I have a 96 accord lx and over the past month or so there has been a vibration in the front end that has gotten progressively worse. The vibration only happens between 50-70mph under hard acceleration and goes away above 70mph. Also goes away if you let off the gas or put in the clutch between 50-70 At first, it felt like a classic wheel bearing symptom, so I checked it and sure enough there was a good amount of play in the bearing / hub, so had honda replace it.

Got the car back and there was still the vibration, so I swapped the front tires to the back and the back to front, thinking that it might be a balance or warped rim issue, that made no difference. So sent it back to the dealer and they now thought it was the drivers side, inner cv joint, it had alot of play in it and or the balancer belt was off by a notch. Since I had screwed up balancer belts by one notch before I knew that wasn't it (the whole damn motor ran rough all the time, wether the car was runing down the road at 70 or sitting in the driveway).

Honda didn't have an axle in stock, so I got an aftermarket one from the local carparts store. When I removed the axle from the car, it came apart in 2 pieces, so immediately, I thought that was the problem. Put it back together w/ a new axle and test drove it to no avail, the problem was still there.

I jack the car up again, and start going over everything in the front suspension(car has about 200k on the suspension so I couldn't assume it wasn't the dumbest little thing). Upon checking for play in the suspension, I wiggle the wheel (that had the bearing and hub replaced) right to left, and sure enough there is a bit of play in it :angry: I first thought it was the bearing going bad after 2 days, but then had a friend wiggle it while I was under the car and the tie rod looks to be the culprit.

It is Sunday and honda is closed, so before I take it back and seriously bitch, I am wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem. I have seen shocks cause an under acceleration vibration, but only when u are commig out of a light or something. I also thought about a problem internal to the trans, but I have never seen a problem(except syncros) go bad on a honda 5spd,
especially since it only has 65k on it.

If it is of any relevance, the motor and trans were replaced about 10k ago(they both had 65k on them), wth clutch/ pressure plate, resurfaced flywheel, timing belt, balancer belt, water pump, new right axle, new front brakes / pads, and new tires all around(dunlop sp5000 205/55/15)

 

I believe what you are experiencing is a misfire under a load situation,usually caused by a spark misfire. There is no Classic wheel bearing vibration causing such a problem,, they just get noisey. Under heavy accel, a worn inner CV joint can and will cause a vibration as you described,, But its usually noticable from a standing start. Balancer belt of time makes the engine feel vibratey all the time.. accel, cruise or shut me off. Your Shocks dont have nothing to do with it,, Honest. Before you go back to your dealer and show your lack of knowledge by the way of an attitude.. I would try and explain and DEMONSTRATE the problem to a QUALIFIED technician, and I would insist on a personal test drive,If you have been there before and paid for an attempted repair and it didnt correct the problem,any Diagnostic work/Time should be free of charge..You as a consumer have many rights,, The most important Is the right to be treated fairly !!!

 

hey men, i have the same problem. i have no idea what the hell is the problem, but before i thought i just need to balance my tires so i had my tires balanced but it turns out that was not the problem.

 

I think its a tie rod or any number of suspension parts with that kind of mileage. I have the same problem, thought it was a wheel, ruled that out, had a mechanic look at it - loose left tie rod. I have 210k miles on my 92 Accord. When I lowered my car and putting stiffer shocks and lower profile tires at 175k miles, I trashed my ball joints, tie rods, bushings of every sort, etc. Im collecting parts for a rebuild now.

Good luck
Spy

 

A misfire is an interesting point that I never thought about :thinking: , but since the vibration happens at 50-70 in any gear(anywhere from 2500rpm -5000rpm) going up or down hills or on a flat surface, I find it hard to believe. Also, the plugs, cap, rotor, wires and coil, and ecm are all new.

As for taking a tech for a ride, I did, even let him drive the car, he felt the vibration, but after almost 2 days in the shop, he came back w/ "balancer belt" which I knew was bullshit, and inner cv on the drivers side, which did actually seem to be bad when I pulled it out.

I replaced the drivers tie rod endlast night, but the vibration seems to still be there. I had the car up on jack stands and ran it up through the gears w/ the tires on and the tires off. The vibration is definately worse w/ the tires on, but still there with the tires off. I think I am going to take it to have the wheels balanced...as this point I am baffeled, the only other thing I can think of is that the new(10k old) passengers remanufactured axle is bad or there is an internal trans problem. Anyone ever see the carrier bearings go on a 5spd?

 

freind of mine had the same type of prob. We finally discovered that there was decent play in the tie rod joint and so the wheel was free to move a few degrees. funny thing though while we were in there we looked at his brakes cause at first we thought that what it might be (cause the brakes were making a god-awful noise.) and we discoverd his pad was cracked in half. (really looked like a heat crack) any way these are related? btw this was an all stock 93 accord with under 100K and these were genuine honda pads with at least 75% life left.

 

What about alignment? Is that all and well? A bad alignment WILL cause vibrations also too. I don't remember if it's the camber or caster that causes it, but one of the two will cause vibrations. Toe causes feathered wear on the outsides of the tire (or inside).

 

Bnuk,, I cant believe Im still getting e mails about this thread???I havent been on this web site in months,, but since Im here, I will do my best to answer you.. Any play whatso ever in a tie rod,, is no good,, But,, it wont cause a vibration,, it might make a vibration caused by something else worse,, example, tire, wheel, axle, but a worn tie rod will only cause bad tire wear. A Bad or loose tie rod, might be inner or outer, on acell will cause a toe IN situation due to torque reaction on the steering hub,, thus,, some outer tire wear,, but on cruise ( normal driving) will cause inner tire wear, due to dragging motion of the hub.. The Hub is your steering knuckle, which your wheel is directly attached to.. Make sense?? But neither toe in or out will cause a vibration,, they might amplify,, but not cause.. Brake pad cracking is most always due to over heating,secondary source is a sticking caliper Pin.. One pin moves,, the other dosent, caliper piston pushes,, pad cracks due to bending,, something to REALLY look into !!

 

Mohamed... Tech In Training ??? Dont take this personally, but... Tech In Training ???Im shocked at your response...If you are truely in training, if you are in a trade school, you need a new teacher. if you are working in the field,, you need a new shop forman. If you are just a "wanna be",, quit thinking about becoming one, go back to school and learn something else.. Being a technician is just not worth it nowadays.. The pay sucks, your costs are high and respect given is worse then being a lawyer...Now that Ive probably hurt your feelings,,get Over it !!! Lesson Time, pay attention.. camber is the inclination of the tire vertically,, what you want to achieve is a neutral up and down situation,, this means equal measuements from the top of the tires to the bottom.. If you lower a vehicle,, the top of the tire measurement is smaller then the botton,, causeing inner tire wear,, Will it cause a vibration??? Thats your first test question...Caster...Is the angle of your steering knuckle,determined by the relationship of your upper control arm as compared to your lower control arm..We are looking for a tilt forward for steering stability, idealy your right front should lead you left from by a half a degree to compansate for a road crown.. So please tell me,, how camber and caster can possible cause a vibration problem ??Im really forward to your response..By the way,, Im always looking for educated people that want to learn the new Automotive Business the right way... Respectfully.. Lager

 

I can see you just love to make friend's don't ya?

I know what the two are, you don't have to be a smart ass about it, but I don't deal with alignments on a consistant basis. I recall my teacher telling me something about alignments causing a wheel shimmy, especially in GM vehicles. That's why i threw out that idea as a possibility. Obviously, when you're lowering a car, you're increasing positive caster, too much positive caster, and you get wheel shimmy. Some people consider wheel shimmy (that rapid side to side movement) vibration, it's really how a person describes a situation. This condition will especially be true at low speeds.

And dude what kinda of an explaintion is camber that you gave? If you look at a wheel and tire set from the front of the vehicle, the tilt of the tire from a 90 deg horizontal line is your camber angle. Caster definition...yah, all accept that although I would have said from top ball joint to lower ball joint.

And my friend, you're obviously in a horrid shop, with horrid pay apparently, because auto industry pays quite well, so as long as you are certified, and you obviously have to put your time in. You do start on crackhead wages, and usually you're put on the lube rack first, joy lots of fun changings oils, but once you have that certification, from what I have seen, people make quite respectable pay. The respect part...ah we could go on for days on this, the problem I find is other techs find incorrect stuff. Best example happened last Thursday, a guy with a 2000 Mustang GT comes in saying he needs new rear pads, based on a recommendation at the Ford Dealer...AT THE FREAKING DEALER. I pull the tire, the rear caliper off, pad is still halfway decent, he tells me the dealer told him the pads where about done. I swear whoever told him that was probably on crack that day, as the pads where just fine, no signs of cracks, plenty of material still left, even the disc is fine, no signs of scoring, quite clean as if it had been resurfaced the day before, no cracks either. I forget what the measurements were, but stories like these are what gives the entire industry a bad rep. This story has happened more often that not, and sometimes I begin to wonder. Guy thanked me and was on his way, and was quite happy with me. The problem I see when working in a big shop is you never get to talk with the customer on what you saw, and actually show the customer what you are describing. The only thing though, is I seem to fix more Fords than any other make...go figure :thinking: