whats up everyone,

i drive a 2004 accord ex couple 4cyl with an auto. the car has only about 28K miles on it so far. the problem im having is a very noticable vibration ONLY during brisk acceleration (like pulling out into traffic or any other time i goquickly from a complete stop). ive read other threads about tire balancing, which i have already had doneand will have done again when i rotate my tires this week. this seems to only slightly relieve the problem. the car is under warranty and they have test driven it at the dealership and admit to feeling the problem: however, the technician who works on my car ( and is also a friend of mine) says theres nothing wrong with the suspension, tires, etc. im taking the car back in this week to have the brakes serviced and i was wondering if anyone knew of any other reasons i would be having this problem. maybe something i, or the dealership, has overlooked.

any suggestions would be appreciated
thanks

 

Where's the vibration? Pedals, steering wheel, whole car, front end....

 

vibration under take off can be a worn cv shaft joint, that only vibrates under weight shift like a launch, you wont feel wheels/tires out of balance until you get up to higher speed. Sometimes a shimmy can be felt if a bushing (control arm) is failed or collapsed (not preloaded if rubber) prematurely. You can look under the car and see if the suspension is at fault, its hard to diagnose without actually driving the car.

 

let me get this right,, they feel the problem and they gave you the car back without fixing it ????WOW times must have changed , when i used to work at a dealership and car was under warranty ,, we left no stones unturned till we fixed the customer complaint , giving customer a rental car ,at times we lost our rear end on a job working on the flat rate system..on some stupid little rattle ,
Like Super suggested , it could be a worn or out of grease INNER cv joint .....have the tech take a close look at them, have him inspect them for looseness and if they feel ok, have him remove the inner cv boot clams and stuff the inner cv boots with grease, put it together and go on a test drive .......
car is undwer warranty DEALER has to fix it to your satisfaction ,,

 

thanks for the suggestions,

sorry about the vague "vibration" description. when i take off, it feels as though the entire front end is wobbling back and forth. i guess the best thing i can describe it as, is the feeling it would have if the wheels were coming loose (obviously theyre not).im taking it back in tomorrow and i will suggest that they check the cv joint.

as far as being under warranty, DesertHonda, i think youre right, times have changed. this particular dealership changed ownership in the last yr and service has gone straight to hell. it just happens to be the closest one. if they cant fix the problem i'll take it to another dealership and get a second opinion.

thanks everyone

 

I have a 2003 accord w/90000 miles, that has a definite shimmy/shudder (felt in the steering wheel, and all around basically) around 40mph, it's more definite when accelerating at a slow rate as I'm a hyper-miler, I've rotated and balanced and then replaced my tires, and still feel the shimmy, any suggestions and maybe comments, would be helpful!!

 

I'd take a good look at the inboard CV joints on the axle/driveshafts. Then maybe loose suspension bushings or balljoints?

 

My '99 5-spd with 195K has similar shakes under acceleration and then at about 60+ mph. I've rotated the tires; all suspension & steering components are tight; the hub bearings are smooth and quiet.

I jumped on what I thought to be the obvious and replaced the left-side axle assy when I noticed that I could move the inner CV up & down with my hand. After replacement, the problem remained - that's when I realized that the radial movement was not in the inner CV joint but in the connection between the axle's male spline and the jackshaft's female spline. The old CV was fine.

With the car on the lift and in gear, I see slight but noticeable up/down movement of the left wheel which is coincident with movement of the axle shaft (between the CVs). I'm suspecting that the radial movement at the axle/jack shaft connection is causing the axle assy to 'whip' resulting in the noted wheel movement & vibration.

Nothing I've read has pointed at a worn out jackshaft. Indeed, I see no real signs of wear. If it were worn, I would expect to see some metal filings, dust, rust, etc. There is nothing like that. The carrier bearing on the jackshaft is not loose and makes no noise. The play that I'm seeing and feeling is definitely in the junction of the splines.

The service dept. at the local Honda dealer was of little help. When I spoke with the service manager, it was clear either I wasn't explaining it clearly or he had no clue; probably somewhere in the middle ...

I can find no spec's on what an acceptable radial play should be. The jackshaft is expensive at the dealer ($279) and there would be a 20% restocking fee if I found I didn't need the new part because it was as loose a fit with the axle as my old one. Having already unnecessarily purchased the replacement axle assy., I'm trying to avoid further parts swapping.

So - (finally) a question: Has anyone else noted the axle/jackshaft spline radial play I've described and determined it was normal? Or, perhaps it was the cause of these vibrations but never documented it? I do note that a fair number of the vibration problems I've read about on various forums appear to never be closed with whatever the final resolution turned out to be.

 

Welcome newbie!

One of my pet peeves is that people don't come back & tell us whether it's fixed, what worked, what didn't, etc. So I understand your last sentence exactly...

Your description makes a lot of sense, but I haven't seen it on MY cars. DesertHonda or HondaDude may share some experience because they operate shops & work on lots of customer cars.

 

thanks to everyone for all of their insight,

i apoligize for not posting with any results about my issue, but I traded my 04 accord awhile ago for an 05 xterra SE. Mainly bought it due to a new job where I was going to be spending a good amount of time on construction sites, and had to have something with some more ground clearance, 4x4, etc.

I recently changed positions within the company, and switched back to an Accord! Have an 05 sedan now, no problems so far (including the aforementioned vibration), but I gotta say sometimes I miss the Xterra's 4.0! Despite the Nissan's various other problems, that engine was a beast. Anyway, I am glad to be part of the Accord world once again!