I recently did the front end on my '92 wagon...replaced basically everything as the car was shakin' & bakin'...strut inserts, tower bearing/bushings, sway bushings, tie rods, ball joints, sway endlinks. The car's got roughly 240K on it, and everything underneath looked original or at least 100k miles old...all oem parts.

I took it for a drive and i'm still getting one nasty vibration, very loud and the whole car shakes...it's when i accellerate 5-10mph and a bit above and when I decellerate to same speeds....or certainly more during all phases of deceleration, no matter what speed. When I decellerated I did it with the car in drive as well as in neutral, and there was absolutely no difference in the vibration....when not under any type of accell/decell. the car is smooth, and light-moderate accelleration once I'm moving doesn't yield any vibrations either...heavy accell. causes vibrations.

this past weekend i replaced the center support bushing & bearing and that made a little bit of a difference, but that definitely wasn't the cause.

I am able to flex the torqe rods from side to side with my hand..maybe 20 degrees from center each way...just a guess.. I'm hoping the bushings are the cause. There is no play in the wheel bearings or input to rear diff....i can't imagine the driveshaft came out of balance. I don't ever remember seeing a shot tranny bushing cause this, and I'm hoping it's not the tranny output shaft bearing (as it feels like there's a tiny bit of play there, but i'd have to take the intermediate shaft off to really tell for sure.), and the u-joints are all good.

i'm going to replace the torque rod bushings anyway, but I'd like to know anyone's thoughts on this.....the last time i had to replace torque rod bushings was on my previous '82 245t, and it only vibrated on accelleration, not on decel. as far as i can remember.

the guy at fcp recommended i get a flex disc as well, but the '92 245 doesn't even take any kind of flex disc....aren't those only on the 700/900's?

The torque rod movement is normal. You can twist the Bar with 'Good' Bushings.
They wont cause vibration anyway.
I'm leaning toward 'U' joints. You say they are good... How did you verify this? The cars tires should be Chocked, Shift into Neutral then climb under there to push and pulland rotate looking for movement.
It really sounds like at least one Cap lost it's Bearings. That will cause a nasty vibration until you get rolling ... Over 15 MPH.


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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.lyse.net/brox/TonyPage4.html

What I know, or maybe just think I know, about your situation is....

Worn front suspension bushings shouldn't cause the symptoms you describe but I guess you have probably reached that conclusion already.

'87 - end of production 240's w/ manual trans used a flex disc in place of the forward universal joint so if yours is an automatic you won't need that. But if yours is a manual you might have a look at it. If you decide to replace buy good quality. The one by URO is substandard.

It's been my experience that worn torque rod bushings will cause the rear axle to hop on acceleration from a stop but I have not noticed vibration at low speeds. I wouldn't discount Dave's advice, though.

You say the u-joints are good, but seriously, what you describe sounds exactly what I have been through with a dry rear u-joint in my '89 wagon. It was not immediately obvious on inspection under the car with everything still in place. But it shook the whole car at low speed on acceleration and decelleration and the vibration could only be described as violent. You might raise one wheel and watch the rear joint while turning that wheel. You should notice if the end of the drive shaft is behaving eccentrically. If this is the case and the u-joint has a grease point you might lube it and see what happens. But, chances are, if this is where the problem lies, the joint should be replaced.
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'80 DL 2 door, '89 DL Wagon

You bring up a good point regarding the u-joints. I think I'll check that out. I'll also do what Dave suggested. Certainly I'll do that before I hack out those torque rod bushings.

Thanks for the info & advice. I appreciate it.

Have you checked or replaced the motor and transmission mounts?
Dan

If the bushings in the torque rods are shot it will allow the pinion to raise and lower on acceleration and deceleration causing driveline vibrations from the u-joints as the shaft gets misaligned. I'd get under the car and see if the nose of the pumpkin goes up and down when you push/pull on it. It will take quite a bit of force to move it even with bad bearings.