Hi guys,

I have a '91 Civic Si with some obnoxious wheel hop / chatter problems in the front end. It is most pronounced on wet pavement or if I'm starting on an uphill (or if I just punch it too hard).

The front wheeels hop off the ground causing loud and violent shaking that can only be corrected by laying off the throttle. My tire pressure is ok, I have new CV joints, and I had the alignment set.

This may be unrelated, or related, but when I had the CV joints done, the shop (a local reputable transmission and suspension shop) told me that the front-end alignment was way out of wack. They had to put spacers on the front passengers side to push the wheel far enough back to go straight down the road. According to the computer, it should be pulling hard to the right, but it goes straight.

Any ideas? I'm kind of new to the Honda scene.

thanks

 

The wheel hop could be because of old or dead shocks and bad bushings.
What have you done to your suspension?

 

Everything on the car is bone stock. I haven't touched the suspension in the year and a half that I've owned the car. The previous owner didn't mention any suspension work when I bought it.

Can I do the old bounce check on the front-end or is there a better way to find out if my suspension is at fault?

And the next question - assuming I need new shocks, what should I put on? I love an upgrade

 

how old is the clutch? perhaps your clutch is going and you're getting clutch chatter, which also shakes the front end and feels like really bad wheel hop. sometimes when clutches break this chatter shows up. feels like the front end is going to shake apart, and won't stop til you push the clutch back in/lay off the throttle.

 

I haven't noticed my clutch slipping, but it hasn't really "felt right" since I bought the car. It's kind of hard to launch because the friction point is real short (using the wrong terminology here I'm sure). It basically goes from free pedal to fully in gear w/out much in between.

How can I check? And if it were the clutch, would the problem ocurr more often on wet pavement?

 

Hey, I have a similar problem with my Civic, and what you're describing sounds right.

 

I took the car out and stomped on it a little bit - the chatter is definitely there but I'm not sure if it feels like the clutch or the wheels. The clutch idea does sound possible - I've never liked the way that clutch feels and it's possible it's getting worse without me noticing it.

However, I tried going from a dead stop directly into 3rd - the engine died right away leaving me to think the clutch is not slipping (when I needed a clutch in my truck, this was the indicator that my clutch was slipping).

As for the shocks, I tried bouncing the hood of the car, and it stabilized pretty quick. Then again, it's a little car, so maybe the bounce-test doesn't tell me **** about my shocks.

So, what troubleshooting steps can I take next? I can put the car on ramps and do a visual inspection if somebody could tell me what to look for.