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Vehicle Shakes Above 60 KMPH Speed

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Bradford
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2004 Honda Accord
I recently purchased a used 2004 Honda Accord 2.4 AT Petrol that shows about 76,000 KM on the odometer. I'd done most of the pre-delivery inspection, but drove the vehicle within residential limits during the test drive.

The vehicle drives without any problems below 60 KMPH speed. However, the entire vehicle begins to shake severely as it reaches about 60 KMPH on the speedometer. The shaking gets worse as the speed increases.

I already had the wheel balancing and wheel alignment done recently. I was informed that it was probably the drive shaft that is causing the problem. Is there any other likely cause for this to occur? Is it possible to repair rather than replace the part?

Thanks.
 
Welcome to the forum. This is likely a warped drive shaft. Search on the Google Custom search at the top of the page (forum's own search is rubbish). It's a fairly common issue.
 
Welcome to the forum. This is likely a warped drive shaft. Search on the Google Custom search at the top of the page (forum's own search is rubbish). It's a fairly common issue.

Is it still safe to use the vehicle with a faulty drive shaft? Is it likely to cause any long-term damage to other parts even if it is driven below the 60 KMPH range

I came across varying prices on eBay
for a new drive shaft. What is the sort of cost involved--any estimate would help.
 
This might not be the complete driveshaft and only 1part.
There was a member hear with the same problem and had it sorted for around £250
 
I don't know, but I wouldn't want to risk it to much. See if you can get a definite diagnosis as soon as possible and go from there.
 
would not trust anything on ebay, i got boot kit from heel toe in california. euro parts also got them i think but they would not be as good as OEM build.
 
I doubt its a drive shaft on the petrol Auto car. This issue affected the diesels.

its more likely a wheel is buckled.

If you're in Bradford, take the car to Express Tyres on Lawson street just off Bolton road and ask for Zaheer. Tell him Fahad sent you and let him balance your wheels.

believe it or not but most tyre fitters cannot balance wheels correctly, including some of the larger chains.

my bmw had new tyres fitted at ATS last month. The shaking afterwards was so violent.. I took it to Zaheer a few days later and we found each wheel was 50-70 grams out!!

I've had a lot of experience with various tyre fitters and honestly the key is in the correct calibration of the machine and experience of the fitter.
 
In my experience, tyre places have got a lot worse at balancing wheels in recent years. You'd think newer equipment would have made it easier to do a decent job, but it's like many of the fitters just don't care. I prefer to use a local garage that isn't a tyre specialist.

Mind you, this sounds a lot worse than simply out-of-balance wheels.
 
Does sound worse but a couple of badly balanced wheels can cause this level of vibration.

i remember my ATR had a similar issue and it turned out the rear ns wheel needed 100g to correct it!!
 
Yep good idea and won't cost anything.
 
Are you sure this isn't just uneven tyre wear. When I bought my Accord it shook a lot at speeds similar to yours and made a noise like a wheel bearing was gone. Turned out to be the rear tyres were 'lumpy'. After 2 new ones were fitted and balanced it was perfect.

I also backup the comments on tyre fitting chains - it took two attempts to balance mine because the weights flew off pretty much as soon as I drove away.... :rolleyes:
 
with alloy wheels balancing should be properly done, ie no hammering lumps of lead onto the rim edges, they should be affixed inside the rims and the area cleaned before application, some chance with class of "techies" employed these days.
 
go back to tyre fitters and re-balance you may have thrown a weight off?

Are you sure this isn't just uneven tyre wear. When I bought my Accord it shook a lot at speeds similar to yours and made a noise like a wheel bearing was gone. Turned out to be the rear tyres were 'lumpy'. After 2 new ones were fitted and balanced it was perfect.

I also backup the comments on tyre fitting chains - it took two attempts to balance mine because the weights flew off pretty much as soon as I drove away.... :rolleyes:


I've already got the wheel balancing and wheel alignment done with a proper workshop. It doesn't seem to have helped in any way.

The vehicle was then driven by an experienced mechanic that said that the drive shaft is most probably the cause. They would be getting the vehicle on a ramp to check the drive shaft this weekend.
 
I've already got the wheel balancing and wheel alignment done with a proper workshop. It doesn't seem to have helped in any way.

The vehicle was then driven by an experienced mechanic that said that the drive shaft is most probably the cause. They would be getting the vehicle on a ramp to check the drive shaft this weekend.


hope they find the cause, nothing more annoying than the shakes. good luck
 
I'm still with my 4th post and saying driveshaft but when it goes on the ramp it will be easily spotted.
 
Nobody is suggesting it can't be the driveshaft, but it's an unlikely cause on the petrol Accord's that's all.

If you're confident your tyre shop have done a proper job, and you're sure it's not a buckled rim, then my money would also be on driveshaft next.
 
I'm still with my 4th post and saying driveshaft but when it goes on the ramp it will be easily spotted.

They had raised the vehicle during the wheel balancing and wheel alignment process, but they didn't report any problem with the drive shaft then. It was during the test drive that they mentioned this possibility.


pretty sure the drive shaft is fubared, its common issue on 7th gens.


Nobody is suggesting it can't be the driveshaft, but it's an unlikely cause on the petrol Accord's that's all.

If you're confident your tyre shop have done a proper job, and you're sure it's not a buckled rim, then my money would also be on driveshaft next.

Most of the information available on the net suggests that it might be the drive shaft, hopefully it is not something worse and more expensive to repair.
 
I had the vehicle checked again this weekend, the mechanic mentioned that the rod that connects from the steering to the wheel also has slight movement. However, they said that the drive shaft was most likely the cause of the shaking, although it is quite rare with the petrol version.

They offered to replace both the drive shafts with a new set, but the price the quoted was almost the same as the Honda dealership price. I would now have to search for another after-market set. Is there any way to find reliable after-market parts such as a manufacturer name?
 
get them from heel toe, http://www.heeltoeauto.com/

told you it was the cause, its common on petrols for sure, just type honda vibrations into google and let it autocomplete itself.

if you get them from the states, delivery is fast, they will be held up in customs for about 5 days, so give or take 2 weeks until you get them. fitting them is standard an hour or so.

heel toe give you all the o rings also.
 
We took my vehicle as well as a relative's Honda Accord 2.4 AT Petrol of the same year to a local workshop. They installed both the drive shafts from the other Accord onto my vehicle. However the vehicle still continues to shake as before. The other vehicle didn't have any such problems earlier. It is now apparent that the drive shaft is not the cause of the problem.

They also raised the wheels off the floor and accelerated to about 40 KMPH speed--this caused the shaking to occur to occur at a lower speed. The mechanic also reported that the vehicle seems to pull towards the left side during the test drive.
 
I have researched the internet for possible causes of this problem and these are the possible causes that others have stated:


Drive Shaft -- Checked

CV Joints -- Checked

Tyres -- Unknown

Motor Mounts

Ball Joints

Tie Rod

Fly Wheel

Steering Shaft

Warped Rotor

Crankshaft Pulley


There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the drive shaft based on the last test. I would now try to check the tyres by interchanging them with the other vehicle. Any opinion on what else should be checked--since I doubt many of the items in the above list.
 
Mis alignment can also cause shaking at certain speeds ... If your car is pulling to one side this could be the cause
 
i would not be so sure that swapping cv joints from one car to another is the way to do it, logical as it may seem. all i will say is them cv joints are very very fickle on the accord., if there is any play whatsoever on them it will give vibrations and/or erratic performance.

have you swapped the tyres and checked the steering rack, where is the vibration felt through the steering wheel?
 
if the car vibrates at 40mph on a ramp it clearly is not from the wheels, they are not connected to the road are they?, i still think its the cv joints. they are very peculiar on accords.

when the car is on a ramp check for play along the full length of the axel and around the cv joints, any movement and thats the problem.
 
I know that this may sound a bit daft but I had the shakes and could find no mechanical fault, until I went back to the basics, even though the tyre/garage techies found nothing, during thier visual checks, I jacked up the car and ran my hand around the back of the front offside tyre and found a distortion the size of TENNIS BALL in the tyre wall, so much for the experts. DIY is/very strong with me.
 
If the donated driveshafts went back onto the relative's vehicle and were still OK, then that must surely prove that this problem was never a driveshaft?

It would have been a better idea to have first swapped the wheels from the other car.
 
cant believe a garage actually would do this....

take the wheels off (x4) and put it on a ramp, do 40mph and check the steering wheel, if it shakes it comes from the axel (cv joints).

can you do this first? then if it doesnt rattle it is elsewhere.

i would try a different garage tbh...
 
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