hey, I have a 99 prelude, base, 5spd, 54K miles on it....... and when it idles it tends to have vibration on the steering wheel...... the idle does not fluctuate, it stays steady, and it stays at around 7 or 800 rpms, so its not because the idle is too low..... I checked the front three mounts and they are ok, just cannot get at the rear mount to inspect it so maybe this could be it.... here are the things ive tried to solve it which didnt work..... spark plugs, wires, dist. cap and rotor, TB cleaner, fuel injector cleaner,octane boost, also, it will do it more when i use power such as headlights, a/c, windows..... someone suggested to me that it could be the battery so i have yet to replace that, it also seems to do it more when the weather is cold outside, even when the car is fully warmed so someone told me it could have something to do with the coolant..... I did a compression check and it is ok so thats not the prob, I am out of ideas, any insight would be greatly appreciated, thanks, also, the valve lash is ok they are not too tight so that isnt the prob either.....

 

is your steering collum (sp) loose? that seems to happen a lot to older cars, like ten or more years old. who knows. its worth looking at even if yours is a 99.

Doug

 

it might have something to do with the power steering somehow introducing the shake. Not sure exactly how it would do that, but seems logical

 

Dont overlook the obvious... Check your belts... Oh ya, they look fine! First off... Belts cause vibration idling... All of your symptoms point to it being your belts in one way or another... PS,ALTERNATOR,water pump... Hmm, thats how they are all connected right? PLUS, try and run high A/C and see if its worse... Either your belts need replacing, or tightening..... Alot of time P/S or alternator will slide closer in caused by vibration... It may look tight, but not be tight... If elst are not your issue, than its prolly steering column like other guy said... I experienced same thing in mine and put some new belts on and tightened really tight and mine went away! For 6 months now, ya!

 

I think ill try that then, when i feel the belts they seem to be tight.... but like you said once they are moving etc it could be a different story, so you had the same prob as me? and yes when i use power such as headlights, a/c, fan kicks on etc, it gets worse, and the IACV is working because it kicks the idle up when i use something that is related to power but it even still vibrates more when power is being used even though the idle is higher..... when you felt your belts did they feel tight or what? thanks for helpin me out everyone....

 

YA.. my belts were tight to the hand... I mena they had a little movement... As I found out though, a 4cyl w/ AC needs really good! asnd relaly tight belts... vibration caused the long screw on my P/S to unscrew itself... Check for belts and belt related things... My problem only occurs slightly with AC on full blast and recirculating..... Now, its pretty much gone!

 

yea, im going to check all that stuff tommorow and see.... i know it had to be something power related because like i said , when its day time with no electrical stuff on, the vibration is minimized even though the idle is low, then when i use something power the idle kicks up but it vibrates a lil more....ill check the belts and screws etc to see if thats a prob an prolly replace the belts, me an about 3 or 4 other people have been trying to solve this prob for a long time now so if that ends up solving the prob we will owe you big time haha......

 

hey i checked the belts and..... the power steering belt feels like it has a little slack, i can push it down, the other belt seems tighter, i can still push it down A LITTLE but not much, do you think if the power steering belt needed to be tighter that would be enough to cause the vibration or would it lean more towards the other belt, also, when you tightened them did you make them so tight to where you couldnt push them down or what? also, do i need to replace them to tighten them or can i just tighten them?

 

I would replace them if you got the money, but its not nessecary.... Good belts should run smooth... Slack at all is not really good in the P/s belt... I would try and tighten themboth to almost the max... If the other is tight and barely moves it should be good... You might get a little damper, but not enough to feel idling... I would tighten them so much that pusing them is like pushing your car with the brake on(assuming you got brakes)... You want them good and tight!

 

just curious, what model/yr is yur car and how many miles? and you said when yurs needed to be tightened that there wasnt too much slack?

 

You should try checking the counter balance belt. That will definitely make the engine vibrate the whole chasis including your steering column.

 

is the counter balance belt the one connected to the alternator ? cause it seems tight, if not which other belts are there besides that one, the power steering, and the timing belt?

 

First off, I have a 93...130k now... I know, its not even the same generation.... Next off, those are the three main belts you should worry about... Well, they are really the only belts... I know I know... Alright.... What everyone is trying to say is this simple. Think about coffee can(or something cylinder shaped)... Now, attach a rubber band near the top and one near the bottom. Try and rotate both bands at the same time and? Well, the can should spin in a circle. Now think about making one really tight and one loose. Whats going to happen? First off one will want to spin faster.. Second the can is going to wobble from more pressure on one side then the other... Now, think about your belts(rubber bands) and your pulleys (coffee can) Notice how one belt runs from one side and the other comes in from the other side at the one pivital pulley... If you cna tell me which one this one is you might understand more than I think you do.... Ok, the wobble is caused by uneven pressure from the belts, the belts being messed up themselves, an offset pulley that causes the belt to run at an angle, a bad bearing on a pulley, or just a slipping belt.... That counterbalance belt is to balance the pulley... The key pulley actually rotates the belts which cause you p/s,a/c, and everything to work... You have to look at your car to be able to tell what wrong... I cna tell you that this pulley/belt area is the key to fixing your vibration... AND, it should be as simple as tightening a belt..... MAYBE NOT! You seem to want to make it pretty hard on yourself...


[Modified by JTCdudeman, 12:33 PM 2/17/2003]

 

lol sorry if I seem to make it hard on myself.... i checked the belts and they seem tight, when the car is running it doesnt wobble or anything, and someone people told me if you over tighten the p/s belt it could break the pump is that true? also, the other thing I should mention, is that it doesnt vibrate all the time, only at idle, it revs fine and runs fine but when you sit at a stop light and its idling then it starts to vibrate, someone suggested to me that it could be the ignition coil and its not receiving enough spark, could this be true? Im going to try tightening the belts up but when they told me that about breaking the power steering pump it got me worried because they are pretty expensive....

 

Preylude99, Any luck with the vibration problem? I have the exact same issue on a 93' Accord. I have run throught the same diagnostics (front motor mount, distrib. cat, rotor button, plugs, wires, PCV) and still the same problem. It's really annoying and now worse because I've started running the A/C. (vibration increases when the compressor is running.)