When i say vibrations, i mean shaking itself apart!
When i bought it, it had a slight vibration through the steering wheel at speed, which was resolved by replacing front tyres. All has been great with the car for a year, now i have a different vibration. Most notably between 50 and 60 i get a real vibration through the whole car - if i am pushing it (such as motorway slip road) the car seems to want to resolve itself into its component parts. It "feels" like its coming from the rear. For info, the car is on the 17" alloys (the dark grey ones)
Im thinking it needs looking at, but where to start. Is it likely to be a tyre problem or should i be looking to suspension? Should i take it to my tyre guy, my local mechanic or a main dealer? Im a bit stumped about where to begin.
Any ideas on how to approach the problem would be great. I dont really want to go to the main dealer with a vague description of a problem - that could get expensive.
One point that may be relevant is that due to a flooding problem in the car park at work, the car is often in deep puddle. I dont recall if the puddle comes over the tyre to the wheel, will check tomorrow.
thanks in advance.
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Sounds to me that either the rear tyres need rebalancing, or they have 'gone out of round'. ie, lost their circular shape.
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Accords on 17" wheels are quite well known for 'tramlining' and a somewhat harsh ride but certainly not the vibrations you describe. I would suggest, that as a matter of urgency, you start with a good tyre specialist who will probably check track rod ends etc. as well as look for tyre bulges and other problems. It couldn't be anything as silly as loose wheel bolts could it?!
Please post back here when you find the solution as my Accord tourer is fine at the moment but I'd like to know if there are any potential problems. Incidentally there is a dedicated Accord forum at www.phpbber.com/phpbb/?mforum=sp4rks
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heres an update.
had the wheels balanced and the problem seems to have gone.
But they did tell me all 4 wheels have a flat spot. Took me a while to realise he meant wheels and not tyres.........
Those pesky speed bumps!
What are the implications of the flat spots apart from a less than perfect ride.? they may have been like that since i had it, just didnt notice. Took it for a little drive after getting it balanced and didnt notice any difference.
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Are you sure he meant wheels and not tyres? Wheels don't get flat spots - they get buckled. If the wheels are buckled then you'll need new ones....
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He specifically said wheels, because i thought he meant tyres and asked how much a new set would be.
i did think it sounded a bit odd, but plausible. They werent trying to sell me wheels though.
Its all a bit irrelevant really, as on the drive home the vibration came back at dead on 60 - the balancing stopped all the vibrations before it. Time for new wheels i suppose. Ouchy.
With the wheels should i be looking to replace them all or just the problem ones (i think it is the rear passenger side causing the problem, but if they are all buckled then all need replacing)
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Time for an update.
Didnt need the car much or get a chance to sort this out until quite recently (helpful people closing for xmas and new year delays things). Before spending money on new wheels, i thought i would try swapping the spare on to the wheel, space saver, but i was only going to exceed its rating once and for a very short distance. Didnt make any difference. Feeling glad i hadnt coughed up for wheels, took a trip to the honda dealer.
They think it is drive shafts, but they didnt seem too sure. They think its the drivers side, but may need the other one as well. They have ordered one (they would have liked two at £450 + each, but at that sort of price i would rather they know it needs it than think it needs it) to try. Its having it done tomorrow so will let you know.
An anti roll bar link needs replacing as well as it is apparently broken.
They also want to change front and rear disks, although my local mechanic looked at them last week and said they are fine. Im confused now.
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What's the miles? sounds like a high miles problem if drive shafts worn
drive shafts last yonks now, unles bent by hitting something. not had accident damage has it?
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If the vibration is as bad as you imply then the wear in the driveshaft would be very evident, without the need to substitute new ones. Has the car had a bad impact that could have knocked the drivetrain out of alignment?
I think a mechanic who really knew what he was doing could diagnose this very quickly.
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almost 70k, no accident damage that i am aware of (had the car 15 months) but i would suggest pot holes and speed bumps. There are loads of the little cushion ones near me and some nasty potholes - some of which have caught me out.
I dont think the 17" wheels with the lower profile tyres help.
The parts didnt turn up today. They are stuck at sea or something - had to come from Belgium.
I had noticed that it only happened under acceleration at approx 55-60, so driveshafts makes some sense. As it came on quite suddenly i would think it will be one not both that is causing the problem.
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Pot holes and speed bumps will not wear out your driveshafts. Racing starts will (not saying that's what you do!).
If CV joint is worn it could cause vibration on acceleration, but usually its there all the time and not just over a 5mph speed range. Other symptoms would be clicking on full lock and usually you can feel any wear by tugging up and down on the shaft.
I can't remember if there is an intermediate bearing on these; if there is then it could be that.
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thanks for the input Aprilia. I find the whole thing a bit strange because it is a pretty narrow band where this problem occurs. Drive through it and it disappears. Im not entirely convinced that it is the driveshaft, but have to go with the recommendation and i dont have any other ideas.
i dont feel anything unusual through the steering wheel, which is odd. I would have thought a problem with the front wheels would be felt through it, rather than through the car.
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If it's a driveshaft that is causing the vibration, the dealer should be able to verify this by spinning the suspet wheel up on a wheel free ramp. If he clamps the other wheel, you would expect the vibration to occur when the speedo reads half the normal problematic speed. If your car has LSD, this test might be difficult.
Number_Cruncher
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hopefully my last post on the matter!
car went in today, had the driveshaft and the anti roll bar link replaced and all appears well.
I still dont understand why i couldnt feel it through the steering and it definitely felt like it was coming from the back.
But its all fixed now and im about £600 worse off.
Just glad to have it back to normal - now back to those racing starts ;)
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