The steering wheel vibration when turning at idle can hint at other serious problems for your vehicle. Thus, you shouldn’t ignore this failure when detecting it.
If your steering wheel appears to shake more, check and take your vehicle to the auto shop or car service center for precise inspection and proper repair.
Keep reading this article to know why this vibrating steering wheel happens while turning at idle.
Steering Wheel Vibration When Turning At Idle: Why?
What makes a steering wheel shake?
Different causes of making your steering wheels shake include damaged motor mounts, deformed brake motors, or bad spark plugs.
Besides, brake sticking calipers, misaligned belts, poor fuel intake, tire balancing problems, and suspension troubles are the major reasons for a shaky steering wheel at idle.
Deformed Brake Rotors
The deformed brake rotor is one of the common causes of steering wheel vibration when stopping or decelerating your car.
A brake rotor is a flat and smooth surface pressing against the brake pads to stop or slow down your movement.
Heat will generate due to the friction between brake rotors and brake pads, making your rotors’ metal bend.
Also, this process will produce pressure deforming the brake rotors if you don’t give the brake pads proper replacements.
Once bent, the rotors will cause the brake pads to press against rough surfaces during braking, leading to the steering wheels shaking.
Take your vehicle to a repair center and ask for help from expert mechanics when encountering this trouble.
Broken Motor Mounts
The transmission and motor mounts are to suppress vibrations. Thus, you can feel the abnormal vibration if they break, especially when idling.
To diagnose this failure, simply set your vehicle in Neutral. If it stops shaking wheel, your mounts get broken.
Besides, your engine can suddenly move and knock on other parts of your broken, worn-out motor or bad engine mounts. This is the main source of steering wheel vibration.
Note that this engine vibration and movement are dangerous, and damaged parts of the mounts need a proper fix.
Take your car to professional mechanics to check, repair, or replace the broken motor mount.
Worn Out or Misaligned Belts
Another cause of the car vibrating when turning is torn or misaligned timing belts or other belts such as serpentine belts.
When these belts get out of line, worn out, or loose, they will take a toll on other components. Faulty fans, unusual vibrations, and strange noises are on the horizon.
Thus, it’s better to ask for the mechanics’ help to inspect these belts to determine if they fail.
Wheel Alignment Troubles
This is one of the major culprits behind the steering wheel shaking. Some hazards, rough driving, or road turbulence disrupt the alignments and lead to a shaking or loose steering wheel.
Aside from steering wheel vibrations, troubles with wheel alignment may result in accelerated and uneven tire wear. Make sure all tires are in line to fix this issue.
Bad Fuel Intake
The poor fuel intake also causes vibration when turning steering wheel.
A bad fuel intake, like a defective or dirty one, may affect the engine’s smooth running. After many driving times, your car’s fuel intake system can get blocked.
If it is too clogged, the machine can distribute varying amounts of fuel. The engine begins vibrating if it can not have a continuously steady gas supply.
Faulty Spark Plugs
One of the most popular reasons for car shakes when turning is bad spark plugs.
The worn-out or dirty spark plugs may not provide proper ignition to fire the fuel. This problem causes the engine to misfire. Thus, it’s best to replace the faulty spark plugs to fix this failure.
Tire Balancing Problem
The shaky wheel while turning idle can also be due to the unbalanced tires.
As you know, four tires in your vehicle should have a completely similar design with the balance for rotating at common speeds.
But these tires can get out of balance with multiple causes, such as rough driving terrains, differences in inflation, changing seasons, or bad roads.
Imbalanced tires will affect the axles and suspension, causing steering wheel shaking. You can fix this problem with regular services for tire balance.
Brake Sticking Caliper
A rare cause of a shaky steering wheel is sticking brake calipers. The caliper holds the brake pads and lowers them when you stop or slow down your vehicle.
Although rare, the caliper may get stuck, known as “seized” or “sticky.” A stuck caliper will lead to handling problems, such as the steering wheel pulling or vibrating.
Unlike a deformed rotor, you can detect this problem more easily while driving than while braking.
Suspension Troubles
Once you’ve ruled out other causes of the shaky wheel while driving, a suspension issue may be to blame.
A car suspension is a network that connects your vehicle to the tires, including joints, bushings, springs or coils, and shock absorbers. One of them may have issues affecting your car’s handling.
As you can imagine, a problem with the suspension will become one of the major triggers of shaking steering wheels.
Thus, an inspection by a professional mechanic is necessary to determine the root.
How To Fix Car Steering Wheel Shaking When Driving?
To fix this problem, you need to identify the root cause and find solutions for improving it.
First, you must have the exact diagnosis of steering wheel shakes when turning by inspecting the treads of the car’s tires and the brake pads’ thickness.
Other severe causes call for professional check-up, as you need to disassemble some parts.
If you can not repair it yourself, take your vehicle to the auto shop or the car service centers for expert mechanics to determine the main causes, replace, or fix it.
Fixing the shaking steering wheels is essential to improve performance and prevent further damage.
Conclusion
The above are the common causes of steering wheel vibration when turning at idle.
If you feel the abnormal shake from your vehicle’s steering wheels, identifying the root problem is important to find the best fix.
You should note some popular reasons for this problem, such as broken motor mounts, poor fuel intake, bad spark plugs, unbalanced tires, and a troubled suspension system.
Repairing or replacing or repairing these faulty components will help remove the strange vibration at the steering wheel.