Vibration only under acceleration
 

The basics:

'02 base model, 114k miles, 5speed.

When accelerating above about 50 MPH, there is a vibration that goes away as soon as you take your foot off the gas. It is stronger through the floor on the passenger side, which leads me to think it is on that corner. I just replaced all brake pads & rotors, and properly torqued the lugs, and there was no change.

My mechanic thinks it might be the axle, and I think that is plausible, but he admits he has minimal MINI experience.

Any suggestions before I tear into it and replace the axle?

Check the lower engine mount. You need to remove it to check it properly.

ditto on the engine mount, that's usually the cause if it's an acceleration shake.

phil.

Could also be a bad CV joint on the passnger side.

The CV joint was my 1st thought. I guess I'll need to look into how hard these projects will be...

I'm having the same issue. I replace the passenger side a arm bushing today. It slightly improved but still bad. I'm going to get the lower engine mount on order tomorrow. Hope that fixes it. It sucks!

Ok I just replaced my upper strut mount which was cracked. A lot of vibration went away. My lover engine mount will be in tomorrow. I'll let you know if it fixes it. Mine is cracked so yeah... Who knows. If that isn't it I'll replace ball joints then driveshaft... It's gettin expensive now...

I am having the exact same problem! Please let me know the results. Man I was hoping it wasn't anything serious but this worries me.:eek2:

The upper strut mount was not hard to change. The part was around 50 and with a spring compressor you don't even have to remove the strut from the car. My lower engine mount came in yesterday so I'll put it in today andvlet ya know.

Hopefully you found the problem. If not, and you have to replace the cv joints you will have to buy a half shaft. CV joints are not sold separately as far as I know. I just replaced my passenger side half shaft. I bought a new replacement on E-bay for around $90 made by DSS. I have been driving with the new axel for over a month including some hard cornering and acceleration. So far it seems like a great quality shaft. I was warned about DSS axels after I made the purchase. I was told they don't hold up. So far I disagree. A new OEM half shaft will cost you over $500.

The job to remove and replace is really not that difficult. If this is the route you decide to take, let me know and I'd be glad to share my experience with you.

Chad

how easy is it to look if I have a cracked upper strut mount? Also I noticed that I have the same issue with the hydraulic upper motor mount leaking, looks like it has been doing it for awhile. Could this be the cause of the vibration? How dangerous is it to drive with a either problem?

Since I already know I have a problem with the upper hydraulic motor mount I am going to by the replacement. But I want to order everything at once so I was hoping there was an easy way to investigate the strut mount.

Lower engine mount changed. Still have the wobble.... I'm running out of options here!

I would suggest taking a peak at the control arm bushings, they are common. They generally don't cause too much of a problem, but occasionally they will tear all the way around and cause some issues.

I don't think I've seen an axle go bad, but given your current miles and model year, it is a possibility. I would hold off on the axle as a last resort, generally if you can feel any up and down movement on the shaft it is bad.

Definitely check your lower control arm bushings though.

Already changed out the lower control arm bushings with power flex... No change

Easy. Just look in your engine bay at the openings on top of your strut. If you see cracking or if it looks like the center is being pushed out with what looks like a circle cut, then it's bad. Your steering will also squeak sometimes at low parking lot speeds.

Since this vibration happens only under acceleration I'm more inclined to think it's a driveline issue (cv joints).

I like where your head is at. I'm going to order driver and passenger. It'll take like 3 weeks or so to get in...

Where are you going to order them from? Are you going to order the DSS ones like I did? BTW I still have no issues with my new axle. I just added a RMW cam and even with the added power and hard acceleration, still very smooth. IMO it's worth a try for the amount of savings.

If you think the vibration is coming from the one side, I would just start with replacing that side and go from there. If you can retain one good factory axle and just replace what's damaged I think you'll be better off.

Chad

Yeah I'm going with that brand. I'm going to replace both sides because my drivers side clicks somtimes during accell so it might be good to do both. Plus they are both lifetime warranted!

Btw. How do you like that competition rear sway bar? I'm going with either that or the street...

I love my sway bar! It got rid of 100% of my understeer on the middle setting.

Make sure you don't get rid of your stock axels. Inspect them and save them for parts. Let me know if I can help out with info on your swap.

Good luck!

Chad

Wow thats a ton of work with no solution yet. I checked my upper strut mounts they are not cracked. But i do have some mushrooming going on. So i am going to buy the m7 SRB but i know that wont the wobble. A buddy of mine recently replaced an engine mount on one of his cars (not a mini) and he said he had the same problem as me with the wobble. He changed the mount and all is good now.

I am going to change out my bad upper hydraulic motor mount to see if that helps. I wont get to it until next weekend so i will update provide an update than. Hopefully someone comes across the fix soon.

I'm having the same issue with the vibration under acceleration (especially at speeds over 50). I just replaced upper and lower motor mounts which made some difference, but not a lot. I guess it's time for an axle change or two.

I got all my parts in this week for the motor mounts so I am going after that this weekend. But FYI, I talked to a couple of folks from my local mini club and one had the same exact problem. He said that you should look at the control arm bushings. He said he changed the motor mounts which didn't do much but then changed his control arm bushings and it solved the problem. If my motor mounts don't fix this then I am on to the control arm bushings.

I replaced my control arm bushings last year and it made the car much less noisey\rattely.. if yours are older than it's a good target to fix - Its a rubber part that takes a lot of abuse.. i went with the Alta PSRS - 2x the price, but should have 2x the life + caster adjustment.

phil.