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I’m having problems with our 2007 AWD Equinox which has 131,000 miles on it. It’s in really good shape. We’ve replaced both front hubs twice. Last week my wife said she can feel a vibration when she accelerates. Had the tires rotated and spun balanced, still a vibration especially when going from a stop to 30 MPH. No vibration in the steering wheel or the gear shift lever. The seats vibrate, that’s how bad it is. I’m afraid to take it to my dealer because it will cost me a diagnostic fee. I rocked the car back and forth in park and think the noise is from the differential or the axle? My local mechanic that I use for brakes etc. said they could look at it but it will probably be expensive! Does anyone have an idea?
Tom has given you an excellent answer with many good ideas One thing he did fail to mention is the viscous coupler . You mentioned it was an AWD and one of the week points in the system is the carrier bearing in the back of the coupler .This is a inexpensive bearing but you will need someone to take the coupler apart to replace it as the dealer and most shops will want to replace the whole unite which is extremely expensive. The viscous coupler can be replaced in under an hour but the unit can run close to $2000 . If you can find someone to replace the bearing there will be another hour of labor but the bearing will probably only be 30-40 bucks. Just something to look at . Hope this helps
Do you have jack stands? Find a nice level parking spot. Put front bumper against a tree, wall, or any un-movable thing. Jack the rear wheels off the ground, and put the stands under the axle. Remove the jack. Try rocking the wheel, that noise is old worn universal joints on each end of the large metal drive shaft. Closely examine the tires. Switch to 2WD ONLY. Start the engine, put it in drive. Be careful. Don’t do anything stupid. At idle, the rear wheels will slowly rotate, and the driveshaft may make noise. If you lightly ‘drag’ the brake, adding a little resistance, the U-joint might get louder. How’s the vibration ? Let off the brake. Slowly, motor up to what ever speed causes the vibration. Bent driveshaft, $250. Bend wheel rim, $100. Out-of-round-tire, $125. Find a driveshaft-speciality shop, not your local mechanic. The rim/tire issue is best tested using your spare. If the driveshaft is bent, or a tire has broken cords, I suspect it has been off-road-racing, or maybe, jumping a parking-lot-curb. At 131,000 miles, Ur-joints will get loose, too !
If you’re in the states, I believe Autozone does scans for free.
@trett43 vibration on acceleration at low speed can be caused by a worn center support bearing. Check that while you check the u-joints as well. check on here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7ESPv4p… for more information
I will assume there is variations of problems or issues with rear differentials. My 2005 Chevy Equinox had a bad cv axle at the WHEEL END… (since having it replaced at a national reputable repair place I can say that they do not know what they are doing… so as mentioned above go to a drive shaft shop, this is their area of specialty verses grab - your- money -and go shops!!) I am so beyond fired up about this due to when you flip a big dollar repair instead of doing it yourself I expect a piece of mind in the process and its one and done!!! But NO bc now my CV AXLE IS BACKING ITSELF OUT OF THE REAR DIFFERENTIAL END and the axle will not cede itself in due to there is no c-clip, its simply supposed to tighten on its own. One thing I have came across in research Ive been doing is these axles are not created equal, and when replacing a cv axle shaft DO NOT USE A REMANUFACTURED TYPE but rather a OEM REBUILT, is what I will be replacing mine with…but now I may have more issues and Ive came across some new info but I am just taking it in until i have the finaces to fix which in that time it will be backed in garage and I will be doing the work myself and will post a video to Youtube being there is none for this issue that i have found as of yet
