hello acurazine members, my 04 TSX AT is currently having some driving issues lately. Recently the car has decided to make a funny pull that reminds me of the pulses from ABS as im driving. Saturday I took the car to discount tire for the free check and balance, and also gave me an opportunity to apply pressure to the wheels when they were on the lift to look for play. I checked everything out and it felt normal, and I looked and noticed the front tires were wearing on the insides which must have started recently within 8k. The guy said the tires were feathering, and I took that as wearing uneven, although, it seemed as every other tread on the inside was worn. The inside tread would have one spot with a line in the tread and the next piece without. I also checked PS fluid

Anyway, I was wondering what you guys thought about possible problems. I had an alignment 40k ago which I dont think was completely right, but Im starting to think something else might be causing this besides the alignment. The random ABS feeling when im not breaking is sorta wierd. The current weather is in the single digits also, if that makes a difference. One last thing but I think it was my imagination, It seemed as the front passenger side tire had less distance between the tire and rearfender wall than the drivers side. I was able to clear my hand on the drivers side tire with ease, and the passenger side was a tighter fit as I passed my hand along the back side of the tire.

If I think of anything else Ill post it, all I can say is the car drives fine most of the time and all the sudden I noticed this wierd 1-2sec pulse that makes the car seem like its going crazy then go back to normal.

i guess u might have wrapped rotors that needs to resurface?

This sensation is not when im braking and i put new pads and rotors on 25k ago.

It sounds like the Stability Control to me, which is part of the VSA (Vehicle Stability Assist). The system works by applying individual brakes, or a series of them, to prevent understeer or oversteer situations using a correcting moment caused by the braking forces. Engine power may be reduced or cut while this is occuring also. If this "ABS-like" phenomenon is occuring while you are turning, this is probably what is happening, meaning that you're going into the turn too fast. VSA can be turned off, but this will also turn off Traction Control. The safety features should be left on, unless you want to have fun with the oversteer or understeer. This will cause an increased risk of an accident though. Hopefully this helps.

Yeah that could be it, my wife is driving the car daily and yesterday it acted up on the hwy, but today in her commute it was fine and only did it once. I ordered some coilovers(N+) to give me a reason to take a better look at the car. Ill take it in to the frontend place and see if they notice anything when they do the alignment. The VSA description seems as it fits well, but I wonder what is causing that besides bad alignment and tires feathered on the inside? Bearing, axle, joint?

I would say something with the suspension/alignment is causing the feathering, which could be reducing the traction when there is steering input, thus possibly activating stability control. If this phenomena is occurring while driving in a straight line, this analysis isn't valid.

FYI: I have some degree of expertise on the VSA, ABS, and Tire aspects of my statements from my yearlong stints as a braking systems and as a tire development engineer. My tire troubleshooting analysis is very crude without actually seeing the wear.

it is not partial to curves, braking, or straight lines. The car will just randomly have the feel in the steering wheel, My wife one day thought letting off the gas made it stop shaking but that might be her imagination. Anyway, thanks for the feedback I'm waiting on parts at the moment, so I wont have a chance to look at it until the weekend and take it to the shop next week for alignment.

next time you feel it, look at the ground you're on, check what kind of surface it is i.e. gravel,pebbles

Well, I took the car out for a spin when the wife got home from work and I noticed an almost crunching/squeaking noise at one left turn I made and another left turn it almost sounded like a faint clicking noise. My wife did clarify that letting off the gas made it worse. Feels like something locks up in front passenger side and causes a sharp pull to the right for a split second. Anyway, with this info it really reminds me of a wheel bearing, but Im not greatly familiar with the car so what do you think?

I renounce my statement. It's not the ABS or VSA. I'd agree with you that it's most likely a wheel bearing or something of the sort, though this is not my area of expertise.

my coil spring compressor woot $100 harbor freight.
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Pic doesnt do justice, the car is actually too low for my wife.
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rear is also a tad low
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another pic
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Im going to raise the car up another inch all the way around for ground clearance etc. and hope to not piss off my wife. I took the car out for a spin and I was really expecting a stiff ride with the heavy duty springs and car sitting soo low, but the ride was actually better than stock. I cant give much credit to the stock struts since they were getting close to the end of there life hehe. Im going to wait until the weekend to raise it up an inch. Funny thing is my wierd shake hasnt happend since i replaced the old suspension, but a new faint noise has come around while accelerating, oh well I need to get the car into a shop and have them take a look at it.

Well, I'm sorta feeling lost today thinking about my car. I have recently changed suspension, tires, and alignment all in the past week, but I still have the funny noise while turning and accelerating (faint). I Have two front wheel bearings waiting to be pressed for 100 a wheel, but I really cant confirm that its the wheel bearing because I cant tell if there is any play without a dial gauge. The intermittent pull has been eliminated with the alignment and tires, but the noise has taken its place.

dont mean to thread jack but how was the pad wear?

my front pads are wearing out funny, the outside pads are significantly worn out more than the inside. havent had time to look at the rear tho.

The clicking could indicate a CV joint problem. The tire wear could just be balancing?

Wow, you guys are having some of the same symptoms my car is experiencing currently except my car if far more advanced. My car started out with a weird sensation when going down the highway which turned into a clicking noise while turning. I replaced the tires and got the car balanced and had a couple shops test drive it, but they never noticed anything until the last shop drove it. I had a wheel bearing ready to replace the old one that I thought was bad, but he said if anything that is was something in the right driveshaft that was making the noise and to drive it until you really can hear the noise and notice it. Well its been 5k later and now the car has a major clicking noise while turning, and every time I'm accelerating it has a clicking noise coming from the right side at 45mph+ speeds. The shop told me to drive it a while and just replace the whole driveshaft when I was ready. I'm to the point where the car steering wheel is starting to get crappy again, so im considering replacing that right driveshaft.

Another question, I was looking at the cost for just replacing the CV joint compared to buying a new right driveshaft online which was around 473 shipped and 100 dollar install totaling 573. I'm sorta thinking the dealership will cost more for the parts alone compared to one of the sponsored sellers on this site, and the inspection alone would be $100. I just figured that if it was just the CV joint going bad that the extra labor for disassembling the driveshaft it would actually cost more than a whole new driveshaft. What would you guys do in this situation? replace the whole part? or just take to the dealer and have them redo the CV joint or whatever else is wrong inside?