bootsakah

Hey guys, new to the Forum. I searched for my issue first, but nothing seemed to fit so I started a new thread. I appreciate all your help in advance. I just picked up a 2003 Honda Civic EX 4door, automatic, 108k miles. Since picking up the car it presented itself with a few issues.

Issue #1 (since been solved) was a random thump sound in the front end going only at slow speed when hitting small bumps. I took the car to a local Midas, they replaced the struts (which apparently were OEM) and the upper strut mounts and problem solved. No more thumping at slow speed.

Issue #2 is a random vibration coming from what feels like the front end , hard to tell if its right or left. It feels like a quick shimmy or vibration feeling, almost like going over a cattle guard, but it only happens for a second or two and goes away. It happens most around 35-45 mph. When it happens you can hear it, feel it in your feet and in the steering wheel, it is real quick lasting only a few seconds at most. I sometimes can drive the car for 20 minutes and not have it happen, other times it happens every few minutes or so. It’s really only noticeable at around the 35-45 mph range. Midas also replaced the left front wheel bearing and left CV axle when they did the front struts. They also did an alignment and checked the wheels for balance. Thoughts?

Issue #3 is a slight hesitation or miss feeling when driving at a consistent speed. Around 35-45 mph the car feels like it skips a beat, it just hesitates slightly or almost like it misses slightly. It is very slight, but happens every 5-10 seconds when driving smoothly around 35-45mph. Also sometimes when it happens the steering wheel will pull to the left very slightly, just a quick little pull. Maybe this issue is related to Issue #2? Some suspension, tranny, engine, transaxle issue?

Thanks for any help!


Boots

bootsakah

I found a solution to my problem. First thing I did was a valve adjustment. This fixed most of the slight surging or hesitation feeling when driving at a consistent speed. There was still a little bit in there however and I still had the shudder problem (what I originally described as a front end shimmy feeling, like going over a cattle guard).

The more I felt the problem, the more I had a feeling it was a tranny issue. Following the advice of another forum, I had the transmission flushed and replaced with compliant Honda transmission fluid. Immediately after doing that I still had the problem, however, as every day passed it was less and less. After 1 week it stopped happening, and now its been about a month, and I haven't had the shudder issue since. My guess is the Ford dealer I bought the car used from, did a "typical used car service" and put in the wrong tranny fluid, not knowing Honda needs a specific grade.