Honda Car Forum

"Otis" <rev_otis_mcnatt@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:46e0adf3-8842-4fee-8280-b338ff4c231d@m11g2000vbl.googlegroups.com...
> General questions which is why I included five NG's.
>
> I've actually had the car for almost a year (bought 9-25-08).
>
> The car had a mild steering wheel shimmy at 60-70 mph that
> I noticed driving it home from the dealership the day I bought it.
> The car had not been sitting on the lot long ( a week or so, being
> recently delivered), so I doubt there were flat spots on the tires.
> I decided to let it go and forget about it. Still, you don't expect
> this with a brand new car with six miles on it and equipped with
> Michelins. The shimmy pretty much stayed, but as I said,
> it is mild. I rotated the tires at about 6500 miles a couple of
> months ago, which is when the little Honda Maintenance Minder
> told me to (cross to front as the manual said).
>
> Since then, I've noticed that, along with the usual shimmy, it gets
> a good deal worse when I press the brake at highway speeds.
> I doubt very seriously that the rotors are warped, but that the wheels
> were somehow not completely balanced at the factory. And maybe
> crossing the tires at rotation made the effect worse. That's my
> guess.
> I took the car out to the dlership today, explained, and the guy
> wanted
> to check the brakes (he said three hours for some reason) and possibly
> *turn* the rotors. Why? I've never had rotors turned in my life;
> if they
> got too grooved I'd just replace them. Considering the time, and his
> talking about turning rotors, I decided to hold off for now. Do you
> think
> I should take the car in and have them at least check the balance
> on the wheels (free till the 1 year anniversary of purchase)? I could
> just see those guys working on the car, and driving off with it
> *worse*
> than before. I've had this happen occasionally over the years.
>
> And a-n-o-t-h-e-r thing.....
>
> I was recently talking casually to a guy who runs a body shop. We
> were near my Accord and he immediately mentioned that the gap
> between the hood and fender on the left was not the same as the
> corresponding gap on the right side of the hood. And sure enough,
> it wasn't, and very noticeable even though I never noticed. He said
> that was very unusual for Honda and even asked me if the car had
> been wrecked. Pic link below. There is sunlight reflection a
> little
> on the left gap, but you should still be able to see it. The gap on
> left is noticeably bigger than the one on the right. The hood
> opens and closes nicely and everything seems tight and right,
> but it does look kind of bad. What do you guys think? Should
> I complain to Honda about it? Thanks a lot.
>
> http://s603.photobucket.com/albums/t...t=GEDC0178.jpg

Don't discount the fact you may have a bad axle. Very rare but it does
happen.
Be careful on what you do yourself to try to fix your shimmy problem. If it
doesn't fix the problem and you then go to your dealer he may see that
you've tampered with it and assume you caused the problem with the work
you've done. If in the course of diagnosis at your dealership they rebalance
your tires ask if they have a wheel balancer that measures "road force
variation". This usually measures a pull to one side or another due to a
defect in manufacturing of the tire and can often indicate an out of round
condition on a tire that may cause your problem.
If I were you I'd have the hood realigned. Someone else might notice the
different gap and assume you've been in an accident. It's an easy fix of
loosening the bolts on the hood hinges and realigning.
Also, if it were mine I'd want my new car to run and look like a new car.
Good luck.

On Sep 28, 10:51*pm, "HowardH" <howa...@cybrstar.com> wrote:
> "Otis" <rev_otis_mcn...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:46e0adf3-8842-4fee-8280-b338ff4c231d@m11g2000vbl.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> > General questions which is why I included five NG's.
>
> > I've actually had the car for almost a year (bought 9-25-08).
>
> > The car had a mild steering wheel shimmy at 60-70 mph that
> > I noticed driving it home from the dealership the day I bought it.
> > The car had not been sitting on the lot long ( a week or so, being
> > recently delivered), so I doubt there were flat spots on the tires.
> > I decided to let it go and forget about it. *Still, you don't expect
> > this with a brand new car with six miles on it and equipped with
> > Michelins. * The shimmy pretty much stayed, but as I said,
> > it is mild. * I rotated the tires at about 6500 miles a couple of
> > months ago, which is when the little Honda Maintenance Minder
> > told me to (cross to front as the manual said).
>
> > Since then, I've noticed that, along with the usual shimmy, it gets
> > a good deal worse when I press the brake at highway speeds.
> > I doubt very seriously that the rotors are warped, but that the wheels
> > were somehow not completely balanced at the factory. *And maybe
> > crossing the tires at rotation made the effect worse. *That's my
> > guess.
> > I took the car out to the dlership today, explained, and the guy
> > wanted
> > to check the brakes (he said three hours for some reason) and possibly
> > *turn* the rotors. * Why? * I've never had rotors turned in my life;
> > if they
> > got too grooved I'd just replace them. * Considering the time, and his
> > talking about turning rotors, I decided to hold off for now. * Do you
> > think
> > I should take the car in and have them at least check the balance
> > on the wheels (free till the 1 year anniversary of purchase)? *I could
> > just see those guys working on the car, and driving off with it
> > *worse*
> > than before. * I've had this happen occasionally over the years.
>
> > And a-n-o-t-h-e-r thing.....
>
> > I was recently talking casually to a guy who runs a body shop. *We
> > were near my Accord and he immediately mentioned that the gap
> > between the hood and fender on the left was not the same as the
> > corresponding gap on the right side of the hood. * And sure enough,
> > it wasn't, and very noticeable even though I never noticed. *He said
> > that was very unusual for Honda and even asked me if the car had
> > been wrecked. * Pic link below. * There is sunlight reflection a
> > little
> > on the left gap, but you should still be able to see it. *The gap on
> > left is noticeably bigger than the one on the right. * The hood
> > opens and closes nicely and everything seems tight and right,
> > but it does look kind of bad. * What do you guys think? *Should
> > I complain to Honda about it? * Thanks a lot.
>
> >http://s603.photobucket.com/albums/t...n=view&current....
>
> Don't discount the fact you may have a bad axle. Very rare but it does
> happen.
> Be careful on what you do yourself to try to fix your shimmy problem. If it
> doesn't fix the problem and you then go to your dealer he may see that
> you've tampered with it and assume you caused the problem with the work
> you've done.

I've decided for now to just live with it. After checking with some
Honda
forums, I've learned that this is not that uncommon, surprisingly.
As I said, it is pretty minor, and I am reluctant to have them start
working on it. But I completely agree with what you said about doing
work and giving Honda an excuse.

> If I were you I'd have the hood realigned. Someone else might notice the
> different gap and assume you've been in an accident. It's an easy fix of
> loosening the bolts on the hood hinges and realigning.
> Also, if it were mine I'd want my new car to run and look like a new car.
> Good luck.

Thanks. As far as the gap thing. Haven't decided. I actually went
to a nearby
dealership and looked at some '09s the other night, checking gaps, and
believe it
or not, I saw other brand new cars on the lot that did not have the
exact same amount
of gap. One of the Accords sitting right out front had nearly the
same problem with
gap that my car has. The difference in gap width was almost as bad
as with mine;
same sides too.

One thing though...you mentioned getting the hood realigned. My body
shop
friend said it would be an easy fix and he mentioned that the
passenger side
fender would just be unbolted and moved in a little. But I pointed
out that if
that was done, the fender would no longer be flush with the door
edge. He then
said something to the effect that that end wouldn't be moved much,
etc. But
in that case, the fender and hood edges would no longer be nicely
parallel,
as they are now..... So what you seem to be saying would make more
sense,
i.e. moving the hood slightly over. Then again, if that were done,
would the
hood still close nice and precise as it does now?

"Otis" <rev_otis_mcnatt@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:5e0d8e3f-df18-41bf-9252-4013a5a95a30@l13g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...
On Sep 28, 10:51 pm, "HowardH" <howa...@cybrstar.com> wrote:
> "Otis" <rev_otis_mcn...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:46e0adf3-8842-4fee-8280-b338ff4c231d@m11g2000vbl.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> > General questions which is why I included five NG's.
>
> > I've actually had the car for almost a year (bought 9-25-08).
>
> > The car had a mild steering wheel shimmy at 60-70 mph that
> > I noticed driving it home from the dealership the day I bought it.
> > The car had not been sitting on the lot long ( a week or so, being
> > recently delivered), so I doubt there were flat spots on the tires.
> > I decided to let it go and forget about it. Still, you don't expect
> > this with a brand new car with six miles on it and equipped with
> > Michelins. The shimmy pretty much stayed, but as I said,
> > it is mild. I rotated the tires at about 6500 miles a couple of
> > months ago, which is when the little Honda Maintenance Minder
> > told me to (cross to front as the manual said).
>
> > Since then, I've noticed that, along with the usual shimmy, it gets
> > a good deal worse when I press the brake at highway speeds.
> > I doubt very seriously that the rotors are warped, but that the wheels
> > were somehow not completely balanced at the factory. And maybe
> > crossing the tires at rotation made the effect worse. That's my
> > guess.
> > I took the car out to the dlership today, explained, and the guy
> > wanted
> > to check the brakes (he said three hours for some reason) and possibly
> > *turn* the rotors. Why? I've never had rotors turned in my life;
> > if they
> > got too grooved I'd just replace them. Considering the time, and his
> > talking about turning rotors, I decided to hold off for now. Do you
> > think
> > I should take the car in and have them at least check the balance
> > on the wheels (free till the 1 year anniversary of purchase)? I could
> > just see those guys working on the car, and driving off with it
> > *worse*
> > than before. I've had this happen occasionally over the years.
>
> > And a-n-o-t-h-e-r thing.....
>
> > I was recently talking casually to a guy who runs a body shop. We
> > were near my Accord and he immediately mentioned that the gap
> > between the hood and fender on the left was not the same as the
> > corresponding gap on the right side of the hood. And sure enough,
> > it wasn't, and very noticeable even though I never noticed. He said
> > that was very unusual for Honda and even asked me if the car had
> > been wrecked. Pic link below. There is sunlight reflection a
> > little
> > on the left gap, but you should still be able to see it. The gap on
> > left is noticeably bigger than the one on the right. The hood
> > opens and closes nicely and everything seems tight and right,
> > but it does look kind of bad. What do you guys think? Should
> > I complain to Honda about it? Thanks a lot.
>
> >http://s603.photobucket.com/albums/t...n=view&current...
>
> Don't discount the fact you may have a bad axle. Very rare but it does
> happen.
> Be careful on what you do yourself to try to fix your shimmy problem. If
> it
> doesn't fix the problem and you then go to your dealer he may see that
> you've tampered with it and assume you caused the problem with the work
> you've done.

I've decided for now to just live with it. After checking with some
Honda
forums, I've learned that this is not that uncommon, surprisingly.
As I said, it is pretty minor, and I am reluctant to have them start
working on it. But I completely agree with what you said about doing
work and giving Honda an excuse.

> If I were you I'd have the hood realigned. Someone else might notice the
> different gap and assume you've been in an accident. It's an easy fix of
> loosening the bolts on the hood hinges and realigning.
> Also, if it were mine I'd want my new car to run and look like a new car.
> Good luck.

Thanks. As far as the gap thing. Haven't decided. I actually went
to a nearby
dealership and looked at some '09s the other night, checking gaps, and
believe it
or not, I saw other brand new cars on the lot that did not have the
exact same amount
of gap. One of the Accords sitting right out front had nearly the
same problem with
gap that my car has. The difference in gap width was almost as bad
as with mine;
same sides too.

One thing though...you mentioned getting the hood realigned. My body
shop
friend said it would be an easy fix and he mentioned that the
passenger side
fender would just be unbolted and moved in a little. But I pointed
out that if
that was done, the fender would no longer be flush with the door
edge. He then
said something to the effect that that end wouldn't be moved much,
etc. But
in that case, the fender and hood edges would no longer be nicely
parallel,
as they are now..... So what you seem to be saying would make more
sense,
i.e. moving the hood slightly over. Then again, if that were done,
would the
hood still close nice and precise as it does now?

***********
Properly done, yes.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

"So what you seem to be saying would make more sense,
i.e. moving the hood slightly over. Then again, if that were done, would
the
hood still close nice and precise as it does now?"

Yes, it will close normally, if not better.

Sharx35 wrote:
>
> "Steve" <no@spam.thanks> wrote in message

>>
>> One ricemobile owner dissing another ricemobile of a different flavor.
>> That right there is FUNNY.
>>
>
> In these parts, Hondas are the favorite vehicles of Asian gang members.

Honda == Toyota for all practical purposes. Who cares?

"jim beam" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:hpqdne_tpoNguF3XnZ2dnUVZ_iwAAAAA@speakeasy.ne t...
> On 09/26/2009 06:03 AM, hls wrote:
>>
>> "jim beam" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message news:N6OdnQd-
>>>> Yes, I have. You are apparently not paying attention.
>>>
>>> i was paying attention. absent your presenting any info on how you
>>> determined that warpage has actually occurred, and to what extent it
>>> had happened, there is nothing to distinguish what you describe from
>>> the much more common problem i'm describing. how did you make the
>>> differentiation?
>>
>> Chocked them up in the brake lathe and measured the side variation.
>
> that doesn't necessarily mean the disk is warped - it could just as easily
> be a seating problem, just like i described.
>
>
>> You
>> CAN measure the thickness variation, but I did not do that. Should have.
>
> if you didn't measure it, you can't say for sure that you have the correct
> diagnosis, merely that you had symptoms - and there is more than one cause
> of those symptoms, as i've said all along.

Truing on the brake lathe cured the problems. It has not been a seating
problem.

Problem has occurred some weeks to months AFTER tires were rotated, etc.,
A seating problem would be immediate.