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adamjosey

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Location
Worcester
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7th Gen Accord iCTDi
Hi All, first time post and sadly it's one trying to find advice on a problem with my daily runner!

I have a 2004 Accord CDTi which has developed a judder / vibration under acceleration. So bit of back history, the car has a full service history, however as it had gone over the 100k mark I decided to start doing some DIY (Destory It Yourself) servicing. Now I am not a virgin to working on cars but this was my first time working on the Accord, I am a Honda Del Sol nut and spend many a weekend working on my B series and D series Sol's.

Anyway I got a service kit from my local motor factor and fitted it all to the car (102,072 miles), on the first drive post the service I took the car for a spin and found the drive was very flat. Under acceleration the car would lose power and then start to cut out, then the EML came on and the car went into limp mode. After plugging in my computer the fault was low fuel pressure, hall marks of a dodgy replacement fuel filter. Anyway I headed down to Honda and after picking my jaw up from the floor walked out of the dealer with a genuine fuel filter. I fitted it to the car and the issue with the power lose disappeared and the car was running a dream, seemed to have a lot more power low down.

After 300 miles the car then developed a mild vibration in 3rd and 4th gear under acceleration between 2,000 - 4,000 rpm, this soon developed into a heavy vibration / heavy judder in 3rd and 4th felt through the steering wheel as well as my seat. The whole car felt like it was trying to shake itself apart, passengers notice immediately the shake. But at the point did the EML come on. There was a feeling of a slight loss in power but not a massive amount.

So my next step was to try bleeding the fuel filter, which I did, this had no effect on the issue.

So the car drives now with no faults recorded on the ECU, my MPG return is 55-59 and I am getting 650-700 miles out of a tank. If I keep the car below 2,000 rpm I have no vibration or judder, as soon as I use 3rd or 4th gear above 2,000rpm the engine feels like it is starting to shake itself apart. This shake gets worse and worse from 2,000 rpm up to 3,800 rpm where it then stops. 3,800 rpm to red line it does not vibrate! Also note I do not notice the vibration / judder in 1st or 2nd gear.

There is a slight vibration in 5th gear above 2,000 rpm but it is nothing compared to the shake in 3rd or 4th. I am puzzled to what it could be, I thinking possible EGR issue? But have also read about driveshaft and/or dual mass flywheels to be a cause of vibration? I have now hit 110,803 miles and have lived with keeping the car below 2,000rpm.

Before I start pulling my hair out pulling the car apart has anyone experience this kind of issue? I have tried looking through the forum history for other people's posts but the symptoms I have seem slightly different.

The only other background history to the car is Honda replaced the Alternator and fitted a modified / updated pulley tensioner / updated belt for free back in November 2014 due to my alternator failing. Car had 95k on clock and was 10 years old but I was very lucky and Honda paid for it all to be sorted.

Any help or advice please!
 
*I am not a virgin to working on cars!

Perhaps one to proof reading before posting!
 
It's your driveshaft mate. A very common issue
 
Hi Fahad, thanks for your reply!

Is there an easy way to determine which driveshaft is at fault? Or is it a case of replacing the both of them?

Also do you have an recommendations of the best places to get hold of Accord drive shafts from?
 
Sorry to hear about your drive shaft issue. It is indeed a common issue on the 7th gen diesel accords.
Best bet is to replace both but after reading many threads its usually the passenger side but ideally you need to check. If the car is on a ramp get underneath and try to move the shaft on both sides. The faulty one should have play.

Have a read on these threads - you could save alot of money if you could it yourself although you would need access to a impact driver to remove the hub nut unless your strong enough.

http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/17291-wobble-in-4th-gear-under-hard-acceleration/?hl=drive+shafts

http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/19998-driveshaft-replacement/?hl=drive+shafts


The best places i have found and alot of people use are from here - blueprint ones. Good quality without the silly honda prices.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301205871263?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

A few have bought here too
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301022475911?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT


Hope it helps and you get it sorted
 
Hi Alex, thank you for your reply, I will have a look under the car on a ramp and see which shaft has play. I can get access to one quite easily thankfully!

I have a Clarke mains impact gun as well as a impact wrench that runs off my compressor so getting the hub nuts off should not be a drama! If all else fails I have a massive breaker bar.

If after getting on the ramp I confirm play in the drive shafts I will have to make the call on if it's worth doing the clutch too.

There is no side of clutch wear at the moment but with the work that goes into getting driveshafts out etc and having to drain the gearbox fluid off. I wonder if it's worth doing it at the same time, I have not really looked into how big a job a clutch change is on a diesel accord. I sure getting the driveshafts out is probably a big part of the process!
 
Your welcome adamjosey.
With regards to the clutch I have read several forums and the job is very difficult although it is doable. I think it's a front subframe off job. If doing the clutch it's highly recommended to change the dmf while everything is apart.
 
So bit of an update... Euro Car Parts are doing Blueprint complete driveshafts for £108.79 a side delivered, £217.58 for the pair delivered.

LUK Clutch kit inc bearing from them is £111.34 delivered.

LUK Dual Mass Flywheel plus 8x flywheel bolts are £380.78

Blueprint driveshafts have a 3 year warranty and the flywheel / clutch only 12 month.
 
you do realise if doing the driveshaft, the clutch change on top is not a job you would do 'while your at it'. I can change a passenger driveshaft in about 10-20mins using a ramp and impact sockets.

you should not lose any gearbox oil doing the passenger shaft.
 
Same with mine, CDTi with 130k miles, suddenly developed a "wobble" felt through the steering wheel under acceleration at about 50mph.

Common fault, local garage was familiar with the problem although they did warn me that they hadn't been able to completely eradicate the problem on a previous car.

However, all the clues said to replace the drive shafts, so that's what I had done.

And I noticed a slight improvement but still not right.

Ball joint then replaced, then a tyre, then tracking and balancing...

AND still I have a problem.

But now it's at 20mph or when at "motorway speeds", vibration and wobbles and at higher speeds a noticeable lack of surety in the general demeanour of the car, almost as if something isn't quite connected correctly!

I'm tempted to drop it into a Honda dealer but slightly afraid of the likely costs and that they will refuse to do anything since some of the parts were not Honda's own.

Any thoughts out there?
 
They've replaced which shafts? It's normally the inner shafts
 
No they're part of the driveshaft but you need to check if they replaced inner or outer shafts
 
apparently the entire drive shaft on both sides were replaced, including the CVJ's on both ends of both shafts... the local garage are not really sure what else they can do!
 
woodie said:
might be bearing or spline on half shaft
hiya - the entire drive shaft was replaced, in fact BOTH of them are new...

wheel bearings have also been done within the last year
 
Millsey said:
hiya - the entire drive shaft was replaced, in fact BOTH of them are new...

wheel bearings have also been done within the last year
gear box is to one side on front wheel drive car with transverse engine and inline gear box
so they have shaft which run under the engine called half shaft also called inter shaft

the gen7 accord all have gear box on passenger side so the half shaft run under engine
driver side drive shaft will slot into half shaft
half shaft is separate item and it have its own bearing and splines
 
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