Rhythmic sound and feeling, and faint steering shakes.

[Bad_dude]

Hello every one,
I have a 90 Accord LX 4AT.

Topic

[dreamer2355]

Here is another video from Eric on how to find suspension noises that may aid you –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scFbb43f … t3EVppbf88

[619DioFan]

First try swapping the tires around ( front to back ) see if the prob goes away. if it does then suspect a tire issue. how old are the struts ?

[Bad_dude]

I am taking the car to the tire place tomorrow for inspection of that tire and rotate it to the back. The struts are original and never replaced. The shock rubber bushings are probably gone.
Dreamer2355, I already saw that video a few days ago. Nothing like that.is happening on my car. I suspect the tire as it happens right after the rotation. I didn’t hit any big pot holes or bumps. But the tire has about 25k miles on it and I have been rotating them every 5000 miles.

Thanks.

[619DioFan]

Quoted From Bad_dude:

I am taking the car to the tire place tomorrow for inspection of that tire and rotate it to the back. The struts are original and never replaced. The shock rubber bushings are probably gone.
Dreamer2355, I already saw that video a few days ago. Nothing like that.is happening on my car. I suspect the tire as it happens right after the rotation. I didn’t hit any big pot holes or bumps. But the tire has about 25k miles on it and I have been rotating them every 5000 miles.

Thanks.

Let us know what you find out.

[Matt]

If it just occurred following a tire balance and rotation, I would definitely suspect the tires. Did you say the tires are newer?

[Bad_dude]

Quoted From Beefy:

If it just occurred following a tire balance and rotation, I would definitely suspect the tires. Did you say the tires are newer?

Oh no. The tires are not new. But it has lots of life left. I only put about 25,000 miles on them. But I got them Jan. 3, 2008. I bought them cheap but they have been great. Though they are all seasons but SoCal only have 2 seasons, hot and warmer/cooler.

Thanks.

[dreamer2355]

Wheel bearings ‘usually; howl when they start to fail and CV axles ‘usually’ start to click. Alot of that is covered in Eric’s suspension video i posted.

[Bad_dude]

Quoted From dreamer2355:

Wheel bearings ‘usually; howl when they start to fail and CV axles ‘usually’ start to click. Alot of that is covered in Eric’s suspension video i posted.

And this is the reason why it driving me crazy. It does not have any of the symptoms. My neighbor who works at Autozone, said it could be the hub is too dry or the ring is damage.
I actually pay much more attention today. The noise does not occur in reverse no matter how fast I drive it. It’s only occur at low speed of 30 mph or less without braking or foot on gas pedal. If I drive fast or accelerate fast, it’s not there. I guess the sound is more prominent when it’s slow. I was going to take the car to San Francisco in a few months. So I got to find out what it is to be the safe side.

Thanks.

[brake]

check out the sway bar links and bushings, as well as control arm bushings.

[Matt]

I’ve seen Eric post a few times that vibrations aren’t cause by suspension parts. Did the shake move when you rotated the tires? As in you can feel it in the seat now as opposed to in the steering wheel? Also, does it happen in a straight line only? You say you are hearing a slight noise. A light thumping as you described it? Does it change with speed? I know you say it goes away at high speed, but does it get louder/faster as you accelerate to 25mph? Can you make a video of the noise by chance? Other than that, I’m not sure what to tell ya bud.

[Bad_dude]

Quoted From Beefy:

I’ve seen Eric post a few times that vibrations aren’t cause by suspension parts. Did the shake move when you rotated the tires? As in you can feel it in the seat now as opposed to in the steering wheel? Also, does it happen in a straight line only? You say you are hearing a slight noise. A light thumping as you described it? Does it change with speed? I know you say it goes away at high speed, but does it get louder/faster as you accelerate to 25mph? Can you make a video of the noise by chance? Other than that, I’m not sure what to tell ya bud.

The shake/sound did not move with the tire rotated to the back. It happens in straight line. No problem at turns. It does not increase with speed. It stops at around 30 mph. Some one told me it might be the brake shield. I have heard that noise before, it was was like a scrubbing sound. I am going to jack it up tomorrow and put it in neutral and spin it to see where the problem is. Some one told me it might a dry hub or bad hub. I thought the hub and bearing is like Sammy’s twin, they are stuck together. It’s hard to make a video with a phone when you are by yourself. But I will try. I hate to replace the bearing when there’s no definitive signs of damage.
I love mystery but not with my car. But I am determine.
Just in case it’s a brake shield, how do I bend it out of way without having take it off the wheel?

Thanks.

[Bad_dude]

Ok. Here’s an update guys. Took the car in the tire center. They inspect the tire carefully, saw no defects, check the balance and all was good. I asked them to rotate it to the back and the feel is still there. What I am going to do next to take the caliper off and lube the sliders as the last service, if was recorded correctly, is about 57K miles ago. Though the pads still have about 80% life left. If weren’t grease right, could be the sliders. But 2 days ago I check and move the rotors and both moved freely without friction. It’s hard to say with the wheel off vs with it on.
Could bearing still be bad without play?
Could an axle be bad without boot tear and clicking sound when u turn?

Thanks.

[Bad_dude]

Here’s an update guys.
1) I found the missing oil. It was in the engine after all. Before I started the car today, I checked the oil again and well, it was about half an inch above the high mark. So weird. Never the less, I solved that. So the car not burning oil.

2) The rhythmic sounds and feeling are still there. The feeling is like some thing is rubbing on the wheel. It like running over California median where they have little bumps. It’s like “bmp, bmp, bmp, bmp.” But my gut feeling tells me it’s the bearing or the axle. I just need to test it thoroughly. Now I have tested bearing by pulling and tugging with no play. But the axle has no boot tear, could have just worn out but no clicks on turns. Or it could be just a slight warped rotor, but no feeling when braking. Pretty tough here.
Thanks.

[Bad_dude]

I just jacked the car up, spin the wheel as fast as I could but I could not reproduce the sound. I guess I am not strong enough to spin the wheel close to 30 mph. While I was doing this, I came to a thought, the feeling and sound likes the out splint of the axle is worn out and it misses the click as it rotates. It sounds like it’s coming from the outer part of the axle. The questions remains, is worn out splint or splints are on the axle or the bearing? There’s no play at all in the bearing. How unsafe is it to drive with this problem? The sound doesn’t bother me as I have a good stereo touch screen system.

Thanks.

[Matt]

Honestly, it doesn’t sound like anything that is an emergency. If you have no play in your steering or suspension components, and everything looks fine, you could ride on it for awhile. The noise may get worse, allowing easier diagnosis. I guess one thing you could do is try turning the cv-axle back and forth and seeing if you feel play or hear a noise in there. Other than that, I would personally leave it alone for now if you can stand the noise.

[Author]

Replies