[troykillman]

This is my first post, I looked for a similar post but couldn't find one. When I am on the highway, I guess traveling between 50-80 MPH my car seems a little wobbly or shaky. When I take my hands off the steering wheel briefly it seems to shake back and forth really quickly. Anyone have any advise on what it may be? It only has 15,000 miles on it.

 

[drstereo]

I have the same problem with my 092LT V6. I have had the wheels rebalanced and it still does it, I'm starting to think its just the goodyear LS2's.

 

[Silver LTZ]

Sticky thread right above yours....
http://www.chevymalibuforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3834

Seems NOT to be the tires. They aren't the best, but it seems to be more A6 transmission related. Try the reflash. Helped alot for some (myself included).

 

[drstereo]

I wouldn't say that my whole car shakes at highway speeds, the problem is mainly that at highway speeds my steering wheel jiggles and vibrates left to right but the car goes straight as an arrow down the road. Is this the problem that everyone is having?

 

[troykillman]

That is EXACTLY what mine is doing drstereo, I just got home from a last minute store run tonight, which required me to get on the highway, which drove me crazy, which prompted me to get on here again and check.

 

[DrivenDaily]

Question: What engine do you have? Or more specifically, do you have electric power steering or hydraulic?

 

[Silver LTZ]

One thing I have noticed is that these cars are very susceptible to vibrations. I had some issues a few thousand miles ago, even after I got my new wheels and tires it was still there. I got the reflash, which at first didn't seem to do anything then as I put miles on the car it got much better. I would say it is 75-80% better, which is good. The A6 has some odd shift (economy minded) programing which will make the torque converter do some odd things which can cause some vibrations as well, that will be noticed by the people used to A4's even more so as they don't do it. Not to mention that IMO the steering is not very well isolated and picks up alot of the road. I just had my tires rotated last week, and I can tell. I guess the different wear patterns are causing me to notice a difference. That is how sensitive I have gotten. It is very, very minor but I can tell. Seems to be most noticeable when getting up to speed on the highway. But for the most part, even with the 20's and performance tires I honestly have to say my car has gotten much, much better. All I can say is just to be safe, make sure they Road Force balance your tires, then ask for the reflash. Then see where your at....

 

[Yury]

This is my first post, I looked for a similar post but couldn't find one. When I am on the highway, I guess traveling between 50-80 MPH my car seems a little wobbly or shaky. When I take my hands off the steering wheel briefly it seems to shake back and forth really quickly. Anyone have any advise on what it may be? It only has 15,000 miles on it.

Sounds exactly like what my Endeavor does. The current theory is the tires (they are pretty crappy).
It is not that noticeable when I have both hands on the wheel, but when I either let go of the wheel completely or hold it lightly with one hand it shakes. Never does that below 50 mph.

 

[troykillman]

Question: What engine do you have? Or more specifically, do you have electric power steering or hydraulic?

I am unsure, How do i figure that out? I would imagine electric.

Also, SilverLTZ, can I just ask for the reflash? Will they just do it? Or is this something that the dealerships are aware of so they will know what to look for?

 

[Silver LTZ]

I am unsure, How do i figure that out? I would imagine electric.

Also, SilverLTZ, can I just ask for the reflash? Will they just do it? Or is this something that the dealerships are aware of so they will know what to look for?

If you have a I4 you have electric. Being you have a 1LT I assume that is the case.

As for the reflash, a decent dealer will know. BUT, I would tell them that you want you TCM reflashed with the latest transmission updates.

 

[troykillman]

Thank You !!!

 

[malibu_2010]

When I took my car today for my first oil change, the dealer also flashed the TCM. I really felt the difference after I hit the highway.
Before, I felt like the car was being hold back by invisible force under WOT. Now, the response time was significantly improved under WOT. A6 tranny shifts very quickly and smoothly. The other thing was, right before a traffic light @ 5-10 mph, tranny was downshifting harshly. After the flash, I didn't feel it any more.

 

[drstereo]

Well it's been a while but I'd thought I'd give you guys an update on my car. The low speed (25-60mph) shimmy in the steering wheel has been driving me nuts! I just came back from Vegas last week, and driving for 4 hours with the steering wheel jiggling back and have the car vibrate I said enough. I couldn't take it anymore and decided to take it in the the dealership. Just to give a recap, I had the wheels rebalanced twice, once at the dealership and once at Americas Tire. Both times the guys said the wheels are perfectly balanced and should be fine. After that not fixing the problem I had them reflash the transmission, The transmission shifts a lot better but it still did nothing to fix the shimmy. Yesterday I took it in and they had the tech drive with me so I could show him the problem. After turning out of the dealership and driving down the road the tech instantly said "your tires are out of round". They gave me a rental car for the day and they checked every wheel and found the front right tire was bad and installed a brand new goodyear Ls2 tire. I picked it up today and it felt like the day I drove off the lot with the new car. No more shimmy or shaking and the slight pull to the left that I failed to mention was gone. Anyway, check your tires!!! these Goodyear Eagle Ls2's are piles of crap and I can't wait for them to wear out so I can put on a set of Micheline tires. This could be the answer to the 50mph shake thread.

Hope this helps.

 

[Silver LTZ]

Well it's been a while but I'd thought I'd give you guys an update on my car. The low speed (25-60mph) shimmy in the steering wheel has been driving me nuts! I just came back from Vegas last week, and driving for 4 hours with the steering wheel jiggling back and have the car vibrate I said enough. I couldn't take it anymore and decided to take it in the the dealership. Just to give a recap, I had the wheels rebalanced twice, once at the dealership and once at Americas Tire. Both times the guys said the wheels are perfectly balanced and should be fine. After that not fixing the problem I had them reflash the transmission, The transmission shifts a lot better but it still did nothing to fix the shimmy. Yesterday I took it in and they had the tech drive with me so I could show him the problem. After turning out of the dealership and driving down the road the tech instantly said "your tires are out of round". They gave me a rental car for the day and they checked every wheel and found the front right tire was bad and installed a brand new goodyear Ls2 tire. I picked it up today and it felt like the day I drove off the lot with the new car. No more shimmy or shaking and the slight pull to the left that I failed to mention was gone. Anyway, check your tires!!! these Goodyear Eagle Ls2's are piles of crap and I can't wait for them to wear out so I can put on a set of Micheline tires. This could be the answer to the 50mph shake thread.

Hope this helps.

As you can see in the sticky, the tires are really not the issue for most. Many owners with this issue don't even have LS2's. You just got lucky. Hopefully it doesn't come back for ya.

 

[LT2]

Very situational...depends on how many miles you've got on your car....what size tires, etc...I have a 2LT ( 18 inch -55 series) and I've had the same problem since almost new. I installed brand new tires, changed the bearings, balanced the tires again....helped for a few hundred miles then back to the shaking. It's very annoying. When I switch over to winter tires (cheap 16" Hankooks and steel wheels), the car handles like a dream.

I think if I were to keep it I would have to change all the front end components ( ball joints, tie rods...etc) then the tires...which would be costly...to see if that corrects the shaking. I believe it may be a problem with the Goodyear RSA that comes stock...never been a fan of Good Year.

The very reason I'm trading it in.