The car is stock and under warranty so I will be headed to the dealer, but I wanted to go in with as much information as possible. The situation is this, going in reverse while turnig the wheel left. Just short of reaching lock there is a thunk that is felt and heard. Car can be rolling down the drive in neutral or in reverse in a parking lot, it seems to make no difference - thunk. I think I can rule out brake pad shift and transmission and suspect a loose control arm or some suspension component, or maybe a C-V? Honda autos seem to be pretty consistent in their faults so I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this. Thanks in advance, great forum.


Modified by conker at 11:30 AM 9/23/2006

 

I had a similar noise coming from my '91 accord. It was the radius rod (otherwise known as the strut rud etc.) which the rubber bushing that connects the rod to the "frame" had pushed through to one side and allowed the wheel to move forward/backward at will, which caused a horrible clunk on acceleration and braking and reverse. Im not sure if your accord has the same suspension set up as my older year accord, but if it is this could be a likely cause. So if that rubber bushing is cracked, gone, or pushed through it would cause that noise- but if your lucky like me and catch the problem before your suspension falls apart, its an easy fix (make sure to get an alignment afterwards though).

C.V. joint would not probably cause that noise, however a C.V. joint problem can occur when the dust boots crack and allow grease out which ruins the machined internals. this will cause a knocking around turns.

other possible noises-

Motor and tranny mounts (i know you said it wasnt tranny but that could cause a noise)

worn ball joints

possibly, however unlikely, worn or loose control arms


In any case from the sounds of it most likely a suspension component problem. Let me know what the dealer says, i am interested to see what the cause of the noise really was... -preston

 

Thank-you for the detailed response. I will crawl under today an have a look and tug. It will probably go in on Wed. and I will post with the results.

 

Honda has had a big problem with steering rack bolts being torqued down propperly but the assembely lube was not right and causing the steering rack to be able to shift while turning.
The fix for this is to remove and clean the steering rack bolts and use regular motor oil on them (0w-20 is reccomended) then re torque the bolts.
I just did that to a '06 V6 accord last week.
Hope that helps

 

Thank-you, this is exactly what I was looking for. I own a 2003 S2000 and have researched the quirks of that car (axle-nut clicking, C-V pitting, etc.) and it seems that if one Honda has a problem, a hundred others do as well. When cars are designed and manufactured to tight specs, consistency is the result. I will have a look at this and also point the dealer in this direction if it ends up going in. Thank-you, again.

 

BTW, what is the proper torque-spec?