1999 Civic EX with B16A2 motor swap, newly rebuilt driver axle. All bolts tightened down to torque spec but has violent shuddering still exists. Any suggestions or ideas.

EDIT: Read AB16A2T's most recent post!


Modified by rabidcat53 at 12:51 AM 4/13/2004

 

out of balance wheels, bent suspension, shitty cv joint, bad alignment.

 

what type of shuddering? Vacum leak? That was my problem resently.

 

I had a shuddering once after I did some suspension work and put on my CAI and it came at any speed and it really freaking scared me and pissed me off. I checked everything but then I realized how stupid I was. I never tightened down to the full extent one of my wheels and it was very loose. Luckily I found it before I drove it any farther. My stupid mistake might be the same reason it is doing that to you but that is only my .02 worth ...

 

inspect everything, particularly ball joints - a violent steering wheel twitch of mine ceased when i went back and found a loose passenger side ball joint. if not that, try the other stuff everyone mentioned.

 

Yea it is a violent shuddering like steering, maybe a ball joint, I noticied a bent ball joint bolt while down there AND I just put on a new axle could all those be a cause?

 

does it make noise? like a grinding sound? if so maybe its a bad wheel bearing..check into the aforementioned suggestions, they seem to be very probably culprits

 

No grinding, I know what a wheel bearing sounds likes, had to replace one of those a few months ago. I just got my axle rebuilt and it felt really really solid.

The way it happened was I was driving to work, no problems at all, my co-worker and I went out to grab some grub and it started to shake, not that bad, mostly around 30+ mph, the boot was shredded on the inner joint. Took it out, ran around for hours, no one had one in stock already rebuilt, so I took it and had it rebuilt. Got it back, seemed solid, grease was in the boots, no metal shavings etc, looking good and ready to go, installed it, tightened down all the bolts, and took her out for a spin, BAM shaking at anything above 2 -5 MPH, brought back to my garage, jacked her up, everything was tight, no axle issues, BUT the bolt for the ball joint/sway bar looking thing was seriously bent and jacked up looking? Could that be it?


EDIT:



It is bolt number 13 that is bent, the very bottom part, also I noticied the bolt didn't look to fit to well into the bolt hole, kind of wobbly.


Modified by AB16A2T at 12:15 AM 4/11/2004

 

Bump.

 

probably still a bad axle. im having that same problem right now. no grease in the boot. give me the shakes off and on above 40mph. no performance problems, just annoying as ****. turn the volume up. ive run on it for a several hundred miles and no problems. ill get a new one someday when im not being lazy. hard launches and all, and it still hasnt gone, so i dont wanna hear any "oh my god you dont take care of your car" blabber. i know its not the best, but its not the worst. and its not broken, so it aint broke, dont fix it, right?
X-eric-X

 

See I wish it was that light it ISN'T THOUGH, It is violent as hell above 2 - 5 MPH, feels like the whole entire car is going to fall apart.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blackeg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">does it make noise? like a grinding sound? if so maybe its a bad wheel bearing..check into the aforementioned suggestions, they seem to be very probably culprits</TD></TR></TABLE>

ya i have had a few bad wheel bearings, but they dont always make a grindin noise. jack ur car up and see if u can wiggle any of the wheels, if they move its prolly ur wheel bearing

 

Read all replies, it isn't the wheel bearing. Thank you though.

 

With the clutch in and the car coasting, does is still shake violently?
Or is it only when your on the gas?

If its only when your on the gas, then the problem is one of your inner cv joints.
Its possible that they assembled it wrong or even that the problem is actually on the other side.
When an inner cv joint goes bad, the boot is not always torn or leaking.

 

I'll go find out right now.

 

probably the bent balljoint, could easily throw off your alignment, have it checked. Or you could jack up the car and spin the wheel and see if you can see if it wobbles.

 

I just looked at the driver side lower mount, it looks RIPPED to shreds, and the bolt part is resting on the bottom of the mount. Could that cause the violent shuddering?

 

It's a bad axle.
Did you do as SloPoke instructed?
I've had this problem before. And fixed it, but I've wondered what damage is being done when you hammer the **** out of it under accelleration. Can't be good for the tranny housing, axle seals, etc. Rebuilders sometimes just pop any joint on there. I've gotten 'em from the parts store with abs outers and ****. And in-the-box rebuilts that were out of balance like your's is acting.
Change it and be done with it.

 

Yea I am going to take the axle off tommorow and bring it back to the rebuilder and say it isn't working right, also take care of the damn bent bolt and torn motor mount.

 

Definately gotta be something in the suspension. id say bad ball joint. Or who ever put ur rims on didnt torqe them down. Happened to me 2 weeks after discount put my rims on.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Slopoke &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">With the clutch in and the car coasting, does is still shake violently?
Or is it only when your on the gas?

If its only when your on the gas, then the problem is one of your inner cv joints.
Its possible that they assembled it wrong or even that the problem is actually on the other side.
When an inner cv joint goes bad, the boot is not always torn or leaking.


</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well they made me a brand new axle free of charge because something was wrong with the one they rebuilt me, so it is already in, and just as a precaution I am repairing the bent bolt and the dead motor mount.

 

Check motor mounts as well...

 

FIXED!! Go brand new motor mount, brand new stabilizier bolt, and FREE brand new axle.

 

wow how'd u get em for free. i could use some extra sets

 

might want to look at tranny. my gsr throw out bearing broke and caused it to "violently shake"