-clutch in (no change)
- neutral (gets a tiny bit worse or same)
- back into gear (vibration get's less severe for a second or two, then comes back on)
Gotcha. For some reason I assumed you had already changed out your wheel bearings in the front and back. Now it sounds like you've messed with the fronts but not the rear bearings. I would definitely recommend replacing the rear wheel bearings like bam and 503 suggested. If I'm not mistaken they are much easier to change than the fronts, as they are bolted in rather than pressed.
I wish I could hear exactly what your car is doing because I've been driving around my roommate's wagovan for the past week or so and it seems to have a bad rear wheel bearing or two. It starts to vibrate pretty bad at higher speeds, and is accompanied with an almost howling-like road noise that goes along with the vibration. Like a woo-woo-woo-woo-woo sound hahaha...but he hasn't made any attempt to fix the problem yet.
i've had bearings go bad on me, and they almost always howl like that. bad bearings give a destinctive noise. It's not a rear end issue. the vibration is all through the steering wheel.
-clutch in (no change)
- neutral (gets a tiny bit worse or same)
- back into gear (vibration get's less severe for a second or two, then comes back on)
test 4.
brakes are smooth.
Well that should rule out the drivetrain and brakes. The fact that it gets better when the motor engages tells me that the forces of the drivetrain are actually fighting against the out of balance.
I like your new test, and I think your brother's logic is probably pretty solid. However I can't attest to how the wheels/tires/bearings would spin when loaded or unloaded from being jacked up like that. Considering the bearings have almost zero load on them with the car jacked up and without any tires on, I don't imagine they would start to vibrate even if they were the problem. But since you changed the front wheel bearings and it didn't solve the problem, I think it points to wheels/tires/balance.
Maybe try the same test with your rear wheels on the front, or the left tire on the right side, right on the left, etc. If the wheels/tires are out of balance, and one is worse than the other, it seems like you should be able to match the vibration to the specific wheel. Does that make sense?
Also maybe find a friend with some wheels/tires you know aren't causing any vibration and go for a test drive.
Sorry the roadforce balancer thing didn't work out. I'm going to make another suggestion that is kinda stating the obvious. You probably already do this, but I'll say it anyway...
Are the wheels 100% centered when mounted? If the wheels are OEM Honda, then the pilot hole should assure that they are centered. Still, be sure to tighten lug nuts in a cross pattern, a little it at a time... when the lug nuts begin to bite, wiggle the wheel to make sure each lug nut is centered, etc.
are your tires directional? one time a tire company put my tires on wrong and after a week or so it would vibrate. ALSO about a year ago this older womans car was wrecked and we had to change out suspension and hub new wheel and so on and after we painted it got it aligned and while driving it back to the shop we noticed that it would vibrate at around 60mph so we took wheel off and for the longest time we could not find anything wrong. we took other wheel off and examined back and forth finally i noticed that the tie rod end had the smalllllest warp/bend replaced it realigned and no more vibration.
Sorry the roadforce balancer thing didn't work out. I'm going to make another suggestion that is kinda stating the obvious. You probably already do this, but I'll say it anyway...
Are the wheels 100% centered when mounted? If the wheels are OEM Honda, then the pilot hole should assure that they are centered. Still, be sure to tighten lug nuts in a cross pattern, a little it at a time... when the lug nuts begin to bite, wiggle the wheel to make sure each lug nut is centered, etc.
mine are 57.1mm center bore (BMW), i've even gone so far as to get the 57.1mm to 56.1mm rings, nightmare to get. no difference. i spin each nut on by hand as tight as i can with hand, then cross pattern tighten them.
this is a tire/rim problem for sure. I had ANOTHER balance done today (7 balance jobs, 5 different shops) and rotation. There is a slight shake now rather than a massive vibration. I can live with it. I have a 2100km trip next week and the thought of shaking the whole way was keeping me up at night... not anymore, a good night sleep awaits.
Good, no problems. Ended up ditching front two rims in favor of 14x7" Team Dynamic Pro Race rims. Solved my vibration. The problem is/was the rims. they all appear bend or something silly.
That's good to hear, I've read that some wheels get out of round as they get older and will always cause vibrations because of it. Its one of the reason I do not like old wheels anymore. Glad you fixed your problem and found out what it was.
Comments
-clutch in (no change)
- neutral (gets a tiny bit worse or same)
- back into gear (vibration get's less severe for a second or two, then comes back on)
test 4.
brakes are smooth.
i've had bearings go bad on me, and they almost always howl like that. bad bearings give a destinctive noise. It's not a rear end issue. the vibration is all through the steering wheel.
i wish you could test my car as well.
There is NO noise to accompany my vibration.
Well that should rule out the drivetrain and brakes. The fact that it gets better when the motor engages tells me that the forces of the drivetrain are actually fighting against the out of balance.
I like your new test, and I think your brother's logic is probably pretty solid. However I can't attest to how the wheels/tires/bearings would spin when loaded or unloaded from being jacked up like that. Considering the bearings have almost zero load on them with the car jacked up and without any tires on, I don't imagine they would start to vibrate even if they were the problem. But since you changed the front wheel bearings and it didn't solve the problem, I think it points to wheels/tires/balance.
Maybe try the same test with your rear wheels on the front, or the left tire on the right side, right on the left, etc. If the wheels/tires are out of balance, and one is worse than the other, it seems like you should be able to match the vibration to the specific wheel. Does that make sense?
Also maybe find a friend with some wheels/tires you know aren't causing any vibration and go for a test drive.
Are the wheels 100% centered when mounted? If the wheels are OEM Honda, then the pilot hole should assure that they are centered. Still, be sure to tighten lug nuts in a cross pattern, a little it at a time... when the lug nuts begin to bite, wiggle the wheel to make sure each lug nut is centered, etc.
mine are 57.1mm center bore (BMW), i've even gone so far as to get the 57.1mm to 56.1mm rings, nightmare to get. no difference. i spin each nut on by hand as tight as i can with hand, then cross pattern tighten them.
this is a tire/rim problem for sure. I had ANOTHER balance done today (7 balance jobs, 5 different shops) and rotation. There is a slight shake now rather than a massive vibration. I can live with it. I have a 2100km trip next week and the thought of shaking the whole way was keeping me up at night... not anymore, a good night sleep awaits.