basic troubleshooting steps.
1) Confirm and duplicate the problem. Find out under what circumstances this problem occurs and when it goes away. It is one of the single biggest problems a mechanic faces as a customer will say something like I have a vibration. The mechanic is left to figure out the rest on his own.
2) What else is affected by this problem. While it may seem like not a factor to you, the more details of what happens when problems arise the better. For instance: you have a vibration on the highway at 50 mph, the steering wheel starts shaking back and forth, plus the dash seems to vibrate like a massage chair. Both are equally important points that need to be detailed.
3) Narrow it down to the original failure. The first thing you see wrong is not necessarily the problem. You found that your rear tires are worn. This caused and out of balance situation and that resulted in the vibration. You need to look at the bigger picture. Why are the tires worn? Are they prematurely worn? If yes figure out why. Could be as simple as not rotating them. Or you could have worn suspension components. Maybe someone replaced the suspension but did not align things properly. The simple answer here is just to replace the tires and have the new ones balanced. Rarely is that the whole story though. You may not figure that out until some time later when the problem arises again.
4) Once you have found the original failure you need to look at other potential problems this has caused. Did it wear out my front tires? Did it cause any steering components to need replacing. As well once you have found any other potential problems you need to start the troubleshooting over for that failure.
5) You need to replace all defective components. Do not replace only half of the failed components unless absolutely necessary. If this is the case do not sacrifice safety in anyway EVER. You also need to replace the rest of the failed parts as soon as possible. Remember when one thing fails it never ends there. Once something needs replacing the next part of the system is doing extra to make up for the failed component.
6) Confirm that the problem is now gone. If you were not able to replace all failed components then this step may have to wait. Another reason to replace ALL failed parts.
7) This is the single most important part: Perform regular maintenance and system checks. The best way to fix these problems with your vehicle is not to have them. While not all repairs can be avoided most will be much less expensive and time consuming if regular maintenance is preformed.
Now good luck!
1) Confirm and duplicate the problem. Find out under what circumstances this problem occurs and when it goes away. It is one of the single biggest problems a mechanic faces as a customer will say something like I have a vibration. The mechanic is left to figure out the rest on his own.
2) What else is affected by this problem. While it may seem like not a factor to you, the more details of what happens when problems arise the better. For instance: you have a vibration on the highway at 50 mph, the steering wheel starts shaking back and forth, plus the dash seems to vibrate like a massage chair. Both are equally important points that need to be detailed.
3) Narrow it down to the original failure. The first thing you see wrong is not necessarily the problem. You found that your rear tires are worn. This caused and out of balance situation and that resulted in the vibration. You need to look at the bigger picture. Why are the tires worn? Are they prematurely worn? If yes figure out why. Could be as simple as not rotating them. Or you could have worn suspension components. Maybe someone replaced the suspension but did not align things properly. The simple answer here is just to replace the tires and have the new ones balanced. Rarely is that the whole story though. You may not figure that out until some time later when the problem arises again.
4) Once you have found the original failure you need to look at other potential problems this has caused. Did it wear out my front tires? Did it cause any steering components to need replacing. As well once you have found any other potential problems you need to start the troubleshooting over for that failure.
5) You need to replace all defective components. Do not replace only half of the failed components unless absolutely necessary. If this is the case do not sacrifice safety in anyway EVER. You also need to replace the rest of the failed parts as soon as possible. Remember when one thing fails it never ends there. Once something needs replacing the next part of the system is doing extra to make up for the failed component.
6) Confirm that the problem is now gone. If you were not able to replace all failed components then this step may have to wait. Another reason to replace ALL failed parts.
7) This is the single most important part: Perform regular maintenance and system checks. The best way to fix these problems with your vehicle is not to have them. While not all repairs can be avoided most will be much less expensive and time consuming if regular maintenance is preformed.
Now good luck!