2003 V6 EXL Accord rub sensation/noise felt in gas pedal at 10mph

I'm a newbie to Honda and their cars. Meaning I've
never owned one before, so I'm not sure if the issue
I'm having is something normal or not. The problem
is that from a cold start I feel a rub sensation/noise
in the gas pedal once I hit 10mph. The strange part about
it is that I only feel this rub sensation when the
wheel is turned to the right. I use to and sometimes
still do feel it when I turn the wheel to the left.
However, I never feel it when I go straight. For the most
part, everytime I turn to the right I feel it. If I
immediately stop and try to make it happen again,
it won't. That's why I say only form a cold start
I feel this happen.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. From a cold
start, lets say I'm pulling out of a parking space and
cut the wheel to the right to exit. Now the wheel does
not have to be turned all the way to feel it. It happens
at any degree when the wheel is turned to the right.
Once I hit the 10mph marker on the odometer, well more
like 9mph going into 10mph, I feel this rub sensation/noise
in the gas pedal.

I don't know what this is and it driving me nuts. So much so
that my fiance is telling me to shut up and do somethinig
about it. She doesn't want to hear it anymore. She thought
that I was going crazy. I wish you could ahev seen the look
on her face the first few times I talked about it.
Now she never drives the car because she works in the city
and takes the train. But, one weekend she needed to take the
car for the day. Later on that night she tells me that she
felt the rub sensation/nosie. So she says to me that I gotta
get this to the dealer. There's something definitely wrong
with it.

Now in the first two weeks of owning the car, I
called the dealer and complained about the noise. They tell
me to bring it in and have the service department look at it.
So I make an appointment, at this point the car only had 2700
miles on it. It currently has 4150 on it. Anyway, I tell
the dealer exactly what they needed to do to reproduce the
problem. Now the tech that sat it my car and listened to me
rant about this problem seemed like he understood what I
was talking about. Well I get the car the next day and they
tell me they couldn't fix the problem. It was not reproducable
they said. After being bent out of shape for a little bit, I
spoke to the manager of the service department. He gave me the
same looks that my fiance use to give me as I was explaining the
problem. We then get in my car to try and reproduce the noise.
He gets in and start zipping all around the side roads around the
dealership. He never listened to me that, it only happens from a
cold start. So basically if you don't feel it you need to stop
and try again. Well he does starts to do this in the parking lot
of the dealership. Not once did he shut off the car and wait for
it to cool down. So that he could be doing it from a cold start.
We then park the car and go back inside. He basically told me
that if they reproduce the noise, they can't fix it. That kind
of pissed me off, but I guess he's right. But here's the funny
part about this. I get back in the car to leave and go back home,
anger and frustrated. I pulled out of the space and the car made
made that friggin noise again. well that just pissed me off, again.
So I go back inside to tell the manager. I tell him that it just
made the noise. I tell him look listen, everyday I leave my parking
space at work I can make this rub sensation/noise happen. He goes
and tells me that if they have to come to my job to see it happen,
they will. Well that never happened because the timing wasn't right.
Setting something like this up during the work week is just too
crazy for me. I have to much happening after work between going to
night school and other things. So I never set that up, which is
my own fault I guess.

(Am I boring you yet?)

So the car final came up for it 3750 miles oil change. I called to
set this up. They were so booked that I could not get my car to
them until tonight. This is why the odometer is at 4150, as I
stated earlier and not 3750. Anyway I spoke to the manager of the
service department once again tonight about this problem. I told
him that this thing is still a problem and it needs to be addressed.
He then started pulling out diagrams of the ABS system. Telling me
that he thinks it may be the ABS engaging that I feel. He says that
the old Preludes use to do something similar. Now I don't know if this
is true because I've never owned one before. Let alone
even a Honda in general. He says this because I only seem to
feel this from a cold start. So my question to the group is, is there
anyone out there that's having or has had this problem? I need to go
to them with something strong and hard. I checked Honda's site for
any such issues and have found none. I also searched on Google, that's
how I found this newsgroup. If anyone out there can help, I'd
appreciate it. Thanks so much for listen to my super long story.

-peteluv13

 

In the morning when driving off, I sometimes feel a "rubbing sensation" at
around the speeds you're talking about, but only once. Someone posted
recently that it's the ABS adjusting itself, and is normal. Check on Google
Groups.

-Chris

 

Your description sounds like the ABS self-test. My '96 Odyssey did it.
Nothing to worry about.

It can be incredibly difficult to get a dealer (any dealer) to actually
address the problem you bring to them, and I can certainly understand the
frustration, but in this case I think you are obsessing over nothing.

 

Chris,

Thanks for the reply. I'm happy to hear that this is a normal
thing for Honda. I was wondering if you could tell me what
Google groups to search for? Thanks.

-peteluv13

 

E. Meyer,

Thanks for the reply. I'm happy to hear that this is a normal
thing for Honda. It's hard not not obsess over something
you're not use to. Now that I know it's normal, I've gotten
over it. Thanks.

-peteluv13

 

I can't find the post I was referring to, but I'm pretty sure it's just the
ABS or maybe just the brakes adjusting themselves.

 

Chris,

No big deal anyway. I feel better now regardless.
Thanks again for the help.

-peteluv13

 

<<snip>>

I feel/ hear the same thing in my 03 v6 Accord. At first it was only
after the car has set for several hours. Now it will do it even if the
car has set for only a few minutes. The dealer WAS able to duplicate
the problem, on my car, and others on the new car lot. However, they
don't know what is causing it; they claimed they would check with
Honda engineering and get back to me. I have not heard from them in
over 2 months.

They DID speculate that it is the "hydraulic engine mount adjusting
itself". I'm unable to verify the existance of a hydraulic engine
mount. I have heard others speculate that it is related to the ABS
system; perhaps the hydraulic reservoir getting pumped up to proper
pressure.

I'd sure like to hear some "official" word on this issue, since it's
really not limited in scope.

Does anyone know where to get a phone number for Honda engineering
support? I did call a Honda 800 number, but got no where fast!

Thanks

 

You should ask your dealer to show you the book that has diagrams of
the ABS system. The diagram is really for the V4. However the dealer
showed me where the tank sat, which is on the right side. Hence the
reason why I was feeling the sensation when I mostly turned to the
right.

I also have not found any "official" word of this problem. However
posting the question to the group eased my mind knowing that the
sensation is normal. I laid it to rest in my head. I don't like the
sensation. I wish it would go away, but it won't. Minus that, the car
is great. I love it. It drives like a dream in the snow, believe it or
not.

-peteluv13