Hey all! Happy new year.
I am getting a bad vibration from the front end on my 2007 H3. 110,000 miles.
It started after i took it down a muddy fishing/hunting trail.
At 30 mph it starts to vibrate bad (feels like the front driver tire area). After 30mph the vibration starts to go away but a hum/drone continues up to 50 mph. below 30 and above 50 is ok.
I have had the tires reballanced twice... didnt work.

On another note i am still throwing a CEL for a small evap leak. i am having my machanic do a smoke test, clean the TB, and MAFS. check u-joint, driveshaft, etc for loose play. i am dropping it off tomorrow morning.

not sure if the two problems are related.

THANKS

 

Look at your steering rack bushings, they are known for going bad. "Hunner" on this and other forums has written up quite a few things about it and has some upgrades for it. Also check the movement up and down and side to side by jacking up the front of the truck and pushing the tires side to side, up and down. I had the dealer replace my steering rack mounts and the front diff mounts with only 32k on the truck under warranty, but the streets of Chicago are that of a third world country, hope this helps!

 

Thanks. i didnt get a chance to drop the truck off yet. im dropping it off on Tuesday. ill report back and let ya know what we found.

 

I dropped the truck off this morning so that my mechanic can get it on the lift and snoop around. He is also going to do a smoke test to try to solve the CEL that i have beeen getting for a while now. I will report back with any updates.
Hopefully we get these two issues solved...(quickly and cheaply...lol)

 

OK we have some answers. The rear driveshaft u-joint was bad. Replaced that and hopfully the vibration problem is solved.

As far as the CEL he is still questioning the problem. He saw three codes. Cylinder misfire, Small evap leak, and Bad cylinoid. Sorry i didnt note the code numbers. but the misfire is not random or numbered. forgot which cylinoid. He wants me to drive it untill the code is thrown again and go from there.

He cleaned the TB (both sides) and said it wasnt too dirty.

 

A while back i replaced the spark plugs with aftermarket plugs before I knew about sticking to oem factory plugs. I did this the first time i got a misfire code. I also replaced one coil pack. I might grab stock plugs and throw them in.

 

vibration is gone. That is awesome.

However even after a good cleaning of the TB and MAFS i still am having issues with my idol surging low at stop signs.

 

Did you remove the TB to clean it or clean it in place?

 

I assumed that he removed it to clean it but im not sure. ill have to ask him. This is the second time he has cleaned the TB. The first time was last year. I guess i shouldnt assume...

The truck is still throwing CEL code p0449 Emissions Evap vent solinoid. not sure about that part ???

the truck is still surging rpms when coasting at low idol.

 

Maybe twice in the last year mine has thrown that 449 code as well, but only when driven in hard rain or deep snow (not sure if that is related). Doesn't affect the way it idles or runs down the road so I haven't been too concerned about replacing but I'll check into it in the spring.

As far as the TB goes, the H3 seems a bit picky about getting it thoroughly clean form both sides. It's pretty simple to remove and replace.