Steering wheel vibration, car shakes & Carburetor in An Ultrasonic Cleaner

Do you need an alignment?

Your car shakes while driving down the highway, the steering wheel vibration is driving you crazy, and without even realizing it, it's causing you to feel tired. It can be quite exhausting holding onto a steering wheel that is violently shaking or even shaking just a little. You need an alignment on your car, right? Wrong! I hear this from customers all the time; they pull into the garage and say "I need to have an alignment on my car because my steering wheel is shaking while driving on the highway."

The truth is an alignment has nothing to do with your car shaking or your steering wheel vibrating. If you tell your mechanic you need and alignment, and they don't ask the question "why" find a new mechanic. A good mechanic will always ask why you need work done on your car, they do this to extract more information from you as a customer, so they can make an educated decision whether or not you really need the work done or not. Fixing the problem on the first visit to the garage is a top mechanics goal.

Pothole damage

Bubble in sidewall of tire after hitting a large pothole.

Source: Yahoo search

If you hit a pothole at high speeds you could actually dent the rim and damage the tire.

Source: Yahoo search

Tires are out of balance

The number one reason your tires shake or your steering wheel vibrates is simple, your tires are out of balance. Tires take a beating, hitting potholes, bridge expansion joints, and curbs are just a few examples of tire abuse. Hitting any one of these objects could knock off a wheel weight, dent a rim, or cause a bubble in the sidewall of the tire, causing it to be out of balance. If you lose a wheel weight, it's an easy fix; you just need to have your tire balance and the local garage. Denting a rim or causing damage to a tire could end up costing you more money than a simple tire balance.

Vibrations caused by snow and ice

If you go through a snow bank and you have a horrible vibration soon after, check your wheels for packed snow and ice.

Source: Yahoo search

Snow and ice can cause a steering wheel shake

Another common cause of steering wheel vibration or car shake is having something logged in a tire like a large bolt or any metal object picked up from the roads surface. I have seen tools like wrenches and screwdrivers that have impaled a tire; it's not common, but it does happen. If you live in an area that has snow, plowing through a snow bank could cause snow and ice to become trapped in the rim or wheel and cause a serious steering wheel vibration, to fix this, just rinse out the snow and ice with a garden hose or pressure washer.

It's smart to keep a tire pressure guage in your glove box

	Accutire MS-4021B Standard Digital Tire Gauge Amazon Price: $8.99 List Price: $14.99
	Joes Racing 32307 Tire Pressure Gauge Glow In The Dark 0-60psi Amazon Price: $19.99 List Price: $55.88
	Moroso 89560 Tire Pressure Gauge, Dial Type, 0-60 psi Amazon Price: $38.95

Low tire pressure can cause your car to shake

Low tire pressure is another common cause of steering wheel vibration or car shake. Having low tire pressure can cause a number of problems like; poor fuel mileage, abnormal tire wear, vibrations, blowouts, tire edge wear, chopping, and the list goes on. A quick check of your tire pressures can benefit you in many ways, and could actually save you money in the long run. When the temperatures outside start getting colder or drop below 30 deg, I recommend raising the tire pressures about 3 psi than where you would normally keep them. Cold outside temperatures will cause the tire pressures to drop, so keep an eye on your tire pressures in colder temperatures.

The cost of balancing your tires

Having your tires balanced should cost around $15- $20 a tire. Sometimes tire stores will offer you lifetime tire balancing and rotation, I highly recommend using this service to its fullest potential, it will save you money, extend the life of your tires, and will provide a relaxing driving experience. Driving your car with tires that are out of balance could cause more damage to tires by creating flat spots, rippling, cupping, and chopping. To learn more about tires, read my article, Should I buy discount tires or spend the money?

Check you tires

Bald tires with steel belts showing is very dangerous and will cause a very bad vibration.

Source: Yahoo search

Bald tires cause extremely bad steering wheel vibrations

If your tires are worn to the point where the steel belts are visible on the tread surface, I highly recommend changing them immediately, this is definitely the cause of you steering wheel vibration or your car shaking. If you continue driving on bald tires, you're risking your life and flirting with disaster, having a tire blow out at highway speeds is extremely dangerous, especially if it's a front tire. Do a quick check to see if its bald tires causing your steering wheel shake, you need to physically look at each tire. Turning the steering wheel to one side will give you a better view of your front tires tread surface. You will need to get on your hands and knees to check your rear tires closely.

Speed control in Canada

No need to worry about damage to you tires and wheels hitting this pothole, it's used for speed control in Canada.

Source: Yahoo search

4 Wheel alignments or alignments

Having and alignment done on your car will not stop a steering wheel vibration or car shake. Alignments only realign the tires so they are all pointing in the proper direction while driving down the road. Having an alignment at least once a year is good preventative maintenance for your vehicle, if you live in an area with poor road conditions like potholes and large cracks in the road surface or you drive extensively on dirt roads, I highly recommend an alignment once a year.

Don't be afraid to ask questions or leave comments. There is so such thing as stupid questions, so just ask, and I will get back to you asap.

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What You Will Do

With ultrasonic cleaning all you have to do is pour in the cleaning solution, place the engine parts you want cleaned making sure that they are fully submerged in the solution, switch on the cleaner, and forget about it for the next thirty minutes or so! In some units you have additional options so you may need to run the cleaner for a while before immersing the parts.

Ultrasonic Cleaners - Better Than Spray Washers

Ultrasonic cleaners are much better for carburetor cleaning when compared with the age-old spray wash systems. They are the best choice if you want to quickly and efficiently get rid of the heavy buildup of varnish and grease or even badly gummed up carburetors. Spray wash systems are not as effective and multiple wash cycles are needed to get a modestly clean carburetor. This is where ultrasonic cleaners step in and steal the show.

Ultrasonic Cleaner

An Ultrasonic Cleaner is Effective for Motorcycle Carburetor

The Ultrasonic Cleaning Process Called Cavitation

Lubricants, oil and grime that get deposited on the engines, brake calipers, cylinder heads, pistons, mechanical parts and carburetors are thoroughly cleaned in the ultrasonic cleaning process. This process, called cavitation results in high-energy liquid jets that are released through the implosion small vacuum-filled bubbles. The high energy impact of the liquid stream dislodges the contaminant without causing any damage or abrasion to the surface of the object being cleaned.

Industrial-Grade Ultrasonic Cleaners for Removal of Heavy Grime

In case of heavy deposits of grime, you may need to use industrial-grade cleaners. These powerful cleaners help remove stubborn carbon deposits, yet they are very gentle on the aluminum parts.

Carburetors in boats can also be cleaned using the same cleaner with great results. For marine equipment an added burden is salt deposits. You may need to find a salt solublecleaning solution but other than that you can be sure of getting the same thorough cleaning as with traditional grease and grime jobs that land lubbers contend with!

Use An Appropriate Ultrasonic Cleaning Solution for More Effective Cleaning

The ultrasonic cleaning solution used to clean carburetors and engines also contain degreasing chemicals that help remove the grease and grime quickly and easily. If you have a car and are constantly on the road and had to clean the carburetor yourself, you already know that manual cleaning requires a lot of energy, consumes a lot of time, and requires a heavy dose of patience. All this is completely negated with an ultrasonic cleaner!

These carbs had been left 20+ years with fuel in them

Carburetor Internals

Additional Benefits of Ultrasonic Cleaners

Other than the cleaning solution you will need to invest in an ultrasonic cleaner designed to operate for at least 30-40 minutes at one go. This is how long it takes for an ultrasonic cleaner operating at 25-40 KHz to do its magic with your carb. In some cases, you may need to give it a repeat session if the first round wasn’t able to get all the dirt out. In all instances though, other than topping up the cleaning solution there is nothing else you need to do but switch it on. 

An additional benefit with ultrasonic cleaning is that you do not need a fresh cleaning solution each time you clean. The same cleaning liquid is good for multiple runs before its effectiveness diminishes. 

Typically all you need to do is drain out the tank, filter the cleaning solution of all the crud that came off during the cleaning session, rinse and wash the tank, and reuse the cleaning solution during the next run.

Sweep & Degas Modes of an Ultrasonic Cleaner

Choose Units With Sweep & Auto Degassing Modes

Finally, some handy bells and whistles. The first is sweep technology. This ensures that there are no dead zones in the cleaning liquid. A dead zone is an area in the cleaning solution where no ultrasonic cleaning takes place. Sweep eliminates that. You should consider sweep if you have complex and intricately designed parts that have crevices, blind holes, and so on. Along with sweep, look for the auto-degassing option if speed is bug bear with you. Auto-degassing is a special ultrasonic vibration mode that removes trapped gases from your cleaning liquid. Gas bubbles in the liquid also impede cavitation. Auto degassing will ensure that all the gas in the liquid has been entrained and the solution is ready for cleaning.

Regards

M.Shahid Zahid