vibration in 2002 1.8T Passat
 

Hi,

I have a vibration that occurs under acceleration when driving at speeds above 30MPH...it doesnt seem to follow engine speed....I am guessing that it might be a CV joint. Any opinions ? I don't think I have any rips or tears in the boots, any idea how to check to see which one has gone bad ?

Thanks in advance,

Brian

you shouldn't get a vibration from a bad cv joint or boot. If the cv joint is baad when you turn your wheel in either direction you would hear a clicking from that cv joint. If you have a vibration then you most likely have wourn out shocks or wheel bearing. If the car is not bouncing when you go over bumps and you still have the vibration then it's your wheel bearing.

Thanks for the reply. Since I sent this post, I was able to find several posts that described the same vibration I was experiencing as a result of the inner CV joint going bad. I was able to check under the vehicle and found that the passenger side axle seemed a tad loose. I went ahead & bought a new one, installed it & the vibration has completely gone....it now drives as smooth as silk :-)

Here is a link that I found very useful when replacing my axle:

http://www.taligentx.com/passat/maintenance/cvjoints/

A couple of things I'd like to mention. 1) I did not need to remove the rotor/caliper assembly. 2) I didn't need to disconnect the upper ball joints either. I followed someone elses advice to simply turn the wheel all the way to the left, then jack up the wheel assembly until I was able to lower the inner side & remove the axle. Incidentally, my axle bolt was of the 17mm allen variety & the new one purchased at Advance Auto had a 27mm hex bolt. The entire operation took only about 1 hour :-)

Cheers,

Brian