Vibration with moderate acceletration and only sometimes

[jrat]

2011 SF. 52000kms.
A little while ago I noticed a brief vibration (felt through floor and steering) with normal acceleration from stand still... I attrributed this to the cold weather and perhaps oil thickening, as the problem went away after the car was warmed up. Since then I have noticed that it's continually happening on a regular basis, but only for a short period.. I was still thinking that it was the cold, but that wasn't the case because I left the car idle at start up for 20 minutes until well warm.

Now.. If I slowly accelerate (not putting much load on the car) there is no vibration at all. When the car reaches a certain speed, the vibration goes away. There is also no vibration after about 15 minutes of driving.

I had a neighbour test it with me to confirm and he felt it, and initially thought differential oil, but then suggested myriad other things from the CV boot to bearings to etc etc.

I need to take it to the dealership so they can experience the vibration but would certainly need to leave it there over night so they can check it out when "cold".

Any thoughts or similar experiences from the forum population??

[The Manlaw]

cold tires. they will create flat spots that go away once the tires warm up. you have nothing to worry about at all with this. it's nothing that makes it unsafe or makes you have to go out and get new tires.

all good.

[angelo]

Same vibrations here. I got new Kumho tires and alignment, it still happens in my first 10 minutes. Really noticeable when merging into highways, from 0 to 60 mps. It completely goes away after about 10 minutes.
The Manlaw, thanks for this explanation! I thought about some mechanical warm-up issue. I like the tires issue better.

[canderson]

Beyond any slight flat-spotting that occurs, the hardness of a typical tire at 15F or whatever will also cause you to feel just about every expansion joint (you'll think there are 2" gaps between every slab) until the tires warm up a bit.. another source of what passes for 'vibration'.

[angelo]

Originally Posted by canderson

Beyond any slight flat-spotting that occurs, the hardness of a typical tire at 15F or whatever will also cause you to feel just about every expansion joint (you'll think there are 2" gaps between every slab) until the tires warm up a bit.. another source of what passes for 'vibration'.

Actually, that make a lot of sense now!

[jrat]

SIGH.. I was hoping for some "don't worry much about it" answer as it's never the case many times with intermitant vibrations. Even though this is the second winter (not much of a winter last year in Toronto). Yesterday the sun was out and was about 5 Celcius. The tires were in full sun on black ashfalt for about 6 hours before I went out. No vibrations.. I can tolerate this knowing that nothing will drop or brake while on a highway.. THANK YOU....

[jdheefner]

I'm having a similar issue here in Iowa. I bought used and upon initial drives I have noticed a high speed vibration that seems to come from the rear (I don't feel in the steering). In the colder weather recently I've noticed a pronounced vibration at what seems to be the lower speed higher rpm (just before shift points). This seems to be worse with short drives or in morning. Vibration seems to be worse just after a tighter right turns or even some left turns. I notice the most vibration right around 25mph.
What is going on? It seems like it is linked to rpm and possible pressure from turns. CV joint? Wheel bearing?
It seems like a tire would be worse as speed increased.

[jrat]

Not sure jd. It's been mild recently up here in Toronto so the vibration has gone away. In the cold weather right turns would also cause vibration. .. My friend has a 2009 SF and his vibrates at higher speeds in the cold... His dealer said it's the tires (cold)... Yours seems a bit more involved, but I guess as the weather gets warmer you can rule out a cold spot and go from there..... I hope yours turns out to be cold spots as well. Good luck

[sbr711]

Concern sorta mimmicks what I had a couple week ago.. 2011 Santa Fe w/3.5l and AWD here..

Put the car up in the air, and inspect the left inner joint where it snaps into the drive unit.. see if the joint is sticking out of the drive unit..

Field Service told me to replace the ring on the end of the shaft (groove at inner joint' splines with wire ring to snap into differential side gear),, drive again and see what happen.. if it pop out, replace the axle.. supposedly a batch of axle machined wrong ?

[jrat]

No vibration issues since the warmer weather has moved in. Will try to over inflate the tires to try and "correct" the flat spot... if that doesn't work then I'll just get winter tires..