Sometimes I get in my 92 H22a Prelude and it drives fine. Every second or third time I go somewhere, the steering wheel gets really shaky, especially around 60mph and sometimes if it is driving shaky, it shakes as I brake also. I had my wheels balanced and that didnt help. Im pretty sure alignment is fine because if i let go of the wheel on the highway, it stays in a straight line. I have no camber wear either. Does anyone know what I'm talking about or have a clue what it is? thanks

 

Alignment? That's what was wrong with my gf's car and the exact same symptoms.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDMH22Prelude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sometimes I get in my 92 H22a Prelude and it drives fine. Every second or third time I go somewhere, the steering wheel gets really shaky, especially around 60mph and sometimes if it is driving shaky, it shakes as I brake also. I had my wheels balanced and that didnt help. Im pretty sure alignment is fine because if i let go of the wheel on the highway, it stays in a straight line. I have no camber wear either. Does anyone know what I'm talking about or have a clue what it is? thanks</TD></TR></TABLE>

same thing with my car.... bump..

 

at least im not the only one bump

 

I had that problem on another car, not a prelude -- not even a Honda. Anyway, I could never find anything wrong, even had the front struts changed b/c I thought they were bad. When I was changing the brakes/rotors on the front I noticed the stabilizer bolt had been snapped in two. How the garage missed it when they did the struts I have no idea. I'm not sure if that's the right term for it or what the prelude has as an equivalent, but I would check that out.

This was a bolt about ~8 inches long with a couple sleeves on it; it ran through the lower control arm. The replacement I bought might have been $10, but that was a GM car and I bought it at AutoZone or someplace like it.

 

I had the same problem and went through the same steps. Had the wheels rebalanced, new alignment etc etc. Finally one day when it started acting up I pulled off to investigate and found my rear left wheel to be extremely hot. After pulling the wheel off my suspicions were correct. I had a siezed caliper. It was causing the rotor to get hot, eventualy warp and cause the shimmy shakes. This may not be your problem, but its worth investigating. Hope this helps.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Sometimes I get in my 92 H22a Prelude and it drives fine. Every second or third time I go somewhere, the steering wheel gets really shaky, especially around 60mph and sometimes if it is driving shaky, it shakes as I brake also. I had my wheels balanced and that didnt help. Im pretty sure alignment is fine because if i let go of the wheel on the highway, it stays in a straight line. I have no camber wear either. Does anyone know what I'm talking about or have a clue what it is? thanks
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Warped rotor.

 

if it happens when u brake, there is something wrong with ur rotors.

 

I get a shaky steering wheel but only when the car is cold for some reason. Once i've been driving a good 10 minutes and the car is warm it goes away.

 

its not my rotors... b/c it even shakes a lil bit wen im driving, even at like 60 mph.itll stop if i turn a lil bit. but if my wheel is straight, it still does it... i do have both of my swaybar links broken on the front, one on each side, but that would have nuthing to do with it...

 

or does it....

 

In most cases a shimmy is caused by out of balanced wheels. If you can ride out of it... it's balance: If you can't ride out of it.... it's alignment. FYI.

 

check your steering rack. maybe the bushings for the rack need to be replaced, or maybe the bolts from the steering arms are loose or something. pop off your wheels and try giving the steering components a good shake by hand to see if anything is loose. i had this problem with my 90 accord and it was my steering rack mounting bolts coming loose.

 

Or maybe your wheel is bent. Pot holes, hitting/running over a curb lately? The rim itself being bent, even the slightest, can seem like unbalanced tires or a warped rotor.

 

or as a last option, check to make sure your wheel bearing isn't shot. I've noticed it's always easier to hear a rear bearing that's out than a front (atleast in my case). Having that bearing worn would allow side to side play in your wheel, which may be increasing any minor balancing issue that wouldn't be considered a problem.

 

try the camber bolt it may have broke that would cause your problem.
jsut a thought for you

 

Do you have the same tire treads all around? If not, that could be one of your problems.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eMpAtHy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if it happens when u brake, there is something wrong with ur rotors.</TD></TR></TABLE>

same thing happened to mine.

 

Same thing happens to me, and my pads and rotors are in desperate need of replacing.

 

sounds like a few of you might have tyres that have separated-
I worked for a few months in a tyre fitter, and it was a common problem that we saw, especially with lower profile tyres.

Basically air gets into a layer of the tyre that it isn't meant to (due to a puncture that doesn't go all the way through, or a dodgy puncture repair) and causes a sort of bubble in between the layers, and causes the steering wheel to shake.
Some ppl noticed that after a while of driving that the shaking reduced or even went away completely, but it would be back again if they let there car sit for a little while.

If you reach behind the tyre you can feel the bubble of air formed, but its probably just best to get a tyre fitter to check it out for you.

There is really nothing you can do if you have this problem, short of just replacing the tyre...

 

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it shakes as I brake also
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im still saying rotors. Or atleast that is going to be one of many problems.

 

i'd say rotors or alignment. warped rotors made my civic shudder while braking and at higher speeds.