Aeolian

My 2002 Honda Civic DX has had an off and on issue for the past year: while driving (speed not relevant most often) I will feel what seems like something becoming "disconnected" in the steering and then the wheel shakes so much that I have to pull over. The amount of 'shake' is related to speed. The slower I go the wider the steering wheel moves and slower the shaking. Once stopped, if I turn the wheel all the way to one side and then to the other then start moving again, it disappears... until the next episode. Some times I have to back up while cutting the wheel hard to either side, to alleviate the problem. I've heard an occasional low tone pop when doing this correction. The issue disappeared for close to 5 months... now it's back and out to get me...

I replaced the strut assembly on the drivers side front, a week ago, and the car drove fine but after replacing the strut assembly on the passenger side front, this issue is frequent and has me grounded until I can figure out what part I need to replace. Last night I adjusted the alignment using the 'string method' to get it very close to perfect. The tires were way out of alignment. This correction should have alleviated any stress in the steering however the problem is worse than ever. Today's driving test was very bad. Every 200' it would act up and I feel like something is going to snap. Tie rod ends look good but were initially a pain to break free from the strut and from the tie rod. Tires are Nokian studded Hakka's and all 4 are brand new this season. Most mechanics that I talk with are puzzled and have no idea what could be causing this. Is there a way to know if part of my cv shaft has failed or if my axles are the issue? Could the tie rod end be faulty with out me knowing?

prodjay10

Take it to get an alignment. They'll tell you if anything needs to be fixed before they can align it.

Atriticuss

Try jacking the entire front end of the car off the ground. With the wheels in the air try to wiggle them in and out side to side and up and down. If there is play in the wheel side to side it's most likely the inner or outer tie rod. If it's up and down. It's most likely the ball joint. If it's both up and down and side to side it could be a wheel bearing or a combination of the three. Those are usually the culprits to the best of my knowledge but I'm not the most knowledgeable. Or maybe you should stop driving on washboard gravel roads.

bbarbulo

Interesting problem. I like it, troubleshooting this should be fun.

Step one, let's list all the front end components that interact between driving and steering:

wheels and tires
rotors
wheel bearings
spindle
strut
ball joint
tie rod (outer)
lower control arm
axle
tie rod (inner)
steering rack
steering universal joint
steering column

Step 2 : cross out components that don't match symptoms or are 'known good' - I say known good since a failure of THAT particular component would 100% of the time result in the symptoms being reproduced. Like if a rim was bent, then every time you cross XY speed, the symptom would show up.

wheels and tires
rotors
wheel bearings
spindle
strut
ball joint
tie rod (outer)
lower control arm
axle
tie rod (inner)
steering rack
steering universal joint
steering column

Step 3: evaluate the left-over components for probability

axles... axles I've seen do bizarre things sometimes. The fact you say going lock to lock with the steering wheel fixes the issue puts axles in play. The difficult thing is, the axle is supposed to be center and should not really have enough force to transfer motion back into the steering wheel. but I can't eliminate it as NOT the culprit, so this one is a real possibility.

steering column and universal joint - easy visual inspection. Check the u-joint for excessive play, check the column for excessive play. Easy-peasy, all is well... prob NOT the issue.

steering rack... yes, could be... maybe... but unlikely. I say unlikely because the rack is ... well a rack and a pinion. My first thought is maybe the pinion pops out of position and 'floats' on the rack. But that's such a huge failure, and something would have to cause it to pop out and then the whole steering wheel shimmying at the speed of the vehicle... I dunno... makes the whole theory seem ridiculous. I'm gonna say NOT likely to the rack being bad. But still a little in play, since you do say the steering feel goes light. I'm not sure a bad axle can make the steering go light.

So, that brings us back to the axles being bad. If it was my car, and visual of the underside revealed nothing (no bad ball joint, tie rod, broken engine mount, etc...) I would pull the axles and take them apart for inspection. Yes, that means a new boot kit, but so what... it's not THAT expensive.

Aeolian

I really appreciate this response. I'll do this check list tonight in the shop once I get it warmed up. Thank you. I'll keep you posted.

Aeolian

I'll do this tonight, thank you for your sound response and input.

Aeolian

I have an appointment scheduled for Wed morning as back up if I cannot figure it out. Good advice, thanks.

bbarbulo

Actually I do have another possibility.

What car are the wheels from? And where do you live to have studded Hakka's?

If the wheels are not from this car, and the hub bore is different from the hub diameter (but kinda close)... Or if one of the rotors isn't fully seated to the hub, but kinda on there. Actually this very closely matches your symptoms. Something (either wheel or rotor) not being entirely seated to the hub can cause your exact symptoms. Compare the two sides closely around the hub area. How much of the hub is protruding. Get some quality pics for us, straight on and from an angle.

Aeolian

The rims are the stock rims and the tires mounted are the studded Hakka's. I live in VT and have run studded every winter for probably the past 15 years. I should note that I bought my Civic new in 2002 and have been the only owner/operator. That's a good call about the hub but all checks out. I'll get some pictures up this evening when I get back to the grind... I may preemptively pick up a pair of Moog Tie rod ends while in town. Is there any way to know for sure if the tie rod end has failed?

hondatech8798

iTrader: (2)

I'd be leaning on the axles binding, try taking them out and making sure they have a good range of motion when wobbling the inner and outer joint around....
From what u describe how when u stop and turn the wheels side to side it sounds like it's resetting the axles and getting them out of there locked or seized position..

bbarbulo

ok, it was just a thought. make sure that the wheel/rotor/hub are all getting nicely sandwiched together and nothing is there to mess up that interface. if that's good, move on.

tie rods don't cause this type of symptom. the way to tell is jack up the car. key out of the ignition and let the steering wheel lock. wheels still tight on the car. grab the wheel and jiggle it back and forth while watching the tie rod through the wheel spokes. you would visually see play in the tie rod if it's bad.

but a tie rod only transfers motion. it cannot cause a shake in the steering the way you describe.

it looks like we're back to the axles...

bandit67

Sounds like one or both lower A arm bushing are going bad. That occasional "pop" is what led me to finding that was my problem..........

PGHintegra

This happens to my gfs civic every couple months for whatever reason. I just rebalance the wheels and it fixes it everytime. I was so amazed the first time I fixed it cause I couldn't believe how violently the wheels would make the steering wheel shake