I have always felt a vibration in the seat at around 75-80mph. The dealer re-balanced the tires (road force balance) but the issue remains. It is slight but noticeable. It hasn't gotten any worse over time.
Is anyone else having this issue? With the stiff suspension, is it just the nature of the car? I had a loaner CX-5 last year, and it had the same vibration issue.
Next dealer visit, I will have the SA do a ride along to see if he notices it.
1) Double check that the where the tires meet the rotor is nice and clean, with no rust. If the rim isn't sitting perfectly flush on the rotor, you're gonna vibrate.
2) Have you replaced your brakes at any point? I ask because if you don't wire-brush the old rust off where the rotor sits, then you'll have a phantom vibration no one will ever find.
Being a 2017 I'd assume the brakes aren't an issue.
Usually you'd be able to feel it in the steering wheel but in your "seat" and only at the higher speed it would be tire/rim related. Most likely coming from the rear. Change the location of the tires and see if it changes the vibration.
Hi all, thanks for the feedback. The car was bought new in March 2017. The tires have been rotated twice now at the dealer, and the vibration remains. During each rotation, I don't know which tires went where.
The CX-5 I drove was a 2016, I think. It definitely wasn't a 2017.
The car has been my daily driver, so I don't think it's flat spotting.
The car only just turned 18,000 miles, and the brakes are original.
Normally that would most likely be a driveline issue. With the front wheel drive and not feeling it in the steering wheel there's not much left it can be.
My next thought would be the exhaust system.
Check the RPM's when you feel the vibration and then go to manual and hold different gears at the same RPM's and see if the vibration is there.
I have the same issues. Balancing and rotating won't help. Changing disks didn't work. I think it's in the axes but my dealer doen't agree... but doesn't solve it either.
My wife had a common issue like this, ended up that one of her rims was damaged enough to show vibration at only hwy speeds. The dealership removed all the rims & removed the tires & placed each rim on the balancer machine to notice the damage in the wheel. That's what I was told didn't verify first hand.
New to me '18 signature. I've put 8k kms on the car and the dealer's just replaced the tires. Feel a slight vibration at higher speeds -~120km/hr / 75mph +/-
Like above, not terribly violent but it's there in the seat and floor. Also doesn't seem consistent - sometimes there and sometimes not. I can't put any other rhyme or reason to it. Braking / acceleration / turning / straight it can happen anytime.
I just took the car back and they put all 4 wheels on road force balancer and they all come well within spec. They don't want to touch anything becuase they claim it may make things worse.
Waiting for the shuttle to pick me up. Was really hoping a re-balance would help. Checking in to see how others were doing with it.
Hi all,
Newly registered as I also have this problem. I bought a 2016 Mazda 6 Tourer 2.2d Sport Nav (auto) approx 6 months ago. It had 19k miles on the clock when I bought it, I've put 4k miles on it since. The vibration is exactly as described above, felt mainly through the seat and floor at 70-80mph. It causes the sun visor to vibrate and if I leave a bag or similar on the passenger seat, you can see it vibrating. Passengers notice it too. I feel the vibration is worse when the road has a slight curve. The car has 19" wheels that were badly blistered when I viewed the car, the dealer refurbished them. I've had the front and rear wheels re-balanced, a 4-wheel alignment check (was within tolerance) and the car just had it's first MOT which reported the tyres were 50% worn and brakes 40%. I was going to try swapping the tyres around but sounds like that could be a waste of time. It's frustrating and spoiling my enjoyment of an otherwise lovely car. Keen to see if anyone gets to the bottom of the issue.
Cheers
Andy
Finding the imbalance in situations like this is NOT easy, but IS always possible.
Start with the outside of the wheel with a dial indicator. You can do this in your garage. Check the runout on the bead of the rim. If it's damaged/gouged, go just BELOW the bead of the rim with it. Check ALL FOUR wheels.
If it's out then swap wheels front-to-back and re-check. If it's STILL out then the hub or rotor is bent or out-of-true. If it MOVES then the WHEEL is out of true.
If no joy there then it gets more complicated. Half-shafts can cause this if out of balance, and in addition what you actually need to check is the INSIDE bead where the tire seats - the above check is a cheat to avoid dismounting the tires. If no joy so far, however, that's next. Half-shafts can be dialed while in the car for being out-of-registration with the CVs, but not for balance.
If you find a rotor/hub out, swap them side-to-side. If the problem moves it's the rotor. If not it's the hub OR BEARING. It's POSSIBLE for a wheel bearing to do this, but very, very uncommon. I've seen this with half-shafts before but most-commonly with aftermarket CRAP (chinese) replacement ones, not OE. Nonetheless it is certainly possible.
You CAN find this and if a new(er) and under-warranty vehicle the stealer SHOULD be willing to find it.
Thanks tickerguy, loads to go on there. Will have a think about how I can check some of this. Can get hold of a dial guage but unfortunately I live in an apartment, so don't have a garage. Might have to wait for a sunny day. Thanks again, Andy
To follow up: My issues, as suspected but the dealer didn't want to hear it, were balance related.
After having the dealer re-balance twice (last time supposedly a road force balance) and the hwy still not feeling right to me I gave up and took it to a local tire shop with a road force balance machine. They quoted $33 / tire for road force balance (I'm in CAN) and I said whatever it takes if you can get this thing riding better.
About an hr later and my troubles were set aside. AND they only charged me for two road force balances and a rotation (saving me ~$50 vs the 4 x road force balances).
The tire tech actually acknowledge what I was saying after a road test and spun / tested all 4 wheels.
The dealer said their road force machine indicated everything was well within spec at being out only 8lbs on every wheel.
Tech at the independant shop said 3 x tires were at 15lbs and one was at 20lbs on their machine. He couldn't comment towards the dealership's tire tech's skills, methods or when their equipment was last calibrated.
Anyways... what resulted was 2 tires being out by 0.25 oz, which the tech says most people can't feel.
One tire was out 0.25 oz on the inside and outside, adding up to 0.5oz total, which he says a sensitive person who knows their car may feel.
One other tire was out 1oz, which he says is likely what I was able to feel even though some people wouldn't even noticed. He then commented about how he was impressed I could even feel it and tell him what tire I thought it was.
In the end he corrected everything and put the 2 "best" tires on the front. (they are all new, but 2 were slightly rounder / marginally better of a balance). I am now very happy with the hwy ride - it's better than it's ever been.
I was very appreciative tot he tire shop. As much as I wish the dealer could've resolved it the tire shop had me out the door for $100 total incl taxes in less time than a single dealer visit and it was much more convenient talking to a experienced tire tech directly than going to the dealer and going through the service adviser.
Also kudos to tickerguy on his post. Had a buddy who's an industrial mechanic ready to try help and try to test the wheels for out of round with a dial gauge on the weekend. I'm happy we didn't get that far.
I got new mazda 6 2019, and i noticed the vibration issue. reported got the 4 tyres changes problem still remain the same. also i notice vibration with race pedal. this problem also exists in 2018 model as well.
Hello again - I just wanted to update regarding my vehicle because I'm vibration free!
Not quite sure how this has come about, but here's what happened:
I had a tyre pressure monitor warning at the weekend, driver side rear was slowly deflating (RHS rear as it's a UK car).
I took the car to a local tyre centre and they reported an area of corrosion inside the wheel preventing the tyre from sealing properly against the rim.
This didn't surprise - all 4 of my wheels are peeling and blistering badly. It does alarm me however that this is now affecting more than just the cosmetics of the car.
The tyre centre told me they smoothed the corroded area, applied a sealing compound, refitted and rebalanced the tyre. Nothing fancy, just a basic £20 GBP puncture repair.
The following day I drove the car on a 120 mile round trip, cruising between 70-80mph for much of the journey on motorways. Once up to motorway speed, I immediately noticed the vibration through the floor and seat had gone. If anything at all remains, it's almost indistinguishable from normal engine vibration under load. The difference is night and day, I'm delighted. I was really starting to hate this car and was feeling depressed at being stuck with it for at least another 2 years - but it feels like a new car now. My wheels are due to be refurbished by the dealer - fully stripped and re-powdercoated - so fingers crossed this doesn't cause the vibration to return...
After reading a lot of these comments I think it’s just a Mazda 6 issue. My 6 is an 18 grand touring and I have the issue described above. Mine shows up after sustained speed of 80 mph on a smooth highway and things in the center console vibrate and the passenger seat vibrates. Just put new tires on it because the dealer choose crap tires. After 1 year my fronts were 50% worn and the vibrations were more apparent. They rotated them to the rear and the vibration got better. The tires they were optioned with from the dealer were some Japanese brand I never heard of. Tirerack.com said they were SUV/CUV tires 😒 This is the description on the website lol. Description FALKEN ZIEX ZE001 A/S
Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season light truck tires are for drivers who want a combination of sophisticated low-profile tires/large rim diameter wheels to enhance their vehicle's appearance with all-season versatility,
I put CONTINENTAL EXTREMECONTACT ultra high performance all seasons. What a difference! This Issue is still there ever so slightly which means it’s a chassis design flaw issue. Which also means after this lease I’m not getting another 6. Handling got better grip is awesome. When you floor it there is barley any tire spin. Before it would spin through 1st gear. I know not all dealers option cheap tires but check your tires look up reviews and rating. Consider replacing them, especially if you have these same tires, it makes a big difference with handling grip and ride quality. And road noise is way down. It like going from a shoe that feels like your walking bear foot to a shoe that has cushion and support
I've had my 2016 6 MT for a year and a half now. I've also been getting this vibration since I got it at 35k miles.
I feel it mostly in the gas pedal and the floor/seats of the vehicle.
I have all 4 brand new rims (enkei same offset, diameter, and width). I also have brand new Nitto Motivo tires on. The vibration remains even when I put the factory wheels and snow tires on, snow tires being brand new continentals. The fact that I don't feel it in the steering wheel leads me to believe it's in the rear however, the way it acts almost makes me think it's an inner CV joint that's bad.
It's not consistent but it is consistently getting worse month by month.
Any ideas?
I got new tires recently and the vibration has been reduced significantly. I can still sometimes detect the vibration a little bit but it's definitely improved. I replaced the OE Dunlops with a set of Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS.
During that service I also had the rotors machined and brake pads replaced. So, it seems either the OE tires and/or the rotors were contributing to the issue.
Yeah I got new pads and rotors all around a week before I put the new tires on. I made sure everything balanced out perfect when I put the tires on and also made sure everything was tight on the front end. Even shook the rear down just to make sure. Put a prybar on the bushings all around too. Everything feels solid which is why my thought is an axle issue. Typically an outer cv joint will cause the clicking and the inner cv joint will cause a shake. For $400 per axle I wanna be sure.
I have materially north of 200,000 miles on my "6", I've driven it out west a number of times where the speed limit is 80, and it's glass-smooth in this regard. It's definitely not one of those "they all do this" situations.
My 2016 only has 55k on it. Struts are good, shocks definitely seem good. No obvious faults in the suspension.
Just for the record, I'm the lead mechanic at my shop so I do have the knowledge to be confident with everything I've looked at so far.
Is there any other things I'm potentially overlooking that you can think of? I do tend to jump outside the box prematurely sometimes. I'm not trying to shrug off what you guys suggest, I do value and appreciate your input.
One last thing, I know cv joints will have a little movement but I'm willing to admit that I don't know how much movement is too much. I know it's hard to describe over words but could you do your best to explain this for me?
CV joints only have lateral (side to side, in and out) movement and only in the confines of the suspension travel. Do a bounce test on each corner, if it doesnt stop immediately as you stop touching the car, the struts/shocks may be bad. General rule for changing them is every 50k miles anyways. On my 3, i could bounce the car with stock struts, but not with the Koni Yellows on it. Wont even budge and im a hefty dude.
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