I'm new to this forum. I have a 1998 accord with 2.3 vtec. I've only had it a couple months and I really like car. The car runs great and rides smooth until today. I pulled out in front of someone and had to floor it. The car took off and merged with plenty of power up to 70 mph. When i let off to maintain 70 mph the car started shaking like the wheels were about to fall off. I got out and checked lug nuts and tires and saw nothing out of the ordinary. I looked under the hood and saw nothing weird. I eased on about 60 mph home which was 30 miles. During the trip home I noticed that it starts shaking at about 30 mph and does it right on up to however fast I want to go. The engine is running smooth. It also does it when I let off and coast. It shakes when i put in neutral and coast. When I got home I took two front tires off and saw nothing out of the ordinary. I also have a knocking sound that I hear from about 15 mph until I stop. Dont really feel steering wheel shaking. It's seat of the pants shaking like a u joint on a rear wheel drive. CV's were changed about 2 years ago according to original owner. What have I got going on here? I have researched already but haven't found exaclty what I have going on. Also no strange noises when turning and tracks straight. Thanks for reading and your ideas

 

Some years ago, cottontail rabbits got into my Nissan Stanza and chewed the wires leading from one of the sensors.

Car started OK, ran OK for 5 miles and then at 70 mph the computer decided it didn't know what to do without the sensor input and successfully tried to pre-ignite the cylinders leading to violent shaking of the car going straight down the freeway. Got a hysterical voice message from spouse driver. Wow.

So check the leads from all the sensors to see if they've been chewed through, or are continuous ...

luck.

 

Thanks for reply. I will check. I hope mine is as simple as that. I definetly wouldn't have thought of that. I'm just stumped as to why it started vibrating and shaking after a hard acceleration. Unless it's just coincidence.

 

Today I drove it again. I noticed that it doesn't start shaking til about 45 mph. And it only shakes while cruising with light throttle and deceleration. Runs fine while acelerating. It also smooths out if I put in neutral while coasting. Bad motor mounts? Wheels out of balance?

 

Shaking as you describe is more likely a worn component; ball jt, suspension bushing. Something is loose and when right speed/load condition is met, the vibration starts.

Misalignment (caster or toe) combined w/ looseness might also cause this problem.

Suggest getting suspension examined carefully on a rack by someone w/ expertise.

good luck

 

Remember if if feel it in the seat of the pants but not through the steering wheel you may have to look out back. You might think it's up front but a rear tire can cause problems as well. First check would be the tire balance as it usually starts after you get up in speed. Out of round tire as well.

 

I inspected cv boots again and found drivers side had a leak and had gotten grease all over brake caliper and inside rim. I usually do some of my own mechanic work but haven't got time to fool with it. I took it to local shop and he said that outer boot of cv was obviously leaking and that the inner joint was sloppy. They are replacing it as I write this. I guess when I floored the gas pedal yesterday it put enough pressure to finally do the cv in. Didn't realize a 2.3 made that much power! ThAnks for reading and responding.

 

Well no luck with that. Still does it. That cv axle was going to go bad anyway since it had little to no grease. Next step is to have tires balanced I guess.

 

I replaced the driver side cv axle today. My car now rides and drives as smooth as ever. No shaking!