Shake From Hell

[Moonman]

It started several months ago, the car started shaking between 65 to 78 MPH and drove me crazy as I drive on the highway every day. I own a 2009 Honda Accord Coupe EX v6 and loved it before this issue started happening and it goes like this:

I bring the car to a Honda dealership and explain the issue about shaking. They tell me I need new tires soon and back brakes. I do the back brakes at the dealership have the front end aligned. I drove home and the car still shakes…

I go to Towns Fair Tire and get all new Toyo tires and what the heck all new maze wheels with all the balancing stuff included. I drive home the car still shakes…

I drive back to Honda and I tell them it has to be cv joints or something in the front-end. They come back and tell me the tires aren’t balanced correctly so I tell my story again and they convince me it’s the balancing and the wrong center ring in the new wheels. They charge me 79.99 for some diagnostic charge and I drive home with my buddy the shake…

I go back to Towns Fair Tire and they order new center rings and they’ll be installed in the next few days. Then I’m sure I’ll still have the shake and head back to Honda to finally have them check the cv joints and whatever…

Anyone else go through this misery yet?

[jgo86x]

Sounds like shaking from VCM? Does it stop shaking when you try to accelerate from 65-78mph?

[Moonman]

Unfortunately it doesn’t... the car shakes pretty good almost like it's a motor mount

[mi08coupe]

Does Towns Fair Tire do Road Force balancing?

[66FTW]

I had the same issue with my 2011 STi Sedan last year. From 45-60mph, only on load, the car would shake like crazy... but only after the car had been for about 30 minutes. Absolutley bizarre. I took it in to Subaru six times and they never found the issue, and went to two other shops and they were stumped also. I balanced my tires, had my alignment redone, even replaced the axles... all for nothing. I eventually got rid of the car because I no longer felt safe (and because the mpg was killing me, but mainly the safety concern).

If you find out the problem let me know, I'm still curious about it even though I no longer have the car.

[Quicky]

Something similar was happening to me, I would recommend getting all the routine maintenance revolved around this issue done (rotate/replace tires, balance, alignment etc...as needed)
but I noticed what really helps is torquing the wheels every so often, maybe once a month or so.

BTW, No mach. shop has ever done this per request. I'll ask when I get any wheel related work done, but I'll always end up doing it myself in their parking lot, so watch out for that.

I torque to around 100 lbs to make sure they're nice and tight.

[ottoaccord]

I had a pretty bad shake in my 2004 accord from 45 to 55 mph. It ended up being the axle on the drivers side.

[NDAZONE]

Wow, I have the same situation. I just bought 2009 V6 coupe and didn't notice it until I was driving on the highway at about 60 mph. I figured it was the tires needing balancing since Honda installed new tires before I bought it.
I didn't realize this is systemic and hard to diagnose. Glad I have 1 year bumper to bumper on the certified car.

[Moonman]

Brought the car to Town Fair today and they replaced all the center rings and rebalanced everything at no cost. I won't get to test it until tomorrow when I drive 40 miles one way to work. I'll keep everyone posted...

[Moonman]

Thanks!! I'll give that a try this weekend...

[mi08coupe]

Originally Posted by Quicky

I torque to around 100 lbs to make sure they're nice and tight.

Might want to be careful doing that. The torque spec for our cars is 80 ft/lbs. Overtorquing them by 25% puts unnecessary extra stress on the lugs, hub assembly and even the brake discs that could lead to problems over time.

[Moonman]

Update: The car still shakes at the same speeds and I'm so frustrated... Anyway I call the Honda dealership again and talk to the same "Advisor" and he asks me "What do you want us to do?" I tell him I need to have it fixed and he tells me I have to authorize several hours of labor. I tell him I have the extended warranty but I guess it just doesnt cover parts in the front end! I'm thinking of just unloading this beautiful car and buying a Nissan. I may never buy a Honda again!

[NDAZONE]

There is a lot of talk about this issue on the internet. No one seems to have a good answer from what I have found. 'Road Force balancing' is the answer that best helps alleviate the problem from what I have read. It doesn't seem to rectify it, however.

[mi08coupe]

Bypass this advisor dork and talk to the service manager. If you get the same 'whadda ya want us to do about it?' BS from him, take it to another dealer if there's one within a reasonable distance, or get Honda corporate involved.

[Mechanic]

Aftermarket wheels. As soon as the tires wear, it's impossible to balance them. That's where the problem started and why it's become worse over time.