Civic - Honda :: 1998 - Wobble Can Really Be Felt Even At Sub 15 Mph Speeds
Jul 28, 2012
With just above 100K miles our Honda has been wobbling, wiggling and shimmying for a couple of years and a half-dozen trips to our mechanic and to the tire shop have found nothing. The wobble occurs at all speeds and can really be felt even at sub 15mph speeds to the point where my knees can be seen shaking in time.
When it first happened I thought it was the brakes, so I had a major brake job done to no effect (it did need it, so it wasn't wasted money). My mechanic was a winner on the recommended shops on your website and has done all my work, except tires, for more than 6 years and he has been real good at avoiding unnecessary work, taking the time to check things out without charge. He's had it looked over thoroughly and can't find anything in the tie rods, CV joints, etc. that could be fixed.
My local tire shop, also a long-term customer, has been over the tires twice and can't find anything wrong either. It's shaking pretty bad and I'm getting even more nervous about high speed driving.
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My 2005 Honda Civic just made it through a blizzard (outside the whole time). This morning I started driving it, and whenever I got above 45 mph the steering wheel started vibrating / whobbling very badly. My car seat was also vibrating. I poured hot water over the rims when I got home and that did not seem to work. Should I take it to a car wash? Is my car safe to drive?
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I've got a 2005 Honda Odyssey and recently it started to "wobble" at relatively high speeds. I think I've isolated the scenario in which it wobbles the most. If I travel between 65-70 mph and then take my foot off the accelerator to coast, the car wobbles when it hits 60mph. It will continue to wobble until the speed goes down to around 55mph. By accelerating, I can get the wobbling to stop. This is the only time I've noticed this occurring. I'm kind of strapped for cash, so I hesitate bringing it in the dealer.
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My girlfriend's 2002 Honda Civic. Whenever she and I make a turn in it, a clunking sound is heard and felt on the front passenger side in the area of the floorboard, and it seems to come from an area between the seat and the wheel well and seems to be getting slowly but surely/progressively worse/more noticeable as time passes. I checked underneath the car earlier today, and there aren't any observable leaks to report anywhere.
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My 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid (manual) makes a loud squealing noise (between the speeds of about 25 and 45. It usually starts making the noise once the car has warmed up (but does not always make the noise). It makes the noise when the car is coasting but not when I accelerate or brake. The noise seems to be coming from somewhere in the front end.
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My 1998 Honda Civic has been dormant in my drive way for about a month and a half with very little gas. I went out to try to start it the other day and it struggled for a bit and never turned over. It isn't the batter considering the headlights and radio work just fine, thus I sought out the nearby gas station and attempted to solve the problem by putting gas in it, yet when I returned and emptied out my gas can into the tank it was the same ol' story. What it could be?
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I was recently given a 1999 Honda Civic Lx for free from a family member and its been my day to day vehicle for months. I wont lie, aside from keeping oil, gas, and all of the standard stuff like it I haven't put very much work into it since I got it. Recently I noticed the car would start to run hot at low speeds and while sitting at traffic lights, stop signs, etc. When this would happen I would just throw some water in the radiator cap and the problem would be solved. For a few days at least. Today I was driving and did not notice that the temperature was getting pretty high. Not into the red, but getting close.
When I saw this I immediately started looking for some where to pull over to put some water in. Before I could get stopped I heard a loud popping noise and the sound of water pouring out from somewhere underneath the car. The second this happened the temperature gauge went down for a few mins but then rapidly shot back up. I got stopped and started putting water in, though I assumed the damage had been done. Sure enough the water eventually started coming out of the bottom of the car. Seems like its coming out of the little crevices in the engine and not the hose or the radiator. Im assuming (or hoping, maybe) this is a blown head gasket and not something more serious. The car is now parked and not going anywhere until repairs are made.
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I have a 92 Honda CX hatchback, 5pd with 140k on it. Since I bought the car used about a year ago it's had a low speed stumbling/bucking issue. For the most part, it's only when driving slow and steady but occasionally at highway speeds it'll do it as well. It's as though the whole engine just cuts out for a second. Giving it more gas always brings it back but it's incredibly annoying, especially in a parking lot with a cup of coffee or something in your hand.
For starters, the rotor, wires and cap are all very recent. I pulled the ECU codes and it indicated #7, Throttle Angle Sensor. Bought a new one, calibrated it, reset ECU and drove on. No change. Car still bucks and the CEL comes on occasionally. At first, I suspected the plug to the TPS since it was loose. I pulled new wire and soldered directly to the ECU and TPS. No change. Of interesting note, when the CEL would come on, it seems the TPS falls offline and the car runs great! I disconnected it for a tankful and noticed my 40mpg/hwy go down to 25mpg. Completely unacceptable for a car so painfully slow.
Another observation, the stumbling doesn't start until the car warms up. Also, if it's particularly humid/raining, sometimes it won't do it at all. A lot of people have suggested the O2 sensor, distributor, fuel pump/filter. I don't have money to just start throwing at this thing and of many similar issues I've read of others with the same car, nobody seems to have a solid fix.
I've replaced the TPS, completely cleaned the throttle body and IACV, checked for vacuum leaks and even opened up the ECU looking for cold solder joints. It looks newer than new inside. Like I said, with the TPS disconnected, car runs great but the mileage goes south.
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I have a 1998 honda civic LX that slips very very seldom upon acceleration. It happens under light acceleration and medium acceleration (I dont accelerate hard enough to see it slip at high acceleration, it might!)
What happens is, the car stops accelerating and simply idles. As the motor idles the car drifts and slows down. I have never done it, but I bet in this state I could come to a complete stop just by drifting if I keep my foot in the same spot on the accelerator. When I change my foot, and accelerate harder, the car wakes back up and keeps accelerating like nothing even happened.
I don't think it is the transmission slipping, because in that instance revs would climb and acceleration would halt and that is not the case. I recently gave the car a huge tune up, here's the list
Valve adjustment
Oil and filter change
Cleaned throttle body and IAC
New distributor and cap (Plug wires aren't really in good shape)
New spark plugs
New air filter
Set the timing
New belts
Cleaned injectors
Cleaned battery terminals
I don't know what could cause this problem! The only thing I have come up is the Possibility a TPS (Throttle position sensor) going bad. The only thing that I know of that is wrong with the car is the exhaust manifold has a big crack in it right before the upstream 02 sensor. No doubt this leak is messing with the cars readings of the AFRs. Could this be part of the problem? It is throwing a code for the catalyst system.
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I have 1998 Honda civic 2 Dr and i was trying to switch cd players in it and blew some fuses so i checked all and replaced the blown ones but now it won't start.
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I've been checking my oil every morning for a few weeks now because of a worry about it burning off. I check it at the same time each morning, in pretty much the same parking spot, before driving it. Every time I take out the dipstick, wipe it off and put it back in to check. What's weird is that the level seems to fluctuate. Some days it's up over the higher dot. Some days it's down closer to the lower one (though it hasn't been under). Most days it's somewhere closer to the middle between the two. Is it common for it to fluctuate that much on a day to day basis? Is it something I should be worrying about?
In case it matters, it's a 1998 Honda Civic LX.
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I have an issue with my 98 honda civic lx, with 197000 mils. Recently I had my Check engine light on. I ignored it for a day. The next day started my car and in the middle of the road it stopped moving, meaning in spite of accelerating it doesn't move. So I stopped at the shoulder, turned off the engine. After a while I started again, the car moved but later on it stopped moving when I was accelerating. The Engine did not turn off during the stall. Couple of weeks back the car was shaking on the front side when I was driving, it felt like the car was about to stop as if it was short of fuel.I changed the spark plug 15000 miles back. Water pump and timing belt was changed 25000 miles back.Car has a highway mileage of 32 mpg.
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My 1998 Honda Civic has oil in the radiator. And even stranger, the oil winds up in the overflow coolant reservoir. What is the most likely cause of this?
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My car drives fine till it heats up then if I come to a stop it won't go into gear.....
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My 98 Civic ex runs and shifts perfect to have 200,000+ miles but when you try and shift to reverse it grinds. It acts like it's gonna shift into reverse but doesn't. When you shift back into park or neutral you can hear it still spinning. Sounds like a card in spoke of bike. We have drained fluid twice and replaced also added trans-x.
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I've got a 1988 Honda Civic Sedan. 151, 000 miles. Runs great,except when I have to stop for gas or I pop the clutch maladroitly to get going and kill the engine. Then it won't start up. It used to do it once or so every five times I stop to gas up. I don't drive it much and have to re-charge the battery every month or so--even the new battery. It started this herky-jerky thing last summer but the tow guy convinced me it was a bad gas problem. A gas additive seemed to clear it up, but not the starting problem.
Just last night I recharged the battery,let the engine run 15 minutes or so the next morning, then shut it down and tried to restart it; turned over but wouldn't start. In general, when it cools down about an hour or so later, it starts fine. So engine heat seems to cause it.I've giving up trying to gas up at the cheap stations. Instead I go to the local station two blocks away so I can push it aside and come back later to get it if it stalls. Could this be something simple I could fix?
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I have a '98 Honda Civic that is regularly maintained and seems fine with the exception of a starting problem when left outside. I have it in a garage normally and have never had a problem starting it. But when left outside, it usually takes a couple of hours for the car to warm to the outside temperture as it rises. The battery is new and the spark plugs seem fine so I am at a loss.
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I've tagged this as a Civic but it's a 1999 Honda City 1.5 EX. (Asian market vehicle)
Normally this car would shift to 2nd at 20km/hr and 3rd at 40. But if I hit 40+ and it shifts into third, then coast for a while and let the speed drop to below 40 (say 35), when I push the throttle now the car doesn't kick down and it feels like it has almost no power even if I push the throttle to the floor. The feeling of no power lasts for about 2 or 3 seconds, and then the car downshifts automatically and the RPMs shoot up. Quite dangerous trying to move around quickly in Asian city traffic. I adjusted the kick down cable to make it stiffer, but now the same problem happens at a higher speed and shifting at a higher RPM.
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I own a 1997 Honda Civic EX. Automatic. 160,000 miles. I have had the front disk rotors and pads replaced five (5) times within the past two years due to "warped" rotor issue. I recently changed the two front calipers as well to rule out caliper issues. Yet I continually end up with a warped right front rotor weeks after putting on new rotors. Here is what happens. Car brakes fine for a week or two with the new rotors. Then shortly afterwards, the right front rotor (passenger side) quickly develops a rubbing -like noise (not a grinding noise) when braking at a low speed. It's not a constant rubbing noise but a rhythmic swoosh swoosh swoosh noise as the tire rotates and the brake is softly applied. You can feel it in the brake pedal. This noise eventually gets louder and louder the more I use the brakes (or, the hotter they get?). It can also cause the steering wheel to vibrate at certain speeds when braking.
I have had it into four different mechanics.
Mechanic 1: Your rotor is warped.
Mechanic 2: You are too hard on your brakes causing the rotor to warp.
Mechanic 3: Did you go through a puddle of water lately?
Mechanic 4: You need new brakes. Period.
This is getting ridiculous. In all my years of driving, I have never encountered this problem. I am not hard on my brakes. I do not believe the "water puddle" theory at all. I should mention, although these are not oem rotors. they are not some cheap Chinese ones either. Something must be causing this rotor to "warp" if it's really warping at all. I have had the tires rotated to rule out a bent rim. It happens no matter what tire is on the right front car. What could be causing this? A bad front end alignment... bad wheel bearing... (although no mechanic ever indicated that as a problem)... bent splash guard... bad master cylinder? Air in the brake lines... old brake fluid???
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I just recently bought a used 2013 Honda Civic with 22,000 miles.
When I apply the brakes at speeds below 20mph, you can hear a high pitch intermittent squeak from the front right wheel. The time in between each squeak gets longer as you slow down.
I check the pads on both sides and they are both fairly new. (close to a cm on the pad left) The wear indicators were no where close to the edge of the pad. I greased them up and still nothing. I checked around the rotor for any metal that could be touching it but I didn't find anything. What would make an intermittent squeak like that.
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I have a 2010 Honda Civic with 73K miles. I've noticed that the car can get loud when driving .
It has 4 Michelin Primacy tires from Costco put on at 45K. Not sure when the noise started, but now with my iphone I run a sound meter app and the sound level is 80 - 95db . Yeah, it's not calibrated, but my wife's Lexus reads about 75db worst case. so even just relative to the lexus, it's loud.
The noise is loudest (95db)at around 57MPH and some other speeds like 47, 67 also. Other speeds in between these, it gets down to 80db.
There's NO vibration at any speeds (so tires are balanced?)There's NO pull to either side when driving There's NO pull to either side when brakingThere's NO change in the sound level when putting the transmission in neutral (so it's not a trans issue?)There's NO change in the sound level when the engine is idling at the speeds (so the sound is not tied to RPM level)There's NO discernible change in the sound level on different roads (so 57 MPH is loud on most any road).The tires are wearing normallyRotating the tires had no change in the sound level
What's left? Tires and axle / bearings? Is there anything I can do to look for / test for to figure out the issue, short of a new set of tires? I guess I'll have a mechanic look at the bearings?
Is tire noise usually tied to road speed in that pattern of getting louder at a certain speed, getting quieter above and below that speed, then get louder again at another certain speed.
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