Herbie

1991 civic ex 4 door.

Steering wheel and dashboard shake pretty bad when sitting in DRIVE WITH FOOT ON BRAKE. If I move it to park, neutral, or start driving, the vibration is gone.

In other words, its only when sitting at a stop light or stop sign, not when braking or driving or in park.

Rear engine mount? I just got the car and service records show front mount was done last year.

Thanks

jacksonww

Curious to know what causes this as well. My steering wheel vibrates at idle.

Je2RiT

could it just be from a rough idle? Maybe a tune up will help?
Or, if you have aftermarket engine mounts(stiffer) that
would not do so much absorbing of the engine vibrations.

DumpdEJ6

I have aftermarket motor mounts and get this. I've always attributed it to the stiffer mounts.

chivid

check the mounts.

Herbie

UPDATE:

to reply: I do not have aftermarket mounts. I troubleshooted some more and now I think it is actually an engine idle issue that's causing the steering wheel to shake. With my foot on the brake, if I ever so slightly depress the accelerator to bring the engine up about 200 rpms, the vibration smooths out and no shaking in the steering wheel.

So...I checked my idle with a digital tachometer/timing light but it seems to be ok. In Park, it idles around 760-770 rpm. However the steering wheel is shaking pretty bad all the time.

What are the lines under 1000rpms on the stock in dash tach? There's one just above zero and then there's a second line in between that and 1000rpms. On the dash tach, my idle sits right at the second line.

Here's the weird part, if I engage electrical like pushing the power door locks or windows up or down, the idle drops to about 730 rpm on my digital tach and shakes worse for a sec then recovers back up to 760-770rpm and the normal but still bad shaking. Likewise, if I depress the brake, it does the same thing but the steering wheel continues to shake even worse than without the brake depressed. Also I get a clicking noise coming from the shifter area when I press the brake to shift out of park.

My confusion- is my idle too low? and my digital tach is wrong? would simple turning up the idle screw fix it? or is something else going on...

BrayzieEF9

My idle is set at 900 rpm

miab18c1

my car does this as well and I have solid mounts! its annoying and my idle is usually around 1100rpm but I it has never caused any issues!

Herbie

I think 900 rpm idle is high, its supposed to be ~750 rpm

BrayzieEF9

YOUR WRONG!!!

Civic/CRX Si and 4WD Wagon-500-600 RPM
CRX HF-450-550 RPM
All Civics and CRX with 1.5 L engine-575-675 RPM

Herbie

Ok, not sure on the 750rpm idle speed spec, thats what I thought it was supposed to be. Either way, any guesses on how the idle is affecting my steering wheel shake?

BrayzieEF9

I'm guessing it feels like your cars gonna die? have you checked to see if your lights dim when you press on the brakes,could be your alternator or battery are going out.since it only shakes when you press on the brakes.

TheAsian

The rear motor mount bolts to the rear cross member, and that's where you steering rack bolts to. The steering colum bolts to a impact beam which the dash bolts to. The bushings over time go bad on the steering rack. Also the other three mounts could be bad since you have had the rear replaced causing a heavy vibration transfer.

ef9ridda

i second "TheAsian"
-very well put

BrayzieEF9

This would make sense if it was shaking while he was driving and braking,BUT it only shakes when he's at a stop light or stop sign with his foot on the brake,when he release's the brake it stops shaking.

TheAsian

No when he driving the power is going to the ground via the wheel moving. At idle the engine vibration is tranfering through the car. Think about it you feel the engine more when you are stoped. While cruising the car feels smooth.

BrayzieEF9

yeah but he says it only shakes when he's in gear and his foot is on the BRAKE,when he releases his foot off the brake.there's no shake and when idling in neutral there's no shake.There's only shake when pressure is applied to the brake pedal while in gear stopped completely at a stop light or stop sign.

TheAsian

I'm going on the assumption the car is a auto. In drive at stop the power is stuck in the trans with nowhere to go other than through the mounts to the car.

Herbie

Thanks for the replies. I agree with you TheAsian, this is why the shaking is worse when the transmission is in drive.

But check out my second post above describing the weird idle issue. If it was the mounts, why would the shaking smooth out with just a small increase in rpm? Sitting in drive with my foot on the brake if I press the gas to increase just ~200 rpms, it smooths right out.

Im trying to figure out if the idle is just low. Anyone know what the rpm markings are under 1000 on the in dash tach? (there are two marks under 1000)

BrayzieEF9

take a picture and also answer my question if any power surges when pressure is applied to the brakes?

TheAsian

increasing the rpm you are brining the engine closer to a balanced fequency. Easier way or explaining it think of the crank and only the crank spinning at a low rpm on a center balance point. It would want to move from side to side, but increasing the speed would exert more interita and bring it into a harmonic fequency reducing vibration. Sorry for the rough explanation not my strong point

Pacific Rider

I've been chasing the same issue on my sons DB1.
Haven't thought about the steering rack or the column.
I always figured the first mark on the tach was 500, then 100 per mark after that.
His idles around 750. All the symptoms same as above.
We changed all the mounts, vibrating didn't change.
I read somewhere the MAP fixed it, another changed his muffler.
The vibrating is not as annoying as the resonance the car has at a stop light.
Has anyone found the cure.
Thanks..

Herbie

Wow, stirring up my old post huh?

Well good because I never figured it out, but sorry I cant help you with any solutions. I determined the engine mount to be fine so I moved on to an idle issue. I think the car is bogging down for some reason which is causing the resonance/shaking.

I noticed the rpms drop immediately after I let off the gas when driving. For example, when Im driving freeway speeds and let off the gas, the rpm will immediately drop to idle level. It doesn't want to die or anything, but the way it feels is like something is killing it or bogging it down.

I searched for vacuum leaks, nothing. I cleaned and checked electrical to the IACV, also checked electrical on the TPS. Everything checked out fine. I adjusted the throttle cable correctly, also set the idle correctly by honda manual instructions. Nothing has helped.

At this point, Im thinking its the IACV or something electrical.

Im still not getting any codes. I haven't checked the MAP sensor, I will do that.

Pacific Rider

I was told the map would throw a code if bad.
In my day we adjusted the mixture to smooth out an idle.
Witch is what the map is supposed to do.
Thanks for answering.

90_EX_Civic

is your car a automatic? how many miles do you have? it's a long shot, but it could be torque converter.