Diagnosing a Mysterious Vibration in My 2012 V8VS SS
Discussion
I recently picked up a 2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage S Sportshift in December, and I’m loving it—except for a couple nagging issue. There’s a very annoying/strange vibration sound that’s driving me up the wall, and I’m hoping you can help me figure out what’s causing it. I’ve included a video at the end of this post to show exactly what I’m dealing with (volume up).
The sound is an odd vibration that seems to come from below the center console area. It’s not really audible from outside the car, only inside the cabin, and it doesn’t affect how the car drives in any way. Here’s what I’ve noticed about when it happens:
•It occurs randomly, whether the car is just sitting in Neutral or in gear, at a standstill or under light throttle.
•Sometimes it’s triggered when I press the brake pedal in Neutral, but not always.
•It’s more likely to happen when the engine is warm, though it can occasionally occur when the car is cold.
•Also happens when the engine is off but the ignition is on when cycling between Neutral, Reverse and 1st gear. However, it doesn’t linger in this scenario like it does when the engine is running. Maybe the SS pump but why would it also vibrate in Neutral at standstill.
Initial Suspicions and Troubleshooting
Given that the previous owner installed a lightweight VAP flywheel (along with VAP power and exhaust upgrades), my first thought was flywheel chatter. I reached out to VAP and shared the video, but they responded:
“That’s not the typical ‘chatter’ we hear. The rattle in your video sounds more like a heat shield touching the body near the catalysts.”
Following their suggestion, I took the car to an indie shop to inspect for a loose or damaged heat shield. They had never heard that sound before, same with the Dealer who I had taken it to deal with this issue as well with no luck. The tech tightened a slightly loose exhaust clamp but found no issues with the heat shields or anything else that could explain the vibration. We spent time trying to replicate and isolate the sound, but nothing we did made it better or worse. Also made sure the Sportshift pump was well fastened in place.
Where I’m At Now
I’m stumped and starting to feel like this might be a long chase to pinpoint the culprit. Has anyone experienced something similar in their V8 Vantage or another VH Aston? Any ideas on what could be causing this vibration or what I should check next?
In the video below, I’ve marked the exact moment the vibration occurs with a red dot. Take a listen and let me know your thoughts.
It only shows instances where cycling through gears and giving some throttle generates the vibration but in most cases the sound just comes up at a red light at standstill in Neutral and keeps vibrating for a minute or so. Maybe because the car was cold in that video? Unsure
The sound is an odd vibration that seems to come from below the center console area. It’s not really audible from outside the car, only inside the cabin, and it doesn’t affect how the car drives in any way. Here’s what I’ve noticed about when it happens:
•It occurs randomly, whether the car is just sitting in Neutral or in gear, at a standstill or under light throttle.
•Sometimes it’s triggered when I press the brake pedal in Neutral, but not always.
•It’s more likely to happen when the engine is warm, though it can occasionally occur when the car is cold.
•Also happens when the engine is off but the ignition is on when cycling between Neutral, Reverse and 1st gear. However, it doesn’t linger in this scenario like it does when the engine is running. Maybe the SS pump but why would it also vibrate in Neutral at standstill.
Initial Suspicions and Troubleshooting
Given that the previous owner installed a lightweight VAP flywheel (along with VAP power and exhaust upgrades), my first thought was flywheel chatter. I reached out to VAP and shared the video, but they responded:
“That’s not the typical ‘chatter’ we hear. The rattle in your video sounds more like a heat shield touching the body near the catalysts.”
Following their suggestion, I took the car to an indie shop to inspect for a loose or damaged heat shield. They had never heard that sound before, same with the Dealer who I had taken it to deal with this issue as well with no luck. The tech tightened a slightly loose exhaust clamp but found no issues with the heat shields or anything else that could explain the vibration. We spent time trying to replicate and isolate the sound, but nothing we did made it better or worse. Also made sure the Sportshift pump was well fastened in place.
Where I’m At Now
I’m stumped and starting to feel like this might be a long chase to pinpoint the culprit. Has anyone experienced something similar in their V8 Vantage or another VH Aston? Any ideas on what could be causing this vibration or what I should check next?
In the video below, I’ve marked the exact moment the vibration occurs with a red dot. Take a listen and let me know your thoughts.
It only shows instances where cycling through gears and giving some throttle generates the vibration but in most cases the sound just comes up at a red light at standstill in Neutral and keeps vibrating for a minute or so. Maybe because the car was cold in that video? Unsure
Edited by fakemickjagger on Tuesday 6th May 20:49
Edited by fakemickjagger on Tuesday 6th May 20:49
One test for gear chatter.
Engine warm.
Car stationary.
Gear in neutral.
Engine speed about 2,000 rpm.
Turn air conditioning on.
Off throttle, to run engine down to the natural idle speed (about 800 rpm).
May now hear gear chatter.
Turn off air conditioning.
Gear chatter might now stop, but the situation does vary car to car.
The sound in your video did not appear to be gear chatter, but recordings are seldom very realistic compared to our own own hearing, therefore difficult to know.
I think air con places additional demand on the engine, which is probably why the test above, sometimes eliminates the chatter noise when air con is switched off.
Dewi 2 said:
One test for gear chatter.
Tried your test out and it didn't seem to produce anything out of the ordinary. Might rule out the chatter theory.JA.Aston said:
Sounds to me like the clutch hardline pipe running along the top of the torque tube hasn’t been retained in its mounting clips properly and it’s vibrating against the chassis. Best way to check would be a flexible bore scope to look on top of the torque tube
Something rattling against the body is my guess as well. Not too familiar with the components of the transaxle but looked up the hardline and that would make a lot of sense. Got my annual service coming up so I'll have the shop check if it isn't mounted properly.Edited by fakemickjagger on Wednesday 7th May 19:26
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