brerpie

Hey all,

What could be causing my TSX to not be all that smooth when it reaches approximately 65mph and up?

The steering wheel becomes shaky and does not feel very smooth.

The road was in decent condition.

I installed a K&N drop in filter the other day. I don't think this is the source though.

iamhomin

Whoa, what's the mileage on your TSX?

Probably your wheel allignment. But the steering wheel shouldn't rattle to begin with -_-

TinkySD

that sounds very abnormal....smooth as silk for me an the steering at speed is quite tight. I check all your inflatinos on your tires..... any big curb checks lately? alignment might be off.

fdl

Does it eventually smooth out at higher RPMs? I have begun noticing the same thing. mainly in 6th gear approaching 3000 rpms i feel very slight vibrations. It seems to go away by 3500 though. I 'm not 100% sure if I can feel it in other gears..so it might be a product of the particular speed, rather than the rpms. I actually posted a while back about engine roughness between 2500-3000 but still havent had any kind of resolution.


EDIT: The vibrations I am experiencing are very minimal. Have to really accel slowly and pay attention to feel it. Not sure if yours are like that or worse.

brerpie

No curbs lately. Slower speeds are smooth as silk.

It couldn't possible be the K&N drop in could it?

brerpie

fdl:

It does seem to be from 2500-4000 or so I think.

fdl

I'll be "experimenting" with it a little more and will bring it up with my dealer. If you find out the problem or get some info from your dealer please post because I a very interested.

I am going ot have a laundry list of things for the dealer to check out when I bring my car in for the first oil change! I fiugure I'll have a mechanic tied up for an entire day.

brerpie

What is your list looking like so far?

It's a negative that the K&N has any influence right?

tony4311

have your wheels rebalanced.

fdl

I can't think of a reason why the K&N would do this this. Its very unlikely.

As for my list..you asked for it so here it is...

1/ Rough/Notchy/sometimes grinding shift 1-2.
2/ Rattle from middle of pass door during loud music.
3/ Buzzing from both front door locks during loud music (and sometimes without music).
4/ Squeaking Sunroof (easily fixable I beleive)
5/ Low rattling which seems to be coming from drivers side window.
6/ Metalic Rattling coming from drivers side only when sunroof is open. May be seat belt adjustment. (5 and 6 may be related).
7/ Intermitent ticking sound from back winsheild area over bumps.
8/ Center of dash creaks over some large bumps.
9/ Vibrations and roughness approaching 3000 rpms in 6th gear.

This should keep 'em busy for a while. My biggest worry is most of these problems seem to be intermitent or only occur under certain conditions. I'm worried I will get a "cannot reproduce" for some of them which will piss me right off.

gogozy

mmmm, most likely an out of balance wheel, alignment, or uneven tire pressure. if you have mount new wheel yourself, uneven space can also attribute this... but... seriously; you shall call the dealer to make a appointment ASAP and have them solve this problem, this is not your duty nor responibiity to seek solution, it's theirs and they will do a better job.....

hope things go well from here!!!

brerpie

I appreciate the response guys. I will talk to the dealer.

I just wanted to assure that the problem is not rooted from the filter itself.

fdl

hey brerpie..be sure to post what comes out of this. or at least pm me. Also, you never answered if these vibrations were severe...or very subtle. How bad are they?

dnb

Odds are you need an alignment.

Hmmm. I haven't heard of an "engine is missing at high speeds" problem in a long time. In any event, if the filter is somehow causing the engine to run roughly, you'd feel it through the seat as well as the steering wheel. And the roughness would be correlated with rpms and/or engine load instead of the car's speed.

XPLORx4

A shaky steering wheel is a symptom of a wheel balance problem.

adam fiooz

hmm maybe its your rotors they might be warped.

fdefulvio

... or your rotors.

gogozy

hay brerpie; keep us posted!!!

steering wheel usually indicate the front wheel, while the buttt feel the rear.

dabuda

I have the same problem...steering wheel shakes/vibrates when i go 65-70mph. it's at the dealer right now to be checked on. another problem i had was the plastic spacer/buffer in the sunroof whould vibrate vehemently around 40mph when its fully open. don't know if these two are related but they might be...dealer is checking them out for me. i'll update once i hear the dealer diagnosis

in the meantime i have a TSX MSM/qtz/auto loaner

idx

br: Have you driven through any `larger-than-nominal` puddles of water? With how much rain we get at times, its not uncommon to have a parking lot under water. You can warp your rotors if they're hot and you drive through a large puddle.

-r

idx

btw, what dealers are you orlando guys using? Fountain?

r

dabuda

im using Courtesy Acura in Sanford since i only live 5 mins from there, plus that's where i purchased my tsx

but i also called Fountain Acura just to compare prices and Fountain was cheaper for some things. so the service dude at Courtesy told me to just get a fax/printout/etc from Fountain and they'll match it

brerpie

My family and I have purchased all of our cars in the past 7 years from fountain. They have treated us well.

This morning, while I was on the turnpike, there was no vibration!

I'll pay special attention to it later on this evening on my way home.

I just realized how much thicker the stock air filter is when compared to the K&N i dropped in. Wow! Does this thing not filter as well?

LeeLee

Steering wheel shaking at a particular speed, especially around 60 to 75mph, is a symptom of unbalanced wheels. Swap the front tires for the rear and the problem should seemingly go away or change in someway.

Warped rotors will *ONLY* shake your steering wheel when you are braking.

Alignment problems rarely produce wheel shake. Usually an alignment problem will cause the car to pull to one side, or seem unstable at certain speeds (car tends to wander and require constant steering correction).

Extreme tire under or over inflation (by 10psi or more) will cause alignment-like problems, but other than that, improper tire pressure usually just result in changes in ride softness and steering effort.

fdl

In my case my tire pressure is definately not the culprit. I agree it cant be rotors because I am not braking. What I am still trying to figure out is if it happens and certain speeds, or certain rpms. I definately feel it around 3000 rpm in 6th...but may also feel it (just not to the same degree) in other gears at this rpm.

LeeLee

It is simple to figure out if the shake is speed or RPM dependent. When you feel the shake in 6th gear press the clutch and let the RPMs drop and see if the problem persists. Or shift into 5th to see if it is transmission related.

dabuda

i just got a call from the service dude at acura and they said they're going to rebalance all 4 wheels and see if the shaking goes away. hopefully it'll be fixed when i pick it up tonite. i'll keep y'all updated...

fdl

Yup, i was thinking the same thing on the way to work today although I didnt have a chance to try it. The vibrations I am talking about very slight... so i'll have to really pay attention.

dabuda

yeah i've tried that, i actually put it into neutral and let my car roll going 75->70->65->60mph on the highway and it still shakes. if anyone tries to test this way make sure you have no cars behind and rev up when you reengage your clutch, of course y'all knew that already

fdl

dabuda...how bad are these vibrations? Are they very slight..or are they very noticable?

dabuda

they're noticeable...when i take my hands off the steering wheel you see it shake left/right about 1/4 inch, not that i measured it while driving but i have a ruler in front of me now and 1/4 is the approx distance it moves left/right

dabuda

i picked up my tsx last nite and drove on the highway for a half-hr. the steering wheel shakes are gone!

the dealer said the factory balance was incorrect so they just rebalanced all 4 wheels for me

Alin10123

It's most likely balance of tires/wheels. If a standard balance doesn't help fix the problem, goto a place a "road force" balancing machine.
check out this article
http://www.broadwayautoclinic.com/Balancing.htm

This machine did wonders for my 4runner which not only has huge stock tires, but also has the sensitive feedback rack and pinion steering and body on frame construction which makes any feedback fromt he road really sensitive. The shop did the regular balance like 4 times and i still had vibrations and shaking from 70mph+. I then heard about the road force variation and went to another shop to have them get it done. After it came out, i tested the tires on the highway and the car literally drove like it was driving on glass. SMOOTH AS SILK. You also only have to do this type of balance once. Cause for the rest of the life of your tires, you only need to do the regular balancing for the remainder of the time.
Hope this helps

ecsw

I red line my 3 weeks old AT TSX today in 2nd and 3rd gear reaches 80 mph/130KM without any viberation at all.

Good to hear u got the problem solved.