Fluttering noise and Steering wheel vibration at highway speed

[EngineDweller]

Hey everyone, so on my way home from work today I noticed two things. While driving the G8, I noticed a fluttering noise. At first I thought it was low air pressure, one tire was 4 lbs less, so I added some air, still have noise. Thought maybe it was engine noise Im not use to, going from a 4 to an 8 cylinder...but I just feel like its something else. Very faint at idle and I cannot hear it very well because I have a belt tensionor whine that messes with my hearing. Also, I noticed that the steering wheel vibrates slightly at highway speeds. The car pulls to the right, but I believe that is from the passenger side front end link, the lower boot blew out so I replaced the end link, and I'm assuming the pull is just from it needing an alignment. I have no idea how long the end link was bad before I bought the car, so I'm assuming it got knocked out of alignment. Any ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[TailG8er]

Check wheel liners to make sure all clips are in place. Could be rubbing on a tire.

[EngineDweller]

Thanks for the tip. Checked all four, no loose clips. Its such a faint noise that its extremely hard to pin point location. Hopefully it warms up soon so I can dig into it more!

[EngineDweller]

My wife has informed me that im nuts and there in fact is no sound. I swear its there though. Almost sounds like a wobbly tire but all lugs are tight. Anyone have any other ideas?

[TailG8er]

Drive it until it gets worse

Turn up the radio

[EngineDweller]

Haha I do. But the radio cant drown out vibration and pull :-/

[travis gore]

http://www.g8nation.com/showthread.php?t=13525

read this TSB maybe it will help

[EngineDweller]

I checked the weights on the tires and each tire has weights on them... is there anyway to tell how much weight should be on each tire tho? For example each front tire has 6 weights. One rear has 5 weights and the other rear has 10 weights.

[WhatNext]

With that much weight on each tire, those tires are sooo bad its no wonder you got vibration. And no, I wouldn't expect them to ever run smooth.

With that said, the belts are probably hosed up too, so that will cause the pull. You probably should get new tires as that much balance weights on each really says the tires are messed up.

[Zodiac]

Steering wheel vibration and shimmies are unfortunately extremely common in G8's and sometimes impossible to cure.

[EngineDweller]

The tires are brand new, bought em 2 weeks ago...bout 300 miles on em...rims are shit though...but it didnt vibrate with the old tires, unknown mileage on them as I just boight the car 2.5 weeks ago. Belts do need replaced so ill try that. Im gonna go back to the place I bought the tires and see why they have so many weights on them. Thanks man!

[EngineDweller]

Zodiac, eventually I plan on upgrading the entire suspension system on the car, so if that is the issue, hopefully the revamp will cure it...idk though. I did read the thread travis referred me to, seems like it can be a paon in the neck with these issues. Well worth it though. Love everything about the car!

[WhatNext]

Clarification: when I said "belts" I meant the belts in the tires. But WTF the tires are brand new?!! What are they?

OK, you might want to switch the front tires left to right and see if the pull changes. If it does then a belt in the tires has shifted.

[EngineDweller]

They are entry level tires, continentals...not the greatest but being brand new I shouldn't be having this issue and I dont have the $$ right now for a higher grade tire. I'm not good with suspension or tires, so thanks for that clearing that up. I wish it were an engine issue, thats all I do is engine work. I do know that they are direcrional tires...when I did the brakes I thought the tread was all facing the right way, could be wrong though, so ill have to dbl check that...cuz ive been told that could makr it pull as well...

[WhatNext]

OK if they are directional, then you will have to swap tires front to back and see if the pull changes.

[EngineDweller]

I just looked to confirm if they were directionals...here is what i found. 2172421725

[EngineDweller]

ok so those pictures turned out like crap. the drivers side looks like the tread is going in the right direction (front and rear), whereas the passenger side (side its pulling to) the tread is going in the opposite direction.

[WhatNext]

I see what you mean. If they are directional, look for an arrow on the side wall. It should point in the direction of rotation to go forward.

[EngineDweller]

Well in that case the passenger side is right and the driver side is wrong. Could that cause pull and vibration?

[WhatNext]

It might. So get that sorted out, find out why all the weights and hopefully things will be smoother.

[EngineDweller]

THanks man. Ill get it looked at today or tomorrow.

[EngineDweller]

Getting tires rebalanced and getting it aligned this morning, I think the fluttering is a valve noise...but again, its so faint I cant pinpoint location, and its not constant. We will see. Cant wait to get this thing going right so I can start modding it!!! Thanks for the input guys, its greatly appreciated. Any other thoughts on my noise issue id be glad to hear it.

[EngineDweller]

Rebalance and alignment helped with pull, still have slight vibration. Bringing it to a gm dealer this week to get the propshaft and engine mounts checked...warranty covers it all so I might as well get it checked out now.

[WhatNext]

Progress good! Let us know how things work out.

[EngineDweller]

Tires are all good...got a bent rim tho. So ill have to wait to get the prop shaft and mounts checked until I get some rims.

[WhatNext]

A bent rim will cause vibes. They didn't find that when they first mounted your new tires and tried to balance them? (Obviously)

[EngineDweller]

Apparently not. Never had an issue at this place before. But they didnt even tell me til I made one of the techs go for a drive with me. And then hes like, well you have a bent rim...so I was like damn dude...coulda said something about that before I paid for an alignment. And yea hopefully its just the rim causing the vibration. Really dont wanna have to do engine mounts and prop shaft...its under warranty, but that would still suck. The vin is 9L1 so its most likely gonna have to be done tho