Alin10123

Hey guys,
I was wondering if some of you guys can do me a favor.
Next time you're on the highway. Cruise between 60-70mph and then let off the gas at about 70, then let go of your "grip" on the steering wheel.
Do you see the steering wheel nibble back and forth at all? Or does it stay completely still?

My tsx doesn't stay still at all, it's more like a light shaking but it's really pronounced. The loaner the dealer gave me does this too however, it's much less pronounced. The plan is since the dealer thinks it "might" be the wheels, that if this loaner is ok, to swap out the wheels.

I've never had any of my other cars do this, my parent's cars either. I've driven some other rack and pinion steering cars. My 4runner had really tight rack and pinion steering just like the tsx, but it never really did that. The wheel was very smooth.

I appreciate the help.

thanks

GIBSON6594

Alignment?

TinkyWinky

My steering wheel did the same thing until the dealer balanced and rotated the the front with the rear tires. The vibrations are no longer there.

Perhaps Honda tried to over-emphasize the nimble handling of the TSX (compared to the TL) and made the steering column a tad too sensitive to unbalanced wheels/tires.

GO TO DEALER. HE/SHE IS YOUR FRIEND.

curls

My Integra did this to the point that I changed a LOT or parts - still hadn't figured the problem out and have since sold the car (to sister... although car drives perfect).

My TSX has a very slight "nibble" back and forth at anyting over 50mph, but nothing pronounced, and I can stop it completely by giving a firm grip on the wheel. I think it has a lot to do with slight undulations in the road in combination with the low profile tires and very sensitive steering of the TSX (and the Integra alike).

But yeah check w/ the dealer to see what they say!

jlukja

My TSX doesn't have this "nibble" that I've noticed. Mrs. jlukja's Civic has it but only between 65-70mph and not all the time. Very mysterious.

Alin10123

Wel... it was really bad at first when i took delivery. Then the dealer balanced it, it was better but still pretty bad. Then i took out for a fancy road force balance, got better for about 1000 miles then started to come back slowly. I took it back into the dealer for an oil change and told them about the problem, they balanced again and it slowly came back. It's not at the dealer today and they are keeping it until they can find the problem.
They gave me a TSX loaner and said that if this tsx drives smoothly, then they'll swap out the wheels and see if that helps. However, this one is REALLY bad when i'm on the highway. So i dont think that this is a solution.

I even thought that it might have been road imperfections but i took it on a newly paved road and it still did the same. So i dont think that it's the road.

I've also only got about 4000 miles on the car. This was the reason that i sold my previous car becuase the tires were so hard to balance and this would happen quite often. But now it's back even on my brand new car...

I'm going to start looking into the lemon law here. What do you guys think? Certain times the slight nibble in the steering will transmit into the cabin and it drives me nuts.

SWRT

What you've got is called steering wheel shimmy to Honda.

There are many potential sources, but the first place to look is at the balance of your front wheels.

Road force balance won't help you, if you found it did then it was a coincidence. Road force compensation accounts for forces in the vertical direction (up from the road), the forces that cause shimmy are acting parallel to the road.

Make sure that the wheel weights are not falling off your wheel. Also check ensure that your wheels are properly torqued.

On top of your wheels, your rotors and drive shafts can cause shimmy.

The best way to compensate for all this in one shot is to get an on-car balance done. On car balancing is not easy and any place that has the capability is going to charge you alot. You would only do the front wheels and it involves putting jack stand like measurement heads under each front lower arm. On-car balancing will basically eliminate any imabalance in your entire drivetrain. The only place I think you might be able to find one is at a Lexus dealer... I belive they on car balance all vehicles at PDI.

Another thing you may want to check is that the dynamic damper in your steering wheel is there. Although I am not positive the TSX has one, most vehicles do. Its a rubber suspended mass attached to your steering wheel hub, usually right behind your airbag. It is there for the sole purpose of canceling out steering shimmy.

Lastly, there is a slight chance that your steering rack may not be damping out these forces. There's really no way to know other than changing it out.

It is very difficult to design a car that isn't sensitive to imbalances, and it is even more difficult to build a car with a perfectly balanced drivetrain.

Have your dealer call techline and see what they have to say. If you don't like it, make sure American Honda knows.. they will look after you if you approach them with a sincere problem

-SWRT

curls

Also just out of curiousity, do you feel shimmy when braking? Maybe your rotors are warped (common problem) and contacting the pads when spinning, meaning you'd feel it in the steering wheel for sure.

ianS

does it sounds like a bent front wheel?

Alin10123

What i meant by "fancy road force balance" was actualy an on the car balance. Except this place does a road force balance first. Aside from the on the car balance, the dealership has done numerous balances. Of course, the shimmy changes to different intensities everytime one is done. But it's still there.

They also tell me that during "wheel balancing" they've verified that the wheels aren't out of round.

The wheel weights aren't faling off of the wheels. My dealer uses the strips of sticky weights. So if they were to fall off. There would be no weights alltogether on that wheel. I would be able to easily tell.

My brake rotors aren't warped because when i brake it's really smooth. So i dont think that's the problem.

My dealer just called me this morning and said that the shop foreman and the service manager both took the TSX out and they did not feel anything "abnormal" and they said that the Acura zone rep will be out here this morning to take a look at it. How can they not see the wheel nibbling around back and forth?

I really hope they dont tell me all is normal and just hand the car back to me.
Do you think if they do that, if i call Acura up... they should do something about it?
Is there a contact number?

Anyone have any other suggestions? They're saying that it doesn't drive any different than any of the TSX's they have on the lot. Although i doubt that they actually took the time to drive another one. I'll be willing to do just about anything, this problem is driving me nuts. That's why i got a new car in the first place, so i wouldnt' have to deal with stuff like this.

thanks

fuzzynoise

When I got my TSX (week and a half ago), mine was doing the same thing. Not a bad shimmy but I did notice it was perfect. Anyway, checked the air in my tires and the dealer gave me the car with 37 psi in one tire and 33 in another (front tires), back tires were both 35 psi. I corrected the tire pressure and now all is good!

TinkyWinky

Well I just checked mine on the freeway and I did notice a "just noticeable" shimmy, left-right-left. The movement was about 2~3 mm. Annoying, but it's been a while since I gave up on Acura.

Anyway, I just had an idea.
Have the dealer wrap a strip of white tape around the top of the steering wheel and try to "see" if there really is any "shimmying" above 60 mph.

Good luck.

Alin10123

There really is.
I got a call from the Acura dealer a couple of hours ago and they said that the zone rep "took it out" and verified the problem. He said that he could see the "nibble" in the wheel a little bit. But that it was "Normal"
I'm still calling BS but the service advisor said that there was nothing he could do.
This is VERY annoying. I can sort of feel it in my arm when i'm crusing down the highway. I guess i'm kind of sensitive. But that's the way i am. This shouldn't be like this. This isn't "normal" because i took it onto a newly paved highway and it did the same rhing. I'm starting to get pissed here.

Should i call lemon law here and have them get me a new one?

Alin10123

I corrected the air pressure about 2 weeks ago. The dealer adjusted it down to 30 psi for some reason. But i put it up to +3 dealer recommended pressure for each tire. The problem is still there. GGGGGRRRR

JAYCEE

I think what they mean to say is that its a normal characteristic of the TSX, a normal driving condition to that particular vehicle, form reading posts some notice it others dont.. Call ACS (Acura Client Services), present your problem see if they can find a way to make it right.

# 1-800-382-2238

mg7726

hey i just tested your theory,

ran the car on cruise control at 40, 60, and 75 and i don't have the pronounced vibration you're experiencing. my car wanders left, i need an alignment.

TinkyWinky

Did they at least try changing the wheels/tires? Or did they even compare with a "normal" one and conclude there was no difference in shaking? WTF is wrong with them?!

If the situation called for a zone rep to show up, you think they would try some other stuff to pinpoint the problem. If this one guy can figure it out, it would save a lot of people a lot of time and money.

Luxury division, my ass.

Alin10123

It wont happen at 60 or 75. It'll be 65-70 around there. But with mine i just let it coast. Not set the cruise.

Alin10123

Nope, they didn't change tires nor wheels at all. All they did was say that "all the other TSX drive like that one". They didn't take any out though. It was as if they knew already. Which i highly doubt.

If this is a luxury car, it shouldn't have those characteristics at all. I even drive home everyday on a smooth newly paved highway and it STILL does it. That means that something is out of whack just slightly. I dont know what else to do. I will try calling Acura tomorrow and see what they can do with it. I hope they dont just leave me standing there and say "this is normal" and expect that i'll just go away.

TinkyWinky

Before you call, try test driving some TSXs and confirm for yourself if others exhibit the same characteristic.

leonvsclon

I did you a favor and drove on highway tonight. I drove between 65-80 mph, let it coast once a while and I didnt feel vibration at all. You are welcome to test drive my car if you want.

Alin10123

Thanks, i will take you up on your offer.
What's a good time for you?

leonvsclon

I can do it today if you want. I sent u a pm.

Alin10123

Ok... so i go back to the dealer to pickup my car and they ask me if i happen to have my spare set of keys with me. I said no, They said it's because they had accidentally locked my keys into the car. My jaw dropped at this point since i'm thinking with keyless entry and you're holding the key in your hand when you lock it, how does that happen? Anyways... the service manager gives me an RL loaner to drive home for the weekend .
This thing is sweet! I've taken turns REALLY fast and it's pretty flat and responsive. Almost like there's a force pushing me into the turn. I can feel the SH-AWD working and pushing me into a turn. ITS AWESOME! I haven't even pushed it yet.
The 300hp doesn't feel quite like 300hp. But i think that's only because the loser that drove it before me filled it up with regular.
But all in all... i'm very impressed with the car.

Alin10123

If it's a newly paved highway it shouldn't happen period! On the way home from finally picking up my tsx, it's still happening. I will have to call Acura in the morning to see what they can come up with. If they can't come up with a solution. I'm going to pull the lemon law.

TinkyWinky

Shit. However, I don't think you mentioned what they last attempted, just before the RL loaner fiasco.

Let us know which dealership it is and what if any solutions they come up with.

Good luck.

Alin10123

They didn't attempt anything to fix it. Before the RL loaner fiasco they simply took it out for a test drive with the zone rep, shop foreman, and the service manager. They did confirm that the nibble in the wheel existed. Then basically drove back and write on the service receipt "some steering nibble is normal on certain roads".
Except... there's a huge section of newly paved highway near my work place. It will nibble on that section of road as well.

TinkyWinky

Given Honda's track record in chosing the shittiest OEM tires for their cars, I have a feeling that the Michelin's may be the culprit. Before my balance/rotation a few months ago, I would only get the nibble on very smooth, newly paved roads. It would seem that inperfections in the road are masking the shittiness of the OEMs.

Anyway, if you can convince them try to get a different brand of tires.



Dood, I know what you're going through.

ianS

Hm... I have the nibble too on my way to work when I am on my 18" with Sumitomo HTRZ II but it run prefectly smooth with the snow tire, stock tire and PZero Nero. So cannot all blame on the stock tire.

peterjedi

I had an '92 Integra that would shake when I drive. I was also getting shitty milage. I thought it was the alignment, until I replaced the tires. The problem went away. I had ran over a pot hole, that put a bubble in my tire. That caused the wabbling.

Maybe there is a unseen problem with the tire. Ask if the dealer would try new tires on your car. See if that makes a difference.

Good Luck!

gravityhurts

I may have a similar problem with mine. I've had myTSX less than a month and just recently did some hwy cruising between 65-75 mph and noticed a slight shake in the steering wheel. I'm hoping it's just the front wheels needing balanced. I'll have the dealer re-balance them when I get my first oil change and hopefully that's all it is.

Alin10123

The dealer didn't even make an attempt to do that. They gave me a TSX loaner the first time around and asked me to see if those were good and maybe they'd try and swap it out. That loaner was EVEN worse. So they didn't do it. Maybe the loaner one was way off balance. Or somebody abused the hell out of it.
I will call the 1800 acura # to see what can be done. The service advisor has already apologized about 5 times saying that they've done everything they can.

Alin10123

If it's THAT new sometimes shaking on the highway is normal from the flat spotting of the tires during transport. But mine is over 2 months old and i drive it everyday. There should be no excuse for this.

TinkyWinky

Sheeeit. Negative rep points for Acura.

Alin10123

update,
So i called Acura Client Services and they made a case #.
I'm going to at least let them attempt to fix the problem before i even bring up the lemon law. I'm usually not a big PITA, it's just that i paid close to $30k for everything and i just want it to drive right. Dont get me wrong, i didn't complain about the people at the dealer because they were courteous. It's just that a luxury car should not have the nibble in the wheel. Plus i'm primarily a highway driver. So 90% of my driving is highway and i just cant' have the nibble. That's why i sold my truck before because it had a shimmy and the big tires are harder to balance correctly.

Acura said in 24-48 business hours a case investigator will be assigned to the problem and will call me. So... i guess i can only wait.
I took my TSX for a long drive on the local roads off of the highway and i loved it. At certain times even better than the RL loaner. But the highway thing is just driving me crazy.

Alin10123

UPDATE, ok so the "investigator" called me back. I'm not too thrilled with his response. All he told me was that he talked with the service manager and since the service manager did not confirm anything abnormal, there's nothing that he can do. WTF??? What was the point of investigating? That did NOTHING for me.
Last night on the way home from work i drove home on a newly paved highway. Brand new not even 2 months old. Very smooth road. The vibration at 70mph was actually there. Now i dont even have to let off the gas anymore. Now its there when i drive normal too and it's getting worse the more miles i drive. Not just when i let off the gas now.

This is really starting to irritate me. I can't believe they are saying it's a characteristic of the car. It doesn't do it below 60 or above 80. Only at 70mph. They cant believe that i'm going to buy this. The car had this problem at delivery.

I am seriously considering calling up me lemon law lawyer that already said "it sounds like you have a case but i'll have to look at the paperwork first to confirm".
This is really POing me off like no other. I've had this car for almost 3 months. I just want it to drive smooth on the highway. Most of my driving is highway driving.

What do you guys think? Should i call up the attorney?

jlukja

Its hard to believe that the "investigator" didn't even take a ride with you to see/feel it for himself. Yes, I'd contact the attorney and let Acura know about it.

Alin10123

Well... ok, i have sent in all of my paperwork to the lemon law attorney for review. I will know in about a week whether or not they think that i have a case. Wish me luck.

Adrena

I really hope they do something. GOOD LUCK

I'm in the process of getting the TSX. I haven't sign any contract yet.

My last three vehicles had that problem and I'm tired of it. That's why I'm buying the TSX. It better not "shimmy"!

jlukja

Make sure you test drive it when you pick it up and don't accept possesion of it until you are satisfied.

And, good luck Alin10123. Let us know what becomes of it.