vibrations need help

[EricW]

I just replaced both drive shafts and tie rod ends and now I am getting vibrations that i can feel through the steering wheel and at certain rpms/speeds shakes the car. I had an alignment done and it did not help with the vibration any. The car didn't have any vibrations before I replaced the drive shafts, anyone have any ideas. i did notice that both boots on the passenger side ball joints were busted so i put some grease on the ball joints. I also have one other question does anyone know what is supposed to be right here ( in the area to the left of where the axel goes in the differential)


Any help would be appreciated.

[AZmike]

If the boots are ripped enough grit may have gotten to the joint and loosened it up. Did you check the joints before regreasing them? It's possible that one of the shafts may be so poorly balanced that it is causing the vibration. How do the other joints and bushings look?

It looks like you're missing a small pressed steel piece that covers the exposed part of the flywheel. Ithink it's held on with three 6 mm (10 mm head) bolts.

[Oldblueaccord]

Well could very well be bad axles. If they been remanufactured not new they could have been off my old accord,vibrated like hell, lol and rebuilt by juan in mexico and then sent to you.

Bad boots mean worn parts down the road.


Also do a front end check,

1: jack up one side of the car till the tire is off the ground other side must be on the ground still.

2: grab the tire 3 and 9 o clock postion and shake back and forth slow at first. might needsome one to help look underneath. This checks tie-rods,steering rack etc. start kinda slow and work your way up a little harder. Use common sense of course the steering wheel will move or the other tire may move if you shake the shit otta it.

3: Grab the tire 12 and 6 o clock. Rock back and fourth.This checks the wheel bearing and ball joints other links

4: this check might show ball joints a little better. Use a pry bar under the tire at the 6 o clock pos. pry up look for slop looseness while prying.


This is your basic "front end check" any good mechanic should know. It works for all makes and models of cars.


Few things you can try are get your tires balanced, switch the fronts to the back to isolate if its a tire problem, get your alignment rechecked someplace else (possible messed up there).


wp

[EricW]

I am going to do the front end check to day. I am planing on changing the balljionts anyway, I glad i spent the extra money to get the aligment done at sears ($60 for a 6 months or 6000 miles and they will do the aligment again for free within that time period). Can the part that covers the flywheel be removed and a new one installed without removing the transmission, or is that a good project to do when I need to install a new clutch.

[Oldblueaccord]

I am going to do the front end check to day. I am planing on changing the balljionts anyway, I glad i spent the extra money to get the aligment done at sears ($60 for a 6 months or 6000 miles and they will do the aligment again for free within that time period). Can the part that covers the flywheel be removed and a new one installed without removing the transmission, or is that a good project to do when I need to install a new clutch.

Pretty sure you need to remove the tranny. I forgot that cover when I did mine and i just tossed it over my shoulder. It be nice to be on there but not really necessary.


wp

[AZmike]

I removed mine with the transmission in the car when I was changing the oil pan gasket. Putting it back was hopeless so I don't have one either.

[EricW]

I did the suspension check and the only thing I noticed was that the passenger side bearing had a little play but thats it. I am starting to think that the axel is not balenced since the vibration is strong, mainly in second gear, and seems to come from the drivers side. The vibration is so strong it also makes the shifter move some.

[AZmike]

If the axle's poor balance causes the vibration it should be a the function of wheel speed only. Does it only happen in second gear?

[Oldblueaccord]

If the axle's poor balance causes the vibration it should be a the function of wheel speed only. Does it only happen in second gear?

If you can get your tires rotated if you already have tried getting them rebalanced, try to prove its not tire/rim related

The loose feeling you get might be the upper ball joint worn some.You got to buy that whole arm to replace it. Really you should have zero play on the wheel bearings.

Also did you torque the big nut on the axleshafts to 135 ft lbs like it specs? That preloads the wheel bearing its a must.



wp

[EricW]

The vibration is the heaviest during second gear i can still feel it in third and fourth gear. I already have a control arm ordered and on the way. I will try rotating the tires today and see if it makes a difference. I did torque both nuts on the axels to 135 be cause i had to put the wheels on and take the car off the jack stands to do it.

[Oldblueaccord]

Good chance its the axles. Do you think there remanufactured?

Also good you had the car on the ground when you torque the nut its possible to break the transmission gears inside if you dont.

Only other thing I can think of is maybe if yu have aftermarket rims the lug nuts didnt seat properly somehow. I have a cheap set of 15" alum. and the stock lugs you gotta pay attention to how the seat up. I use a torque wrench on them too.

Good luck let us no how you make out.


wp

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Get your wheels balanced. Unbalanced wheels can feel fine in low speeds but once you get to a certain speed they vibrate just about everything.

-Mike

[Ludi Mali]

Yeah my wheel was out of balance one time and it felt like the car was gonna fall apart. Also i noticed just last week when we had shitloads of snow and ice that a huge chunk of ice threw off teh balance of my front left wheel and it was vibrating to hell.

[EricW]

I rotated the tires today and it didn't make a diffrence. I did notice when i took the car out for a drive that the vibration occurs more heavily under hard acceleration and that when press and hold the clutch in the vibration pretty much goes away.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Did you have a shop rotate them and balance them? If you just rotated them it won't fit any unbalance problem.

If you did have them balance all the wheels and all your tires are good, you may have a transmission mount that's bad.

[EricW]

I just rotated them my self to see if it was the balance because if the one was really bad the vibration would have moved to the back of the car and the vibration stayed the same so I assume it is not the balance.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

I had a wheel that was in the back and it made the whole car shake. Just go and spend like $15 and have your wheels balanced. If you don't you won't fix your problem.

[EricW]

I will probably have the wheels balanced tomarrow. I was going to do it anyway before I had to pull apart the frontend again (if I had to replace an axel).

[EricW]

I had the wheels balanced and it didn't help any. I guess it is an drive shaft unless anyone else has any ideas. I think I will pull the drivers side first and change it this weekend.

[modu03]

I actually had the same problem when i bought remanufactured axle... i had it aligned, wheel balanced, but nothing helped

finally i went and bought a new axle from a better store and that ended the problem... your probably gonna have to replace the axle again, but with a new one, not remanufactured...

i don't know what shops you have, but Riebes is where i buy parts now and have never had a problem.

by any chance did you get that axle from Kragens?

[EricW]

by any chance did you get that axle from Kragens?

we don't have any of those stores here in PC florida, I bought the axle from advanced auto parts. the only stores we have are Advanced, Autozone, Pepboys, O'Reilly's, and Napa

[Oldblueaccord]

we don't have any of those stores here in PC florida, I bought the axle from advanced auto parts. the only stores we have are Advanced, Autozone, Pepboys, O'Reilly's, and Napa

O'Reilly's sells new parts. I have had pretty good luck with them.


wp

[snow_man_20]

napa is the best place for oem equal parts but you pay a little more. Almost all non dealer repair shops use napa. I'm chasing the same problem in my 89 I don't think my shake is quite as bad as yours mine is just an enoying vibe at about 35 to 70 mph. my car also pulls to the left alittle i'm going to start with tires and alinment. I'm not positive but i think if your tie rods are going bad you feel it more in steering then a vibe. The car will somtimes pull slightly to the right and somtimes to the left depending on the last turn you made. My girlfriends civic had bad tie rods. I also think its your drive axels.

[modu03]

we don't have any of those stores here in PC florida, I bought the axle from advanced auto parts. the only stores we have are Advanced, Autozone, Pepboys, O'Reilly's, and Napa

yah... go with napa, they'll be the best parts. you will pay more, but you really do get what you pay for.

[EricW]

Well I replaced my driveshafts today and that fixed the problem, no more vibrations . Thanks to all of you that helped.