Honda Car Forum

We have a 1994 Accord EX 4-door automatic with 235K miles. It has been
a great car and just keeps on going with little maintenance. The only
work that has been on the car is brakes, timing belts, tune-ups, and
one of the radiator fans had to be replaced.

The problem is the car tugs and jerks the wheel to around 40 Mph. It's
enough to make the car pull either direction if your aren't holding the
streering wheel. It feels to me almost like torque steer, but it
happens with any type of acceleration. It also vibrates the wheel at
almost any speed, but suprisingly rides smooth at around 80-85 Mph.
Whenever there is a transition in speed the wheel will vibrate,
regardless of speed. It is most noticable around 55 Mph, but I can
reproduce all the time.

We got the car checked for alignment by a relative and they showed it
was good. It's wearing the inside of tires pretty quickly though. The
tires were balanced in the last 10-15K miles, but they will need
replacing soon.

I'm wondering what else could be wrong. I was thinking of replacing the
struts when it gets new tires. Considering the mileage, are ball joints
and other bushings something that typically goes bad on this model? And
is there anyway to test this before replacing the parts. How difficult
would it be to replace. We have access to a lot of tools and impact
wrenchs.

We're trying to keep the car running for another 1-2 years, but the
daily drive with this vibration makes it pretty annoying.

Any insight or suggestions?

jqoutlaw@gmail.com wrote:
> We have a 1994 Accord EX 4-door automatic with 235K miles. It has been
> a great car and just keeps on going with little maintenance. The only
> work that has been on the car is brakes, timing belts, tune-ups, and
> one of the radiator fans had to be replaced.
>
> The problem is the car tugs and jerks the wheel to around 40 Mph. It's
> enough to make the car pull either direction if your aren't holding the
> streering wheel. It feels to me almost like torque steer, but it
> happens with any type of acceleration. It also vibrates the wheel at
> almost any speed, but suprisingly rides smooth at around 80-85 Mph.
> Whenever there is a transition in speed the wheel will vibrate,
> regardless of speed. It is most noticable around 55 Mph, but I can
> reproduce all the time.
>
> We got the car checked for alignment by a relative and they showed it
> was good. It's wearing the inside of tires pretty quickly though. The
> tires were balanced in the last 10-15K miles, but they will need
> replacing soon.
>
> I'm wondering what else could be wrong. I was thinking of replacing the
> struts when it gets new tires. Considering the mileage, are ball joints
> and other bushings something that typically goes bad on this model? And
> is there anyway to test this before replacing the parts. How difficult
> would it be to replace. We have access to a lot of tools and impact
> wrenchs.
>
> We're trying to keep the car running for another 1-2 years, but the
> daily drive with this vibration makes it pretty annoying.
>
> Any insight or suggestions?
>
it's not an alignment or "strut" issue [this honda has wishbones]. have
all the suspension bushings and ball joints inspected/replaced as necessary.

I figured it was something related to bushings or ball joints considering
it's showing true in an alignment.

How hard is it to change the ball joints on an accord. Would a lift be
required?
"jim beam" <nospam@example.net> wrote in message
news:cvGdnWuYRKEfz-PZRVn-hg@speakeasy.net...
> jqoutlaw@gmail.com wrote:
>> We have a 1994 Accord EX 4-door automatic with 235K miles. It has been
>> a great car and just keeps on going with little maintenance. The only
>> work that has been on the car is brakes, timing belts, tune-ups, and
>> one of the radiator fans had to be replaced.
>>
>> The problem is the car tugs and jerks the wheel to around 40 Mph. It's
>> enough to make the car pull either direction if your aren't holding the
>> streering wheel. It feels to me almost like torque steer, but it
>> happens with any type of acceleration. It also vibrates the wheel at
>> almost any speed, but suprisingly rides smooth at around 80-85 Mph.
>> Whenever there is a transition in speed the wheel will vibrate,
>> regardless of speed. It is most noticable around 55 Mph, but I can
>> reproduce all the time.
>>
>> We got the car checked for alignment by a relative and they showed it
>> was good. It's wearing the inside of tires pretty quickly though. The
>> tires were balanced in the last 10-15K miles, but they will need
>> replacing soon.
>>
>> I'm wondering what else could be wrong. I was thinking of replacing the
>> struts when it gets new tires. Considering the mileage, are ball joints
>> and other bushings something that typically goes bad on this model? And
>> is there anyway to test this before replacing the parts. How difficult
>> would it be to replace. We have access to a lot of tools and impact
>> wrenchs.
>>
>> We're trying to keep the car running for another 1-2 years, but the
>> daily drive with this vibration makes it pretty annoying.
>>
>> Any insight or suggestions?
>>
> it's not an alignment or "strut" issue [this honda has wishbones]. have
> all the suspension bushings and ball joints inspected/replaced as
> necessary.