Car shakes above 45mph. Has new tires and assume they were balanced. Have no history with this car, have owned it only 3 weeks.
132,000 miles
Did you test drive it with the old tires? Did you notice a shimmy then? They could have put really cheap tires on it just to please you and make a sale. What brand did they put on?
I have had new tires with a balance problem and the tires were expensive Michelin tires and the tires were purchased from a reputable independent dealer who has been in business for years. He solved the problem by moving the tire to a different position in relationship to the rim and rebalanced the tire. That may be all that is needed in your case.
Note whether the vibration is in the steering wheel or through the seat. Then rotate tires, front to rear. If the vibration changes location, then it’s the tires (and/or wheels). If not, it is something in the vehicle and that requires a whole new set of diagnostic tests.
Thanks for the responses.
You all worked off of bad information, my fault.
The Honda is owned by a very independent lady friend. She bought the car without asking anybody for advice, because it’s a Honda therefore it has to be good.
I was brought into this because she asked me about a red light on the dash. And there was a lot of noise when she turned the steering wheel. I added power steering fluid because it was way low. Fixed that.
The engine light was another issue. And there was a slight shuddering and groaning noise when proceeding from a complete stop. Transmission problem was my evaluation.
Not wanting to hear that she took it to a non Honda asian car dealership because no local Honda dealership. A thousand dollars later on new tires and tuneup and a nationwide automotive center wanting to do some major brake work, it was “shaking” at 45mph.
When told of this I assumed it was a tire problem. Sorry!
I listened to her call to the service manager at the other Asian car dealership who told her even though they did a tuneup, the engine still had a miss that indicated major engine problems. I told her to hang up the phone.
I drove it again, this time on the highway. I had already gone online looking at Honda odyssey transmission issues, shuddering groaning around 45, flashing engine light, TCS light on etc.
The Honda drove very nicely until 45 and then transmission torque converter started slipping, shuddering (shaking), by 50mph that stopped and it drove smoothly on its new tires right up to 70 mph. I slowed because I was well over the speed limit on a non divided highway. In low drive position was no shuddering.
This car has all indicators of a bad transmission.
Apparently 2002 Honda odysseys have major transmission issues that would cost in the 4 to 5000$$ to fix. I told my friend not to spend one more dime, be careful and not to drive too far from home.
Yes, this vintage Odyssey definitely has transmission problems.
We had a 2003 model with some signs of transmission problems. The repair quotes I was getting were around $2000-4000, which exceeded the value of the van. That and the fact that the wife got new car fever led to us trading it in on a 2012, which has been flawless.
Just to eliminate the cheapest possibility… I’d go have the tires rebalanced. I’ve found different tire shops do better or worse jobs rebalancing tires, so it may take more than one try. If that still doesn’t fix your issue…well, good luck. I fear your friend may have bought someone else’s cast off problem. Sorry.
This is what carcomplaints has to say about the 2002 Odyssey.Click on the blue title.
To me one of the most disturbing things is the fact that the dealership, that charged her $1000 for new tires and a tuneup and reading the codes from the engine light and TCS light, was telling her to bring it back to fix the engine misfiring problem that was causing the “shaking” at 45mph.
And the nationwide automotive center that wanted to fix her brakes for another $280 and that would cure the 45mph shake.
Oh well.
Yes you’re right, someone else knowingly sold her their problem. Never said a word to her.
And she in turn refuses to sell it to anybody or even give to away. She will live with it and drive it till it’s dead.
1000.00 for tires and tuneup ( need to see invoice for that ) and reading codes might not be out of line . She could have agreed to more tire than she needed .
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Maybe was the way I worded the email. Was not bitching about the $1000. Was $500 for tires and alignment, $500 tuneup and oil change.
I was bitching because the car was taken in to diagnose the shuddering problem, the blinking engine light and the TCS light. And all those together indicate transmission problems.
She was on speaker phone when she called the service manager at the other Asian car dealership to complain.
He told her, even though they did a tuneup, the engine still had a miss that indicated major engine problems. I told her to hang up the phone.
I’ve driven the car I know it has transmission problems. Either the dealer service department was totally inept or they wanted her to come back so they can stick it farther up her ass.
I think the nationwide auto center was probably inept when they drove it to diagnose the shaking and told her it needed a brake job.
It’s all taken care of. Thanks for the help.
I’ve paid in the neighborhood of $500-600 for 4 tires on my Odyssey.