Shuddering and Vibrating when Turning to the Left

Maintenance/Repairs
1

Hi all, I have a question about my Honda CRV 2005. When I make a hard (full) turn to the left (like out of a parking space), my car vibrates and shudders. Our Honda dealer thought it might have to do with tire rotation (but he was wrong, since we did that). My wife thinks it is related to a minor fender-bender in which a blind motorist hit my car at a perpendicular angle near the left-front wheel. Any guesses as to what it is?

2

A blind motorist?

3

Take it to an alignment shop and see what they say.

4

Is this an AWD vehicle?

5

Yes – Blind! I was trying to refrain from using a gendered adjective, so I used “blind” instead.

The accident was a while ago, and the vibration and shuddering didn’t start until well after the car was repaired.

The CRV is not AWD but has “on demand” 4-wheel drive (ie, if the front tires start slipping, the rear ones kick in).

Any other guesses as to what it might be? Thanks for your replies thus far!

6

If the vehicle was shoved sideways a bit after it was hit or the vehicle suffered some wheel damage then it could very well be an alignment issue; and possibly something could be bent in the suspension which is causing an alignment problem.

JMHO, but I’d say have the car put on the alignment rack; wheel damage or no.
You should get a printout of the specs. Post the results back here if anything looks out of kilter.

7

If the “on demand” 4WD system is malfunctioning, and the rear wheels are engaged when they shouldn’t be, the drive train can bind and shudder when making tight turns, such as into a parking space or a driveway.

I would expect this to happen in either right or left turns. I’m not that familiar with the Honda system, but I’ve experiences this “binding” on Subaru vehicles.

The fact that it didn’t start until after the crash makes me think it’s unrelated, or at least distantly related.

There isn’t any problem with the ABS is there?

8

I would have a place start by changing the rear differential fluid. It may well correct the problem. The Honda interval is not frequent enough, I cannot recall the typical symptom which I think is noise.

9

Thanks to all for the ideas. Do you recommend taking the car to the dealership?

So, sounds like this is the order in which to investigate:

  1. Differential fluid
  2. Alignment
  3. 4WD

If there’s anything to add to the list, fire away!
Many thanks.