Getting Frustrated...

[88FestivaLX]

88 LX 5 Speed. I just had a TON of work done to it while I was out of town. Pulled motor out and resealed everything. New clutch. New CV axles. Alignment. I put a steering rack (with new outer tie rods), control arms, struts...pretty much everything steering and suspension related in the front end except the sway bar bushings where it attaches to the frame under the radiator in the past year or so. This thing SHAKES ME TO DEATH over 40 MPH. And if I let go of the steering wheel, I can make a right turn faster than Vettel yanking his F1 wheel to the right. WTF is going on?! The only odd thing I see (besides the wear on the front tires) is that my oil drain plug leaks. I plan on replacing it and the seal at my next oil change. But I noticed with it leaking, all of the parts (control arm etc on the passenger side) are covered with oil. It's been aligned multiple times and the tire wear isn't really all that bad. Could I have a tire breaking down internally or something? I don't know what else to do. I spent all this money having everything re-done and now I don't even want to drive it anymore. Help!

[Prafeston]

Have you tried just getting your tires balanced?

Also are you sure that only your drain plug is leaking if everything on the passenger side is getting covered in oil? Could you have a pan gasket leak...cam seal...front main seal?

[htchbck]

Well, I don't know what kind of shape they are in on your car, but those sway bar bushings are two of the most important pieces affecting the suspension and steering geometry of these cars. The sway bar isn't just a sway bar, its actually a trailing arm for the front suspension. The pulling to the right really sounds like it may be a problem with these bushings, assuming your camber is good and the swaybar to control arm bushings are brand new. The shaking sounds like tire/wheel problems. If you can't see or feel any abnormalities in the wheels or tires, try swapping the fronts to the back and see if the shaking changes. If it does, then likely the shake problem is not with the suspension at all.

[getnpsi]

I got a desert dweller a few weeks ago. With acceptable tread. As im still on 12s and they are so hard to find I didn't even look. Dry rotted tires will play games with you, some days they are ok, other days they will start to shred, and then the next day when the tires are cold not behave as bad. YOU WILL HAVE A FAILURE! I suggest rotating them front to back and see if there is a difference, and then just go from there. Rotted tires bring all kinds of havoc of vibes and do make it feel like the alignment is all stupid too. I dont even like putting different brands or ages of tires on the front of this festiva, it seems really picky about tracking right if they are not good ones.

[WmWatt]

I'd try swapping the tires-on-rims left to right and see if that changes anything.
Have you tried running the car in gear with the wheels off the ground (on stands) and reving the engine
to see what happens? One person on the gas pedal, another watching the wheels.

[88FestivaLX]

Thanks everyone! I'll give all this a try. And the oil is coming from the drain plug. Every other seal in the engine was replaced and its all dry as a bone except from around the drain plug. Is there anywhere to get good replacements for the sway bar bushings?

[zoom zoom]

probaby the tires imo

[Prafeston]

Well I had a leak from my pan and it caked everything from the engine back on my car a few months ago when I drove it on a 230 mile drive home. The next day I realized oil was dripping from my gas tank! A little oil leak can get oil all over the place when you are driving and wind is throwing it all over the place.

[joeyfurlong]

wheel bearing? tires out of balance? or possible broken belt on a tire?

[88FestivaLX]

It sucks bc these tires are only a year old. I'll be under the front of it in about an hour!

[TominMO]

When I change the oil, I put wheel bearing grease on the threads of the drain plug. Never have a leak there.

[jason_]

Find level concrete. One tire at a time, jack the suspension up to unload the tire, not the car that'll promote suspension travel /geometry change. You need to mimic car load to copy tire plant...

Take pressure off each tire, barely enough she contacts. And turn. You'll spin and any bulge/out of roundness will scuff the floor. Nows a good time if you have an open spider set to put in drive or over drive (5sp) @ idle and check for out of roundness/side to side wobble/other rubber defects. If you go too far out of round from poor balancing frequency for long intervals, you're F'ed , not enough weights to save the day. I had this issue on nearly new, lately discovered why free, set of 315/75/16s....

Use a hydraulic jack, ultra precise on lift increments.

A couple $ job to beat a drain plug is aluminum or copper washer. Or RTV the snot out of it to make the next change a rubber booger gob job.

Sent from my rooted HTC Supersonic using Tapatalk 2 Pro

[blkfordsedan]

I vote its in the tires as well. I've found that these 12" tires are all mostly Chinese imported junk now...with a few exceptions. I had 4 new 12" tires installed a few years back and 2 of them had bad belts right off the shelf.

[Bert]

I vote its in the tires as well. I've found that these 12" tires are all mostly Chinese imported junk now...with a few exceptions. I had 4 new 12" tires installed a few years back and 2 of them had bad belts right off the shelf.

I gotta agree with this. When I finally escaped from 12s (up to Nokian-brand 14s) the car was smooth as glass at 75, something I had never experienced before.
Leaking oil plug. If the threads in the pan are stripped that is bad news although I'm told you can get oversize plugs. I wrap mine in plumbing thread seal tape (the white stuff) during every oil change. This gives me the confidence not to overtighten the plug and (touch wood) I haven't had any irritating leaks for many years now either.

[88FestivaLX]

Well, I got up under it last night. I took the passenger wheel off and for the hell of it grabbed the whole rotor/caliper assembly (caliper still bolted on) and pulled back and forth on it (like pushing towards the tranny and back out). My guess is that it was moving a good half inch. That's not good right? All the movement was coming from the ball joint. Time for a new control arm? Might as well do both sides right? These were cheaper ones that I put on. What are the best ones to get?