im having problems with my honda civic 1999 ex 149,000 miles..... i was told it was transmission, now im told its probably the cv joint....

Problem......
only when im cruising around 40-45 mph, just cruising in that specific speed (if im accelerating through 35-50 there is no problem) the front end will vibrate until i either accelerate of hit the brake. My car is an automatic.

i looked at both cv joints both ends seem look okay i felt around the boots connected to the tire end and dont feel any leaks or cracks and then this caught my eye its not the cv joint but it runs beside the cv joint and this is located on my driver side


would this be the problem, and what the he** is it?

 

that is your inner and outer tie rod ends... thats what actually pushes or pulls the wheel left or right.

It looks old... but nothing too abnormal.

That answers one of your questions (hopefully)... but on the vibration... you'll have to wait for other replies. Good luck man.

 

thanks, but the other ones boot doesnt look like it broke off like this one, does this need to be replaced or can it be left alone, the, just curious?

 

Check your tires and make sure your tires are not chopped cupped or have a broken belt

 

i have new falkens, and this was happening before when i had a set of big o tires,

 

check your wheel bearings and ball joints

 

If you're concerned about it you can replace them. They're called bellows I think. And they just slip over the ends of your steering rack and protect the inner tie rod ball joint from getting dirty.

Mine are broke like yours. The bellows are still there... just not actually sealed over the tie rod end... It doesnt hurt my feelings. I just know that I'll be replacing an inner tie rod a little sooner than normal. Oh well. My car will be a dedicated track car soon, But if you want longer life out of your inner tie rods replace them.

 

im considered a "beginner noob" so that part is considered a tie rod boot

 

whenever Ive referred to it as a "tie rod boot" at parts stores... they couldnt ever find the part. I think its under the catagory of power steering rack. And I'm almost positive its called a bellow. But in VERY rare occasions I have been known to be wrong. lol. kidding.

 

Usually officially called: Bellows Boot.
In all the parts i've ordered at work, this seems to get parts stores in the right direction.
It is not going to hurt much at all by leaving them. The inner tie rod doesn't get too much debris traffic anyways.
Personally, from a mechanic's view, sounds like you could be dealing with a bad axle.
Either that or possibly a bad motor mount.
but it sounds more like a tight CV axle, and other than replacing one at a time, i don't know an easy way to test which side (usually an outer joint binding) is causing you trouble.
GL with your problem...

 

check hub ball joint (bottom)...it can cause vibration if wear out...

 

bellow boot (innertie-rod dust cover) in itself being broken will not cause problems. but it appears that the bellow boot is quite wet inside. this wetness is from yoru rack and pinion seal. the rack and pinion seal is what the bellow boot is there for so dirt and debris wotn damage the seal.

you will need a new rack and pinion..but this is NOT causing an issue so honestly i wouldnt worry about it unless you dotn like filling up your power steering resovir. if it is a manual rack then i really wouldnt worry about it at all. will still last quite a long time.

now for the vibration issue at hand.... it WILL NOT be any front end part like mentioned earlier. i will explain in detail since im tired of posters spurting out front end parts.

it will not be bearing... bearings dont vibrate at any speed. a bad bearing will growl or moan and will be noticiable the faster you go. this growl or moan might feel some vibration on the car but will "not" vibrate your wheel back and forth. bad bearings will change pitch when you turn if they are the frotn bearings. bad bearings will not quiet down at any speed a.k.a. stop making noise during a certain speed. they will have a jet like effect where the pitch is stronger and higher..then the next faster speed will make the pitch stronger and higher yet..then the next faster speed.. and so on.

it will NOT be a bad baljoint/tie-rod/inner tie-rod/upper balljoint/or even control arm bushings. sure you could have play in any of them but they will not vibrate down a smooth road. lets say for arguments sake you have an inch looseness in the listed part above. if you drive down the road that inch movement will kick out fully max. you will continue driving with the balljoint maxxed out at that inch.. (newtons law says some stuff about an obeject will continue path until another force is acting upon that same said opbejct) if you were to hit a bump (suspension travel) or accelerat harder..or decel (brakes applied) that you are creating another force to move that balljoint. it will move "once" to the other inch maxx side of the spectrum. it might even have a small ripple effect (vibrate) when you change forces on that balljoint. this right there is where people say "yoru balljoints cause vibrations.." which in fact they really dont!

a bad motor mount is kind of the same way as mentioned above. it will kick maxx side then min side only when force is applied.. i.e. braking, hard accel, shifting or possibly a bump or dip in the road. it will not be a set vibration while cruising and definetly will not go away at a certain speed. these are really checked at idle or throttle snaps at idle.

a bad alignment or alignment out of spec. same rules apply.. alignments will not cause vibrations. they could wear your tires unevenly and then that said tire might be out of balance resulting in a out of balance tire which could cause a vibration but your alignment is the the problem..it would be considered a cause of your problem. alignemnt angles just that.. an angle of your tire to help promote tire wear and handling on your vehicle. if one angle is out the tire will just ride at that angle... it wouldnt vibrate at all.

now for the things that CAN cause a vibrate down the road at a certain given speed.

balancing of your tires... if the wheel shakes then it will be front balance. if your *** shakes or the car shakes then i would look at rear balancing. just because a said shop just balanced your tires doesnt mean they did a correct balancing style or even a good job at balancing. normally 60 mph shake is balance..and it would go away the faster you go... i understand your speed is lower then this .

a bad tire or bent rim.. this too could cause a vibration but generally it will be considered a "low speed wobble" low speed is generally 25-30 range. your speed is also below this i undertsaand.

halfshaft can cause a vibration.. for your speed and such this is where i would look first. its not uncommon to have axle problems that cause a vibration at a specific speed.

last one that can cause a vibration is often overlooked. brakes!. vibration while braking is bent rotors or warped drums. pull your e brake to tell if it is in front or rear.

another brake issue which can cause a vibration while "cruising" is to tight of a drum adjustment. this can cause the shoes to engauge and disengauge (a.k.a. skip effect) while cruising. would get worse the longer you drive it but wouldnt go away at a given speed liek you mentioned.

sorry for the novel but jus wated to clarify some thigns and extend your knowledge about simple mechanics.

i would start balancing, rotate of tires, rear drum brake adjust then halfshaft in that order.

 

Did you ever solve this problem? I am having the same issue on my 2004 CRV. The fact that it goes away As Soon As you try to accelerate seems to indicate transmission to me, as nothing else would change that fast. Turning off (or on) the O/D also seems to stop it, but that may be coincidence.

 

Balance those tires bro!