2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration? FIXED

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Tim Martin
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2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration? FIXED

Post by Tim Martin »

Ok. I got this 2001 Honda Civic EX with a 1.7L engine and a 5 speed manual transmission and 130,000 miles on it. The issue is that at 60 mph and above it has a strange steering wheel vibration that is only felt when cruising or acceleration. Under acceleration the vibration is not there. Under 60 mph it is not there either. I checked the steering components and the front suspension with nothing found. I am suspicious of the halfshafts. Where they go into the transaxle there is considerable looseness although no oil leakage as of yet. Do I assume this is the cause of the vibration or do I keep looking? We removed both halfshafts and they are fine. I am about as puzzled as it is possible to get and the owner is seeking answers. Where do I go?
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Re: 2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration?

Post by timbre4 »

As the owner of several Honda & Acura products, I would quietly mention motor mounts?
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Re: 2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration?

Post by Tim Martin »

Ah yes, the ever frustrating motor mounts. Well, yeah, I had thought of them and we checked them as well but they are solid. Not torn, and in doing a power brake there is no looseness.
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Re: 2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration?

Post by Pauls Automotive »

I've had it where the axle were very old. No torn boots or anything but due to wear in the joints it would cause this type of issue. It was nothing you could see with the naked eye. Just a thought.
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Re: 2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration?

Post by Tim Martin »

Understand but how do you condemn the driveshaft without positive proof? What criteria do you go by? What I mean is that the parts are too costly to just gamble on these parts.
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Re: 2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration?

Post by brianp87 »

Sometimes you have to either try a cv axle if nothing else can be visibly found. I try to always be careful and let the customer know there is no guarantee that it is it but that nothing else can be seen as tot the cause and let them make the call.
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Re: 2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration?

Post by Pauls Automotive »

To be honest there really is no way. If I exhausted everything else I just put in a set and road test. Afterwards if it rides well I'll call and sell it to the customer. I know it isn't a very good way to do it but sometimes that is all you can do. In most cases it cures the problem. I wish I could give you something more definite and concrete. The reason I just do it before I tell the customer is I use it as a diagnostic tool. If it works they don't know any different. If it doesn't I just let them know all the extra effort I went to to verify the problem. It usually impresses them. I may lose out on the time spent but really the job isn't that hard. In the end you make a customer happy and coming back.
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Re: 2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration?

Post by timbre4 »

Agreed with Paul, if I may. These are not super expensive and if it cures the issue, well worth it to all concerned!
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Re: 2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration?

Post by steven kiser »

Sorry for missing this earlier. Usually I'm in and out of the Forum a few times a day but have been out of my tree lately. To begin with at 130k there are a lot of things worn but not really bad enough to replace. A load noise or vibration (this is where the symptoms would lead me) are usually mounts (primarily trans support and sometimes motor support) or a torque vibration could be the passenger side drive shaft. Look closely where the jack shaft mounts to the block. I know it's not really the Jack shaft but considered part of the total assembly. I've experienced issues where the bolt on the bracket behind the shaft has been eliminated as well as the guide pin when it was replaced at another shop. Also I've been thrown by a wheel bearing or two on these vehicles. If you can safely move the wheel from side to side while it's making the noise enough to shift vehicle load and there is any change in the noise I would replace the bearings. I think that this is the bearing that is magnetized on one face but can be installed either way and if incorrect will cause the abs light to come on.

The customer must be made aware that the vehicle is a great little car, will last forever but t a certain point a series of things wear out just enough not to really fail but combined will cause an issue. A long shot here may be an issue with the final drive but that is usually accompanied by a reverse and fifth gear engagement issue. With the vehicle on a lift, in neutral, with the clutch engaged see if you can force a vibration by playing with the accelerator pedal a bit. Since there is no load at this time it will be a small vibration, maybe small enough to make you think it's not there. The issue of the noise being there cruising over 60 would make me look closely at the wheel bearings. I've replaced bearings by an educated guess at times, solved the problem and later when I had time opened them up and found one roller with a small chip in it. Another thing that just popped into my mind is look closely at the hub. I've seen hubs that should have been replaced when the bearing was in the past with chatter grooves in them causing the hub to walk. Good luck on this one,It may test your skills but remember at this mileage you're most likely dealing with more than one small issue where standing alone would not be noticeable but a few small ones equals a problem.

O.K. one more and i'll stop, some of these mounts are liquid or jell filled so if there is any stain around them they're leaking. The support mounts may look fine but if you use a pry bar to shift engine transmission assembly and see any cracking in the rubber or a shine spot where it's been rubbing replace them. Some part companies offer a less expensive mount that is not jell or liquid filled at a much cheaper cost. I wouldn't use them and advise my customers of it so when they go on line and see a much less expensive mount available they'll know why and not think you're screwing them. Good luck and I'm always right up front explaining this issue just like I did here so my customers won't think I'm just heaving parts and wasting their money. Kind of glad it's in your shop and not mine right now because I have a parking lot full of nut busters right now. :lol: :lol:

Just wanted to add this so I hit the edit button. A Dodge Ram a customer just purchased and brought into us with a hit list of good money jobs ending with his brake lights not working. We found a cut wire about 6" away from the switch, spliced it and the lights work now but the truck won't start. Un plug the switch it starts. The mechanic of the previous owner laughed when we called him to ask if he had any issues with this truck and informed us that that was the reason the truck was sold. He had spent days trying to deal with it but was at the end and asked if we would call him when we found out what it was. We worked it back to hopefully being the power dist box under the hood but Dodge doesn't supply them any more and I can't find one with the correct numbers. I'm hopeful hat a company that purchases all Dodge OEM discontinued parts will call me back with one.
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Re: 2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration?

Post by Tim Martin »

OK. In a closer inspection of the driveshafts and hub assemblies, on the right hub and shaft there is alot of loose rust colored powder. On the left hub and there is only a slight amount of grease. I am thinking that the rust colored powder on the right hub may be an indicator of looseness. And the splines seem to be very shiny from some wear. Although if I insert the shaft into the hub there is virtually no play in the hub/driveshaft assembly.
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Re: 2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration?

Post by steven kiser »

Remember you are looking into a high speed, load noise. When I look at issues like this I have a tech get into the vehicle and slowly increase the speed while I rest my hand on the spring. For some reason I can feel more vibration that way. If anything is vibrating you'll feel it there. Judge it against the drivers side. Any difference is an indication.
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Re: 2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration?

Post by brianp87 »

What did you figure out on this?
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Re: 2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration?

Post by Tim Martin »

brianp87 wrote:What did you figure out on this?
Thanks for asking.

Lets see. After we replaced the driveshafts, there still was a slight vibration although it was more across the board of speeds. So, by this time we are getting desperate and we all four of us concluded we are missing something simple and stupid. Well, we were. Upon closer inspection of the tires, the one on the right front had an ever slight bulge on the outer sidewall/tread area. We showed that to the customer, he replaced the tires and presto! all vibration was gone. Somehow we missed it earlier because usually with a vibration like that the tires is one of the first things we go after. What is interesting is that when I told the customer that we traced it to a tire issue, his reply? you guessed it! "Can't be. I just had new tires put on that car". Well, turns out those tires had 20,000+ miles on them.
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Re: 2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration?

Post by brianp87 »

Glad you got it fixed. I can say I have had that happen also sadly sometimes stuff slips through.
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Re: 2001 Honda Civic EX - Driveline Vibration? FIXED

Post by timbre4 »

Story #1 - 1989
We had just moved here and the 1986 Civic we bought while still in California was really rough with erratic vibration. I figured it was a drive axle and told the Honda dealer as much. They told me it was the type of tires the previous owner had put on them. So then I went and got new tires installed and then it was smooth sailing.

Story #2 - 2014
Just purchased a 1999 CR-V EX for my older son to commute to college. All seemed well but it drove kind of funny; small amount of vibration but more about not feeling like it was connecting to the pavement in general. The previous owner had bought the tires recently from Gateway Tire location about 100 miles away. Took it to the local Gateway Tire location and they confirmed this particular tire's performance would degrade so bad by 20K they had to be replaced. They gave us a generous allowance for this issue and we got into some new Hankook tires that have been just great so far
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