Starquest Guys Get In Here!

All right, so tonight Psuedosport & I drove 2 hours (half in the snow) in the new to me car I picked up this afternoon to look at my next potential toy an 88 Starion ESI-r. To start the Conquest/Starion has always been my dream car, and finally getting up close & personal I was not disappointed. The car has a little over 80,000 miles on it, bits of surface rust, & typical cracks/paint issues that these cars suffer from. The car has been well cared for & meticulously maintained & the price is right.

There is one issue that had us a little baffled & hopefully someone on here may give some insight. At speeds above 35 there is a bit of vibration coming from the rear of the vehicle. Could only get the car up to 50 on the icy roads but the vibration didn't get worse the higher the speed. It was very minor & the current owner had someone say it could be something as simple as a balancing issue. I have not run into any stories of driveshaft or differentials being troublesome with these cars so I'm not too scared.

Any insight or further info would be great.

Thanks GRMers

My first thought would be wheel balance, but that would get worse as speed increases. Check for driveline dents. A small ding could put the shaft just enough out of balance to cause problems; while you're there, check the u-joints. Bad u-joints cause minor vibes too.

OTOH, if it's simple why didn't the previous owner address it? Gotta wonder 'bout that!

Mikey, the kid had done a lot of work on the car. It's all stock and has receipts dating back to the 90's. He got that car as a graduation gift but is currently unemployed & has no money to even do a wheel balance.

A clutch was done recently & felt great. Is their any funky way that these come out that could maybe affect mounts or a driveshaft?

Let's see some pictures of this new ride. Love those cars.

how long did you drive it, and how long was it parked before you drove it, and how cold was it? maybe just temporary flat-spots from sitting? my 944 did that, but it was parked for almost 4 years when i got it. aired the tires up to about 55 psi and drove on them for a few weeks until it went away.

Wait... did you buy the Starion yesterday too? Please tell me it has the seat belts that say Turbo over and over on them and the better Recaro-style seats (which I also have a set of from a Conquest), not the ones that look like a space alien's phallus.

It sounds like a wheel is bent or unbalanced. Did it make any squeaks or anything from back there? Maybe one one of the rear axles is messed up.

The car has only sat for about 3 months, but it had done that before it was parked. Couldn't drive it too far or hard since it was snowing & almost empty on fuel. Whatever it is it does not have us scared.

Tony. Yes it has the turbo seat belts.

I'll be getting it Sunday. Nothing like replacing all the vehicles within a week.

What is the driveshaft setup on these? If it has a center support bearing, that could be going, caused similar issues on my old E30 when it was starting to go. U joints, too...

Make sure to replace ALL of the mess of vacuum lines after purchase.
I've always loved the look of the widebody starquests, but never had the opportunity, looking forward to following what you do with it.

This thread is useless without pictures...

Raze wrote: This thread is useless without pictures...

Pics will be posted Sunday after it has arrived in my driveway.

I know I know, pics or it didn't happen!

Is this it??

http://nh.craigslist.org/cto/2080955779.html

Chris

I just saw one of these for sale by my house last week. Have to watch and see if it's still there.

MA$$hole wrote: Mikey, the kid had done a lot of work on the car. It's all stock and has receipts dating back to the 90's. He got that car as a graduation gift but is currently unemployed & has no money to even do a wheel balance. A clutch was done recently & felt great. Is their any funky way that these come out that could maybe affect mounts or a driveshaft?

Yup there is a way a clutch job could affect the driveshaft...if the slip yoke was pulled apart or 'came apart' while out of the rig, and reassembled out-of-phase, like 90* out, or even a couple splines, that will give a vibration that can be HARD to find, because the driveshaft LOOKS fine. You need to look pretty closely to match up yokes linearly along the shaft. The yokes need to be in line with each other (the circular area that encloses the u-joint cup).

can't open the posting due to work filters but the below link is the car.

http://nh.craigslist.org/cto/2067072485.html

First thing I looked for was a carrier bearing when I looked under the car since the vibration felt similar to a few S-10 I’ve worked on. I didn’t see one but it was dark and snowing. The other thing I’ve read online is that the transmission and diff mounts like to wear out and people report vibrations around 45 mph.