I drive a 2004 Acura TSX with 61K miles. Up to this point, I've spent $1500 trying to fix the problem over the past 15K miles. I get not so good vibrations that appears at highway speeds. Here's what I've observed.

• 64, 69, 73 and 81 MPH, +/- a few ticks.
• Can feel the shaking through the seat a little bit and definitely see the steering wheel shaking L & R.
• Doesn't make any diff whether I'm accelerating, decelerating, in neutral or clutch in.
• Doesn't make much diff whether on asphalt or cement roads.
• Shaking is less noticeable with full tank of fuel.
• Does not pull left or right.
• First appeared and became apparent quickly after a regular tire rotation and balance.

Here's what I've tried.

• 8+ attempts to balance tires at three different shops. Even tried 'Road Balance'.
• 2 sets of different tires plus a few one off replacements. None were worn abnormally, but were replaced to try to solve vibration.
• 2 alignments (which didn't show any misalignment).
• Replaced OEM wheels with new Enkei wheels with hub rings.

Some proposed solutions.

• The axles have a bad inner CV. However, some people say only should shake when accelerating.
• Sticking brake caliper. However, all the brakes are wearing evenly and have plenty of pad left.
• Warped rotors that are causing them to be out of balance. The front rotors are warped, but what Honda rotors don't warp. I get brake shuttering only at high speed braking and only at certain firm pressure/speed range.
• Sell the TSX and buy a Ford Mustang. Those suggestions are dismissed outright as crazy talk.

I need help before I run out of money and hair.

 

Potential with wheel bearings, but not a 100% certain. Hub rings.... bad idea. Good idea to test out if it is the wheels/tires, but overall, not good and could be a contributor. Just not a fan of hub centrics even though I successfully ran them on a car many many years ago. So, put the stockers back on to maintain it as a constant variable. Additionally, based on what you have said, it is front wheel in nature, so we could eliminate the rears since alignment has shown no issues.

 

Not meaning to thread jack, but talking about wheel bearings, how would one determine if the wheel bearings are bad? I've seen video where the brake disc is able to be shaken in place, or able to hear the grinding (metal on metal) sound when the wheel is spun.

 

Lift one corner off of the ground. Grab wheel at 12 and 6. Rock the wheel and if there is any play the wheel bearing is likely bad. This can then be reconfirmed with a mechanics stethescope on the hub while someone spins the wheel by hand. Any scratching noise means the bearing race is scratched and/or damaged somehow and its likely time to replace it.

The same test with hands at 3 and 9 will test tie rod ends.

 

Merci Curls.

 

How long would the bearings last if they were the culprit? I've been fighting this problem for 15K miles.

 

If you are sure its the bearings, then the absolute best advice is to have it changed ASAP, immediately, do-not-pass-go. If a bearing were to ultimately fail, you could be on the highway and completely lose your wheel.

As for how long they last... anywhere from 0 to 60,000 miles. In other words, don't take the risk.

 

wheel bearings going bad at 61000? And if the problem started 15000 miles before this and it is the wheel bearings, then this would mean they started going bad at 46000 miles.

Isnt this unusual guys? How long can we expect the wheel bearings to last on the TSX with regular use?

txpyro: Are you the original owner of the car? If not, how many miles did the car have when you first bought it?

 

I'm the original owner. Had 3.9 miles on odometer.

I got the car up on stands today and looked it over. There is zero movement when I check for a bad bearing. No sound either except for the brake pads on the slightly warped rotors. All the bushings seem solid also. Not sure how to check the ball joints.

What I did notice is that when I grab the axle in the middle and push/pull it up and down, the axle moves up and down at the inner joint about 3mm. The movement I see on the inner end seems to be related to the axle fit into the transmission. There is no movement at the hub end. This is with the suspension aligned like it would be with the car on the ground. I see this amount of play on both sides. Not sure if this is an acceptable amount of play though.

I will probably put my wife's Accord up on the ramps tomorrow to see how much play her axles have. Before I do that, she's going to make me take an oath to not turn a single bolt on her precious trouble-free car.

 

I replaced rotors and pads on all four corners. Slightly better on the vibration, but still very noticeable. The PowerSlot rotors on front do make my car sound like it has mud tires on it under heavy braking, but does it ever stop better.

Tuesday I take it into a shop that specializes on Nissan, Honda and Toyota. The mechanic said it sounded like symptoms of bearings going bad or a bushing in the suspension. I'll report back on whether it was fixed and what it was. Place your bets now.

 

I'm sure the factory service manual has a limit specification, but 3mm sounds like too much to me. Is the 3mm movement of the axle in its CV joint housing or the CV joint housing in the transmission? If one, the axle assemblies may have to be replaced; if two, there's wear in the transmission.

 

It's at the inner joint. I do see the part that seems to go into the transmission wiggle up and down when I pull on the axle. Makes me think there is spindle wear where it goes into the transmission. May be normal for the location, but I'm no mechanic.

 

txpyro,

Any update?

I recently started to have the same issue on my 2007 TSX with 30K miles. It happens when I am at speeds above 40MPG (I can't really feel it under 40) and it gets worse with speed. It's also more pronounced on certain roads (the surface material doesn't make a difference, tho).

I suspect the rotors (which I know are warped and will be taking it in to have them replaced under warranty for the second time. The first time they warped was around 18K miles). Usually warped rotors only vibrate when the breaks are applied but if the caliper is sticking or the rotor is worn enough to were it touches the break pad when it rotates, then this might be causing the issue.

I thought bearings but I've had bearings go bad on other cars before and it always made a distinct sound (almost like a whooshing sound, with some grinding). I also thought balance/alignment but I've had the tires balanced twice and aligned once and still have the issue.

I thought it might've been a bent rim but that would've shown up on the road force balance machine. I also just put new tires on (after it started doing this) so I'm sure it's not a tire issue, too.

I'm really at a loss right now and don't care to spend much money figuring it out. I'd rather endure it until April when my lease is up and turn it in. Then I can get a new CUV or maybe a new TSX.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

 

I had a mechanic, and a tire and alignment specialist look at it. A thorough inspection and alignment later, they didn't find anything wrong. The mechanic said that they thought it was a tire. I thought I had it narrowed down to one tire by rotating them around and isolate the vibration through the steering wheel feel. The vibration got bad again after moving one certain tire to the front. It was also the one that two tire shops said was balanced to perfection. I got Discount Tire to replace all the Goodyear GT s with Michelin. Unfortunately, that didn't completely fix the problem. The Michelins are more forgiving when it comes to vibration and make the car tolerable. I don't believe it is the wheel b/c the odds of having a bad wheel in two different wheel sets is very low. Frustrating b/c the one thing that I isolated as the problem didn't completely fix the problem. The mechanic, who specializes in Toyotas and Hondas said the only other thing that it could be is an axle b/c though the axles look seem within an acceptable range, they aren't perfection. The alignment specialist says 80% of the time that type of problem in Hondas turn out to be bearings if tires and alignment are ruled out. I'm through spending money and admitting defeat (for now).

 

BTW, the new brakes rock even if the new Michelin Primacy are not up to the task of aggressive cornering or braking. The Michelins are very slight improvement over the stock Michelin Pilots.

 

If I'm not mistaken, to check if the bearings are bad, jack up any corner of the car with suspect wheel off the ground, grab at the top and bottom of the wheel and try to rock the wheel back and forth (towards the rear and front bumpers). If there is wobble/play then you have bad bearings and need to replace it ASAP. Then again, the OP has been battling this problem for many miles so the bearing probably would've broke by now.

 

I think I remember '04 TSXs having an issue with the rear suspension upper link bushing going bad and causing vibration issues. I know I saw it on a TSB when I had my TSX.

 

Could be the front bushing on the lower A arm too. I just did an inspection of mine and they have minor cracks in them. I have no vibration as of right now, but I would surely check that. There is an entire thread on it already in the TL forum.

 

I have an 07 with 30,000 miles on it. While it could be a bushing or a suspension issue, I'm leaning more towards the brakes.

I was going to take it in to Acura this weekend to have them replace the rotors but now I have to work on Saturday and they don't open for service on Sunday. It will have to wait another weekend.

 

OK, so I took it in to the Dealership today (got some time off work to do it).

The person at the dealership asked who had diagnosed my warped rotors and looked at me funny when I told him I had diagnosed it. He said he'd have to have one of his techs come out, drive the car, and diagnose it (no duh!) but gave me the impression that he didn't think I knew what I was talking about. He changed his tune as soon as I told him that I was a mechanic for 4 years.

Of course, the first time the tech applied the brakes above 40mph he said, "yup, these rotors are warped. There is no doubt about it." He said that he'd have to talk to his service manager to see if they would resurface them or replace them (I told him they had been resurfaced once for the same issue and to do his best to replace them).

I waited for the Service Manager for about 5 mins after we got back to the shop. He came out, explained the problem, told me there was a TSB for it, and that since it was a repeat problem that they would replace the rotors and give me upgraded brake pads (no idea which ones, but it's just what he said).

So, 1.5 hours later, I was out of there with new rotors and pads. The vibration is completely gone and the car feels like new again. The rotors must've been really warped because they made the steering wheel shake even when I wasn't applying the brakes. It's smooth as a baby's butt now, tho.

 

I have been in the same boat as you with my 2005 Acura TSX since 26k miles. I am now at 59k miles and guess what? The Acura Dealership has no clue. I have done everything you have done. Try this... get an on-car balance on all 4 wheels and tell me if the shake goes away. When I do it, the shake goes away for 3-5k miles and then I get it again. It's a band aid on the real fix. I am taking my car back to Acura soon and if those bastards can't fix it, I'm going to replace both front Axles with the Level 0 axles everyone in this forum is so fond of. Seriously, try the on-bar balance though. In a metro of 3 million people, I found only 1 shop who could do it, so hopefully you can find someone that does it.