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2005 Buick Century front rotor question
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dellphinus
New User
Feb 15, 2011, 5:05 PM
Post #1 of 6
(2638 views)
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2005 Buick Century front rotor question
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Greetings,
I'm fighting a front end shimmy/vibration problem. Shop says bearings, hubs, rotors, CV joints, axles are fine, and it's a tire. Tire shop says tires are fine.
My question: I was trying to isolate by swapping spare onto the supposed problem wheel location. When I removed the front wheel, I noticed the rotor is "loose" on the hub- play until the holes in the rotor hit the lugs/studs, and nothing keeping the rotor centered. Is this normal? What keeps the rotor centered on the hub?
Thanks,
DP
(This post was edited by dellphinus on Feb 15, 2011, 5:33 PM)
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 15, 2011, 5:39 PM
Post #2 of 6
(2634 views)
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Re: 2005 Buick Century front rotor question
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Hmmm? With techs having checked it live with differing opinions I see why you are here. What holds the rotor tight is having the wheel on and the lug nuts tight.
If a bearing is the issue there would be noise almost always louder or less when driving along doing right and left turns would make usually a growling sound better or worse. If a bearing is quiet but making a wobble or has any free play that's strange to me. Check - freeplay on sealed hub bearings should be zero. Spun by hand with both wheels hoisted (fronts in this case) should spin true and quiet.
Are these replaced rotors now at some point and did the problem happen when wheel(s) were just rotated or removed for any reason?
Sometime debris can get between a rotor and the hub of the bearing and you have to take caliper off to to remove rotor to clean it up. Large center hole of rotor should pretty well center the rotor but with wheel off it might rock some and that's when debris falls so it will be all wobbles. Worse is if that's the case the wheel isn't really tight as it feels but butting against debris.
You still need to verify front end, bearing is tight and safe and if this was just a tire problem rotating front to back would change the feel or problem with the tire and wheel.
Sounds like you need some more qualified help as there's nothing like being there to diagnose stuff vs guessing really on many things from a web site but here to help,
T
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dellphinus
New User
Feb 15, 2011, 5:49 PM
Post #3 of 6
(2629 views)
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Re: 2005 Buick Century front rotor question
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Tom, thanks for the quick reply. I think I'm going to end up taking it to the dealer... I was expecting the tire swap to give me a definite yes/no, but it didn't (limited run donut spare).
On the rotor centering question- the hub does not have a center flange that lines up with the hole in the rotor; the hub is flat on front. The rotor does have a flange that fits inside the center hole of the wheel, but it's not real tight (seems I remember sometimes having to use a puller or mallet to get rotors off of hubs). Just curious on this... ran out of time tonight so didn't get a chance to pull the other side.
Thanks again.
DP
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 15, 2011, 6:47 PM
Post #4 of 6
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Re: 2005 Buick Century front rotor question
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DP - unless the whole system changed the rotor's center hole should be damn snug to mating with the hub. Can they wobble with wheel off - YES a bit but the caliper won't let you take it right off. Some are so snug or rust gets involved and you need to tap it around with like a rubber hammer to free them up for removal. Some cars (not true GMs I've seen) use a screw or two to hold them in exact place like many Asian made vehicles. Perhaps the holes for the lug nuts are now supposed to center it when wheel is on tight but it was never that way that I recall.
Been retired a while but the whole shooting match didn't change. If one or both rotors can't center on hub with wheel tight they would act like crap.
Your testing with the spare was a valiant and good thing to try.
The tire thing. Yes they can be bad and look good. A real tire person would take a suspect tire off to really inspect it.
Real techs shouldn't be guessing at an active issue like this but know how to check what with a complaint like yours.
I do have to say this could be a safety issue and you need a real diagnosis and fix. That wobble if left like that won't heal by itself and not good for the tire on one or more wheels not so likely but possible are causing this.
We are a busy site with a lot of good techs but with some things you really need to be there or a book on how to check stuff. You are doing the right thing to get yet another professional opinion and decide on your skills and tools whether you want to fix it or let them. Many jobs the tools cost more than just letting the techs do it and pay the extra. The newer the vehicle the more that's true.
Please come back to post what was found for archives as it will help us and another no doubt.
Good luck with the fix,
Tom
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dellphinus
New User
Feb 16, 2011, 3:38 PM
Post #5 of 6
(2612 views)
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Re: 2005 Buick Century front rotor question
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OK, here's the synopsis, and results:
Complaint- growling/whump whump noise and vibration. Speed dependent. Feels like tire out of balance, side to side shimmy at 21-22 mph.
Took to Walmart for rotate and balance (tires bought there, 2 blocks from home). No improvement.
Took to shop 1. Found bad wheel bearing. Noise fixed. Said vibration + shimmy remains, and is due to slipped belt on pass. front tire, marked tire.
Took back to Walmart with tire marked, they said tire fine.
Came here...
Went to GM dealer, described everything. Asked them to check it mechanically and check tires. " I need to find out what IS wrong".
Dealer: suspension and drive train all fine. Bad belt on driver side rear tire. And that pair of tires is getting close to replacement time anyway.
Took back to Walmart. Three hour wait to check, tires not in stock, either.
Took to local Independent Tire Dealer, 6 blocks away (same one I took flats to that Walmart refused to fix). Confirmed bad belt on rear tire, replaced both. (whole ordeal at local dealer took 10 minutes; two guys working it).
Problem gone.
Thanks for the help here... I'm sure I'll be back...
DP
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 16, 2011, 4:00 PM
Post #6 of 6
(2608 views)
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Re: 2005 Buick Century front rotor question
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WalMart has the very worst automotive department.
I had the same issue with a bad tire on a vehicle I bought that had Walmart tires on it. I knew what was wrong with it and had to yell all the way up the chain of command to the store manager before getting any satisfaction. I had all the right paperwork and they had no excuse. Some $4 an hour tire buster was going to tell me all about the tire business claiming he knew more than me because he had over 4 years experience changing tires. I have impact guns older than him.
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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
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