Car shaking and noise are the main reason to push any buyer away. Whether they ask about it when you want to sell a car online in Dubai, or they hear it when selling them face to face. Do you feel vibrations in the passenger compartment when your car is moving (or not)? Let’s try to see all the possible causes of this problem.
Approximate location of the problem
First, try to “filter” the probable causes by detecting if the problem is the running gear or the mechanics (gearbox, transmission, engine) and fix it before you regret your car valuation in Dubai.
To do this, check if the vibration is occurring when accelerating or engaging a gear ratio. If the vibrations appear when a gear is engaged and disappears in neutral, you can focus on the transmission. Or the problem can come from the engine where a faulty spark plug or ignition may prevent one of the cylinders from working properly causing shaking.
- Undercarriage (underneath the main cabin, the chassis)
Here are the elements that mainly come up concerning vibrations from running gear. However, it is unlikely that the problem comes from the running gear if your car has recently passed the technical test that you should take before selling your car in Dubai. Because the running gear is a vital element for safety, any related problem will appear in the test report.
The running gear problems will cause vibrations that continue even in a neutral position.
- Bent Rims
Climbing the sidewalks in a wild way is a minor mistake that most drivers do regularly, especially when parking in a busy city. Over time, this ends up slightly deforming the rims and bending them. You don’t need to be a mechanic to understand that a wheel that’s not straight will cause vibration. Try to detect the vibration while driving very slowly, and find out if there’s a link between the vibration frequency and the wheel’s rotation.
Bent rims can damage the running gear early, or even cause bends to the discs over time.
- Tires Problem
An imbalanced tire may also cause vibrations in the passenger compartment. Various reasons cause tires to deform, like:
- Wrong tire inflation which ends up wearing the tires chaotically.
- Parking for a long time without moving the car, as a flat surface forms at the point of contact with the ground.
- Wild and repeated trudge on the sidewalks.
- Running Gear Geometry
A problem with the geometry of the running gear (parallelism, camber angle, etc.) can also be the cause. However, replacing a piece in the silent block can stop it.
- Ball Joints: Worn suspension or steering ball joints can induce a shake that you can feel in the passenger compartment.
- Wheel Bearings: Worn bearings can cause vibrations. However, if this is the case you should change them quickly because you could lose a wheel while driving!
- Wheel Balancing: If there is an imbalance in the weight distribution, one side of the wheel is heavier than the other which causes vibration. Therefore, correct any tiny imbalance by adding small weights.
- Brake Discs: In this case, you will only notice the vibration when braking. That can be due to discs overheating coming from too sporty driving (violent braking repeatedly) or even from a blocked caliper that presses a pad continuously against the disc.
- Suspension Arms: A deformed suspension arm can cause shaking at certain speeds. However, the technical test or inspection shows this immediately.
- Transmission
A little more difficult to diagnose, the elements of the transmission can be one of the causes of car vibration.
- Flywheel/Clutch: A problem with the flywheel (on which the clutch rests) can cause significant vibrations. You can detect this when finding a link between the shaking and the gear change.
- Transmission Shaft: A faulty/deformed transmission shaft or universal joint can cause shaking. However, it is more or less significant depending on the degree of deformation.
