Hi - I'm new here and joined to get some advice on a manual transmission symptom that I've noticed. I've got a 2012 Honda Accord 4cylinder with 20k miles on it.
I've been noticing a high frequency vibration or buzz through the clutch pedal just as I engage or release it. My wife has virtually the identical car which is a 2011 (27k miles) and its clutch pedal is as smooth as silk with no vibration. I did a search in this forum for a similar issue and all I found was a suggestion to take it to the dealer. I'm afraid if I take my Honda to the dealer I'm going to get the "within spec" wave off. So I need to go armed with some kind of evidence. Are there any suggestions on how to nail this down or at least how to start documenting this now in case it gets worse later. I really like the car, but the buzzy vibration I feel in the clutch pedal is quite annoying especially when directly compared with the other Honda's very quiet clutch. It appears to show up on my Honda after it's been driven more than 30 minutes. This is another reason that I'd get the wave off from the dealer, who will drive it briefly and say there's no problem. Thank you.

 

Can you get a sound clip from a phone or something - be careful doing this.

Does the nosie happen when the car is off as well?

 

There is no audible noise, just a feeling of a slight buzz or vib in my foot on the clutch pedal that does not exist in my wife's nearly identical Accord. And the vib only occurs during shifting while driving. It's as if something in the clutch is not smoothly engaging or disengaging while spinning and imparting a buzz vib into the clutch pedal. Of course, this is pure speculation on my part.
As I said, a dealer would wave this off, but its bugging the heck out of me as a new car owner. I have thought of taking an acoustic guitar contact mic and clipping it to the clutch pedal. Then getting a digital sample of the vibration and doing a spectral analysis on it to see what frequencies are being passed through the pedal as I shift. If I do this may I discuss the results with you since I know very little about cars but I have somewhat of a computer tech background in signal analysis? Thanks, again.

 

It may be an irregular surface on clutch face and flywheel. When you shift there is slippage betweeen clutch plate and flywheel. Any roughness in either will be felt as vibration back through clutch master/slave cylinder hydraulic linkage.

Only fix would be to replace clutch plate and remachine/replace the flywheel. Honda may not accept that vibration justifies repair.

It may get better w/ time,...or worse. I would insist on documenting the problem so that if it gets worse, you have a case for warranty repair in future.

good luck

 

Thanks for your assessment. I guess I'll just "keep a foot on it" and see if it gets better, worse or remains the same. It certainly is not at a point that would convince a service tech at the dealership.