vibration. Think about it, if the vibration is intermittent, it wouldn’t be something solid metal like a cv axle. If the clearances in the cv axle are bad, they will vibrate all the time. I take it your steering wheel is not vibrating. Try rotating the front and rear tires and see if the steering wheel does vibrate. That means you know if it is a tire problem or not. Balancing does not always catch slightly out of round tire belts. How old are the tires?
 
Last edited:
Intermittent vibration at highway speed can often be tire balance. The out of balance increases when 2 or more tires are in phase, and decreases when they are out of sync or phase. Remember, this can also be related to tire or rim condition and not balance. If tires are out of round, when the high spots all affect the car at the same time, the amplitude of the vibration increases.

Because all tires rotate at slightly different speeds (especially around corners or when changing lanes, for example) they do not remain in phase with each other. Hence the difference in amplitude over time.

I don't know what's wrong in your case. I will say that there are times where older cars are nearly impossible to balance at certain speeds. Possibly due to changes in suspension compliance, body rigidity and so on. My Jaguar X-type is like this. Always a steering wheel shake at 70. Gone at all other speeds. It's seems that's the car's resonant frequency and no matter how many new tires and rims I choose, the shake remains. Speed up a little and it goes away. Interestingly, other X-Types exhibit the same behavior.

You are right to include shafts and CV joints in the mix. While they typically don't cause issues due to the low rotational RPM, CV joints when worn can cause issues.
 
Engine mounts these days are complicated affairs, they can even have hydraulic dampers inside,
if they go wrong, then the vibration will occur. Saw one case where spot welds let go, another where
the rubber was shot inside where you couldn't see it, found it during a cutaway.
 
If you indeed had all 4 wheel/tires Hunter road force balanced, I can't see how it could be wheel/tire related. AFAIK, it doesn't get any more accurate that that system. It can detect what the operator had for lunch, last Tuesday. Kidding on that.

How are the brakes? Recent brake work? Could be a wheel not mounting up to a hub face like it needs to.
 
I see you have a 78,000 mile AWD Fusion which will have the "infamous" Ford PTU with "lifetime fluid". Have you ever had the PTU fluid changed? From what I'm reading it's not "lifetime" and can turn to a "tar" like material long before your 78,000 miles and cause all sorts of drive train issues first then fail. Did your dealer check to see the condition of the PTU fluid, or if it's leaking?

Whimsey
 
Char Baby - Thanks. I think I'm going to contact that dealer today about it.

StevieC - It is very noticeable getting out of my driveway most of the time, but it does happen on occasion when I make hard turns in parking lots.

bobcat - I'm hoping it isn't the CV but it's pretty high up there as the cause. It was the front driver side wheel which was bent and I also had that wheel bearing replaced under warranty. They either didn't look further after they found the bad bearing or it was good at the time...either way, it hasn't been ruled out.

Kuratron - I hope that you are right. That was my logic too. I'll definitely give rotation a shot. The tires are just over a year old. I am going to have my wheels inspected/repaired in January.

Cujet - I totally agree. It is just a frustrating problem to have. I'll be taking it into a shop to get a better look. I just posted on here to see what others think and get a few suggestions on what I can try before spending obscene amounts of money on this issue.

i hate autofraud - Would these symptoms be consistent with engine mounts? I think that I would feel vibrations while idling in drive if it were engine mounts. The car idles smooth.

JTK - I saw the guy do it myself. The RoadForce balancer indicated 16lbs on the bent wheel but I was able to see the bend in the wheel once the wheel was spinning on the machine. Repaired the wheel and the vibration decreased.

Whimsey - I changed the lifetime fluid myself at 45k and had Blackstone look at it. Didn't have any issues with the fluid but I'll check for leaks. Are the symptoms that I am experiencing consistent with a PTU failure?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top