AAARRRGH!
When i first took delivery of my tsx, it had a really bad vibration at highway speeds. I took it back to the dealer. They couldnt' fix it. They told me to go wherever i wanted and they'd pay for it.
It was fixed for a little while. 3000 miles later. IT"S BACK!
It's only at 70mph though. Everything is smooth at 60mph or 80mph.
Anyone know what it could be?
I have checked tire pressures, everything seems fine. I have also checked to make sure there was no vibration when braking. Everything seems fine too. I haven't run over any rough roads or bumps. I'm 90% highway driving.
PLEASE HELP!

Should i take it to another dealer?
I've got barely 4000 miles on it.

 

Go back to the dealer and tell them to give you new rims

 

Are you on stock rims or aftermarket rims? If stock rims, rotate front wheels to the rear and see if the vibration goes away. If aftermarket rims, did you install hub rings?

 

Suspension could be out of wack...

 

Did the dealer check to see if the tires were balanced? It wouldn't come and go with out of balance tires but you never know...

 

Could be your rims that are out of balance / off-centered. Or it could even be that you have one bad axle with a CV joint that's too tight and won't flex / unflex properly.

 

Nope, everything is bone stock so far.

 

The dealer has rebalanced the tire since the first time i was in. They said that the only thing they can do is "zero out the balancing machine on both sides".

 

Give me new rims? Do you think they'll do that?
When i inquired about that the first time, they said "if the rims were out of whack, the balancing machine would pick that up".

 

If the wheels were bad for some reason, and they were rotated to the rear, wouldn't the problem come back when i rotated the tires again?

 

Hmm... how do i get them to check that? Or should the dealer know to check that themselves?
BTW, can i go to any dealer for this? I'm getting tired of going to the same one. All they do is tell me everything is normal. I'm not buying this.

 

Anyone?

 

The procedure is for troubleshooting only. That way you know where the problem is, so you can provide the info to your dealer. It's a quick and easy test.

 

Hmm... good thinking.
I'm glad i thought of that!





lol, JK.

 

Ok... i took it back to the stealership service dept. I told him about what was going on and he said ok, they'll take care of it. When i got back and he said that my car was ready. He said they just rebalanced the whees. WTH????
He said that the person that did my scheduling didn't put down the vibration issue so they only had time to do me for an oil change and rebalance. (i dont see why this is, it takes 2 minutes to sway wheels around when it's up on a lift and you have an impact wrench).

Anyways... so he said he'll talk with the service manager (who happens to be gone for the day at 3pm) and he'll call me back the next day. I dont get a call today but i call him since it's towards the end of the day. He said the last time (first time) the shop foreman took the car out for a spin, he didn't feel much in the wheel. But when he let go of the wheel he did see it shake back and forth. (he tried to tell me this was normal).
So he said that the "Acura Zone Rep" will be around Wednesday morning and wants me to take another spin with the foreman so he can verify what's happening. Then they'l stick me in a loaner car and they'll fix the problem.

Now i'm sort of intimidated. What if they flat out try to call me a liar and say that they dont feel anything??? What if they tell me what i'm feeling is normal?

 

Tell them that you want them to put that in writing and have each of them sign it.

 

Then after they signed it, walk them over to another brand new TSX and see if it also has the same "normal" shake. If not, then ask them to switch you over to the "abnormal" new car.

 

Had the same problem before with an honda civic...RIM are bad make them change it...That's it..believe me...

 

The last time i took it in i asked them to check it. They said that the rim wasn't bent. If it was, the balance machine would pick it up. I told them no, all it would do is tell you to put a big weight on that side.
They for some reason refuse to look at the rim while it's spinning.

 

Do you have wheel locks?

they are probably balancing the wheels and not compensating for the extra .5g that the wheel locks are?

just a thought

or you have defective tires
have them rotate the rubber and see if it still occurs

 

Bring it to other shop or other dealer, that's it.

 

Ok, so i took the TSX out on the highway tonight for a long drive and diagnostic of my little problem. This way i'll be prepared come Wednesday when i drop my TSX off for the "zone rep" to look at. I also retorqued all of my wheels properly by hand with a torque wrench in case that was the culprit.
Anyways... my question was, when you guys are cruising around on the highway, do you guys feel ANYTHING in the steering wheel? Or is it really smooth? How about inside the cabin/your butt? Do you feel road feel at all? Or is it pretty much smooth?

The car was pretty smooth at 50mph. But when i sped up to 60-70 i could feel a little something in my feet, my seat, and a tad in my steering.

I just want to make sure this isn't "normal" when they try to tell me it is. I dont remember the test drive anymore. Although i dont recall something like this because that was the reason why i bought a new car so i didn't have to deal with stuff like this.

 

If the wheels, tires, suspensions, wheel bearings are not defective, or wheels/tires are not out of balance, the car should not vibrate at higher speed.

 

Are you kidding me? the extra .5g the wheel lock weighs is SO close to the center of the rim it will have NO impact on wheel balance.

In order of what should be checked:

-Tire balance/load force balancing should be considered,
-Rotate the tires front to back, see if it changes,
-Ask for them to swap a set of wheels off a car on there lot to your car, if it still does it then you have a CV shaft problem, bad wheel bearing(unlikely) or something REALLY screwed up with your transmission

 

i ddint' mean vibrate. I mean at highway speeds do u feel the road much at all? i dont seem to feel anything at 50mph no matter what road i'm on. But as soon as i hit 65, all of the sudden there's a ton more feeling in trh seat, steering etc... i know they are going to tell me its road feel and normal. I just want to make sure it's not.

 

I had my 05 w/auto in for similar problem. I could feel shimmy in the right front between 60-70 mph the first 10 miles on the highway each morning then everything smoothed out. My dealer rebalanced tires (they were off) and moved the front tires to the back - something about the hardness of the tires not matching??? Any way the 05 loaner had no shimmy on same strech of road the day I had it. My TSX is now better - less shimmy and it only lasts 4 miles instead of 10. BTW I only feel this on an absolutely cold car in AM. Good luck - I'd love to know the final outcome of your problem.

 

That's flat spotting in the tires. I know that's normal. Especially with tires that have softer treads. Moving the tires to the back can only be used as a "diagnostic". But cannot be used to cure the problem because as soon as you have to rotate tires, you are back to square one.

but basically... when you're cruising down the highway, do you feel anything at all in the steering wheel and seats/ pedals? I'm feeling a little bit that i dont quite recall during the test drive. Can anyone chime in as to whether or not it's perfectly smooth when you're cruising? I dont seem to feel anything below 60mph. I want to say it's not road feel but i know the dealer is going to try to tell me otherwise.

 

You know what i just noticed while out driving? Everytime i go back to the dealer and they rebalance my tires, the vibration will get a little better. But after a couple of hundred miles it gets worse and worse. Does that help narrow anything down?

 

I can feel the major road issues through the entire car, otherwise smooth.

 

Thanks,
I'm feeling a vibration throughout the entire car only at a certain speed whether the road is smooth or not. Thanks for the input.
I just want to be ready because i KNOW the dealer is going to try to tell me "it's road feel, and it's normal!".