Request opinions on my sort-of-new Accord

I hate to say this, but I've gotta wonder at the suspension issues you
describe, and coupled with the body panel alignment that Honda normally gets
done with near precision, has your car been wrecked or dropped off the truck
or some other significant trauma happened before you bought the car? (I like
to think that if the trauma happened after you bought the car, you'd
remember ... )

The shaking when you apply the brakes is typically the result of warped
brake rotors. One would not expect this to be the case on a brand new car,
but warped rotors should be a strong consideration. Warped rotors can easily
exist without grooves, and in such cases, they can be machined true again.

You have a brand new car that demonstrated semi-significant issues the day
you drove it off of the lot.

If you drive on a straight section of freeway and take your hands off the
steering wheel, does the car proceed straight for at least one-quarter mile,
or does it veer off track to either the left or the right.

NOTE: If the car gently drifts to the right, this can be the result of the
slope of the roadway that carries water to the right shoulder. This sloping
can vary from one location on the freeway to another, so it would be
reasonable to do the test is several places and note any changes.

NOTE 2: When I say, take your hands off of the steering wheel, I'm not
suggesting you set the autopilot and climb into the back seat, letting the
car go on its merry way. You also need to be cognizant of the movements of
the other cars, and not ride down the freeway hands-free in traffic. Just
hold you hands above the wheel and let the car go straight by itself, if it
can. If the car does not go straight, then you need to hold the wheel again.

The shaking can also be the result of damaged suspension components, struts,
control arms, rack & pinion, and so on. It can also be an out of balance
tire, but this condition would not change simply because you applied the
brakes. Suspension component problems would change through the application
of the brakes.

None of the problems you describe is severe when taken in isolation, but
when they are all combined they paint a very ugly picture. I hope the
picture is not real, but if it is, you deserve redress. You describe a host
of relatively minor, and normal, issues that happen over time, but you
describe them from the very first day of ownership, and this is alarming.

I have owned several Hondas -- '82 Accord, '86 Accord DX, and '89 Accord
LXi -- all of them became high-mileage cars (over 200K). That's not true,
the '86 was t-boned on the passenger's side and was a total loss. Honda
builds excellent cars, but yours seems to fall well short of "excellent."

I'd be writing a friendly letter to Honda America explaining that your car
has had a shimmy from the very first day that has gotten worse over time,
and that the hood alignment is not right. Taken individually, not big
issues, but taken together is very alarming and you have to wonder if the
car has a history that was not part of the bargain you struck with the
dealership. Include the VIN number. The car could have "port damage" that
the dealership never knew about, or the car could have been out on a test
drive and somebody drove it over a curb. Lots of things could be true, or
not. But you have a host of issues that might be related to events before
you took delivery.

You might have a Lemon Law car.

 

Yeah, I mostly agree. But all of that would have probably applied when
he first got the car. At this point the problem may have developed into
something else.

If you drive the car with a shimmy for 10000 miles like the OP did then
that can result in uneven wear on the rotors. When it reaches that point
it becomes very noticeable in the brake pedal and not just the steering
wheel. At that point the problem can only be fixed by replacing or
turning the rotors because the rotors can and do wear unevenly.
Also when it progresses that far if you don't address the problem it
may spread to other wheels because the pulsing pressure in the brake
line circuit may cause uneven wear on the other rotors.

-jim

 

don't disagree. but i can't imagine how anyone can drive a vehicle in
that condition for that length of time.

 

Suck dick, DEMONrat LIEbrawl.

 

Yes, I have. You are apparently not paying attention.

 

Because I dont go through and edit the newsgroups addresses, I guess.
Maybe my newsgroup supplier filters them. I havent a clue.

I dont have a Honda. My son is the Honda fan. My wife and I primarily
drive Toyotas now, have about 7-8 different cars on the tax roles.

I test drove Hondas the last couple of times we bought new cars, but they
had a harsher ride feel than the Toyotas IMO. Nice, but not my cuppa...

People like Sharx35 are probably best ignored. I have killfiled Mike Hunt
over many newsgroups.

 

i was paying attention. absent your presenting any info on how you
determined that warpage has actually occurred, and to what extent it had
happened, there is nothing to distinguish what you describe from the
much more common problem i'm describing. how did you make the
differentiation?

 

Chocked them up in the brake lathe and measured the side variation.
You CAN measure the thickness variation, but I did not do that.
Should have.

 

Wanna remove your pov spec Toyota out of the Luxury lane, you are
blocking the progress of the Lexus drivers.

 

that doesn't necessarily mean the disk is warped - it could just as
easily be a seating problem, just like i described.

if you didn't measure it, you can't say for sure that you have the
correct diagnosis, merely that you had symptoms - and there is more than
one cause of those symptoms, as i've said all along.

 

Don't discount the fact you may have a bad axle. Very rare but it does
happen.
Be careful on what you do yourself to try to fix your shimmy problem. If it
doesn't fix the problem and you then go to your dealer he may see that
you've tampered with it and assume you caused the problem with the work
you've done. If in the course of diagnosis at your dealership they rebalance
your tires ask if they have a wheel balancer that measures "road force
variation". This usually measures a pull to one side or another due to a
defect in manufacturing of the tire and can often indicate an out of round
condition on a tire that may cause your problem.
If I were you I'd have the hood realigned. Someone else might notice the
different gap and assume you've been in an accident. It's an easy fix of
loosening the bolts on the hood hinges and realigning.
Also, if it were mine I'd want my new car to run and look like a new car.
Good luck.

 

I've decided for now to just live with it. After checking with some
Honda
forums, I've learned that this is not that uncommon, surprisingly.
As I said, it is pretty minor, and I am reluctant to have them start
working on it. But I completely agree with what you said about doing
work and giving Honda an excuse.

Thanks. As far as the gap thing. Haven't decided. I actually went
to a nearby
dealership and looked at some '09s the other night, checking gaps, and
believe it
or not, I saw other brand new cars on the lot that did not have the
exact same amount
of gap. One of the Accords sitting right out front had nearly the
same problem with
gap that my car has. The difference in gap width was almost as bad
as with mine;
same sides too.

One thing though...you mentioned getting the hood realigned. My body
shop
friend said it would be an easy fix and he mentioned that the
passenger side
fender would just be unbolted and moved in a little. But I pointed
out that if
that was done, the fender would no longer be flush with the door
edge. He then
said something to the effect that that end wouldn't be moved much,
etc. But
in that case, the fender and hood edges would no longer be nicely
parallel,
as they are now..... So what you seem to be saying would make more
sense,
i.e. moving the hood slightly over. Then again, if that were done,
would the
hood still close nice and precise as it does now?

 

I've decided for now to just live with it. After checking with some
Honda
forums, I've learned that this is not that uncommon, surprisingly.
As I said, it is pretty minor, and I am reluctant to have them start
working on it. But I completely agree with what you said about doing
work and giving Honda an excuse.

Thanks. As far as the gap thing. Haven't decided. I actually went
to a nearby
dealership and looked at some '09s the other night, checking gaps, and
believe it
or not, I saw other brand new cars on the lot that did not have the
exact same amount
of gap. One of the Accords sitting right out front had nearly the
same problem with
gap that my car has. The difference in gap width was almost as bad
as with mine;
same sides too.

One thing though...you mentioned getting the hood realigned. My body
shop
friend said it would be an easy fix and he mentioned that the
passenger side
fender would just be unbolted and moved in a little. But I pointed
out that if
that was done, the fender would no longer be flush with the door
edge. He then
said something to the effect that that end wouldn't be moved much,
etc. But
in that case, the fender and hood edges would no longer be nicely
parallel,
as they are now..... So what you seem to be saying would make more
sense,
i.e. moving the hood slightly over. Then again, if that were done,
would the
hood still close nice and precise as it does now?

***********
Properly done, yes.

 

"So what you seem to be saying would make more sense,
i.e. moving the hood slightly over. Then again, if that were done, would
the
hood still close nice and precise as it does now?"

Yes, it will close normally, if not better.

 

Honda == Toyota for all practical purposes. Who cares?

 

Truing on the brake lathe cured the problems. It has not been a seating
problem.

Problem has occurred some weeks to months AFTER tires were rotated, etc.,
A seating problem would be immediate.