Hi, I have 1999 Honda Accord Ex-V6 (I love it). My car had a quiet drive earlier. However, for last couple of years, I am getting a too much of a road noise inside. The window sealings appear to be good. Even at 25 mph, the noise is lot. You can imaging on freeways.
Couple of years back, I had to pull out the reinforced plastic cover sheet which is below engine compartment (covers engine compartment from Road), as car bumpued on a curb, damaging that cover sheet. Also, the tires relatively new but are cheap tires.
Second problem with the car is that the steering shakes/vibrates a lot.
I would really appreciate any suggestions / feedbacks. I really want a quiet and a stable car back.
My first suspect would be the tires. Some tire models are noisier than others, and most tires do become more noisy as the tread wears down. Also, the removal of that shield underneath the engine is not helping the noise situation.
However, the noise that you are hearing could also be coming from a bad wheel bearing or two, and this is a potential safety issue.
As to the shaking/vibrating steering, this is not something to tolerate for very long, as it could indicate a serious safety issue. It could indicate something as simple as tires that need to be balanced, but it could also indicate badly worn tie rod ends or ball joints, and the sudden catastrophic failure of those components will leave you without the ability to steer the car. That would not be good, especially at highway speeds.
I would strongly suggest that you have these situations attended to a.s.a.p. by a trusted independent mechanic. DO NOT go to Sears, Midas, Meineke, Monro, or any other chain operation unless you want to pay a high price for unnecessary repair work, and possibly poor quality workmanship.
I too find a huge road noise difference between tires. We went from originally supplied Dunlop
all weather treads to Michelin Cross-Terrain all weather treads and life changed within our truck.
Not only quiet but also beautiful tracking and handling.
The first set of Michelin C-Ts went 85K miles with a single rotation of tires (20K over the warranty). Put a new set on in February.