I drive a 2005 Accord sedan and I've been experiencing a really loose steering feel of late. It's hard for me to describe exactly -- it just feels like the steering has a lot of "play" and the steering response is not as tight as I remember it. The steering effort also feels a bit lighter than normal.

Also, there seems to be a excessively floaty feel and excessive body roll on turns (more so than normal, I should say -- I know that the Accord is no sports sedan).

I've actually had the car checked out twice, once by my local guys and once by a dealer service center, but they both said that they could find nothing wrong...

I'm at wit's end here. Any suggestions?

 

has it always been like this and how long have you had the car

 

The car was bought new, I'm nearing the four year mark.

And, no, the car had a significantly tighter/better feel originally.

 

Check the tire pressure.

 

look at all the ball joints and suspension bushings.

 

my uncle has a 2007 and said he will not buy another accord. he had a 97 camry since new and put on 200k

 

How many miles on the car? Several of those symptoms sound like deteriorating shock absorbers.

 

Thanks for the responses, guys.

Street Spirit -- the tire pressure is ok

The Dougler -- are these areas that I should have checked specifically, or is there a general tune-up or inspection that also includes these items?

TheMirror -- approx. 57K on the car. The thing is, the dealer said that the shocks and struts were within spec...

 

Well they are areas that if worn out could produce symptoms similar to those you are describing.

 

are you talking about a dead spot in the steering wheel??? where it feels like you move the steering wheel before it grabs the actual wheels???

 

Kamlung: at times, it does seem like there is a slight delay in the steering, but it's hard to say if that is from a dead spot rather than from something suspension related...


It seems like the consensus is that I should have my suspension checked?

 

have the fluid flushed and refilled

 

That would be the first thing I'd do... control arms, ball joints, cv joints, cv boots, etc....

 

The struts in my TSX started to go really soft at almost exactly that point; a 2005 car with about 55K miles. It maybe wasn't as pronounced as you describe, but it was significant. Wish I could drive the car in question, I'd be able to give you much better feedback..

Good luck,
-Mirror

 

Mirror -- Thanks for the feedback. I wish you could drive the car, too. For that matter, I wish that I could have an Acurazine mechanic

That sounds like the likely culprit... Did you experience similar steering sensations?

 

Just guessing but it's probably your shocks at the mileage your at. My 02 TL def feels much less responsive now at 64k than it did at 38k. I bought some tokico hps shocks and am awaiting new springs. Every car I've owned the shocks started getting weak around 50-65k miles, but still "within spec".