2001 Honda Accord EX, 5 speed manual, 176,000 miles. It has started shaking in the front when shifting, accelerating or climbing a grade. Mechanic replaced 4 tires but problem persists.Any suggestions?
Motor mounts, CV joints, engine misfire, wheel bearings, upper or lower ball joints, tie rod ends, trailing rod bushings.
Does that mean I have to have all of the above items checked out? Is this another well we don’t know what’s wrong so let’s check out everything to the tune of over $2000?
No, it means “shaking in the front” is a rather vague description and since we can’t see or drive the car it’s difficult to pinpoint the problem.
At 176K miles there are lots of things that may be worn enough to cause this.
Okay, let’s see if I can be more precise. I get in the car, shift and start to drive. That’s okay. Then I get on the highway and need to shift quickly from first to second to third to fourth and the car starts to vibrate violently in the front, not the back. The dashboard and steering wheel vibrate. This also happens when I start to climb a grade. The mechanic who replaced the tires because he found a wobble ruled out the clutch. He was going to start looking at axles even though he didn’t see anything when it was on the lift.
Maybe I should just take it to the Honda dealership that I had been taking it for maintenance when it was a lot younger.
All of the things Keith listed in his response are potential problems. It’s a process of elimination, and the dealer can’t do it any faster than your regular mechanic. They just charge more.
Thanks for your help. I will take your list to my mechanic and see what he says.
Don’t take the list to the mechanic…Just tell him the symptons…and let him diagnose what the problem is.
A wheel alignment shop is where you want to be. You could just pay them for an examination and diagnosis, and let your reg’lar mechanic take it from there.
Yes, it’s important to take it to a mechanic who can actually diagnose a problem, not a “parts hanger”:.
When I lived in Asia I inherited a company car (Toyota Corona) that had been driven by a manager who did not believe in maintenance. I sent it to the dealer (few good independents there) with a CHECK LIST to check the brakes, struts, cooling system, transmission and elctrical system.
When the car came back with a bill for $6000 Malaysian dollars ($2000US), they had replaced the plugs, struts, brakes, radiator, battery, transmission fluid and few other things! The total price for the work done was reasonble, and the car ran well.
However, even the dealer did not bother checking out anything, they figured our company had deep pockets and just replaced everything.
OP’s problem need proper diagnosis in order to be corrected.
There is a medical version of this in a hilarious movie called “Where does it hurt?”, staring Peter Sellers as the crooked administator of the Vista View Medical Center in California, which only treats patients with gold standard health insurance policies and then proceeds to fleece them. It’s also an early indictment of the very expensive “For Profit” US health care system.