Recently my Honda Accord 2002 has a wobble that feels like it is coming from the front end. I'm fairly new to DIY repairs but am eager to learn. The biggest part as we all know is proper diagnosis so I'm bringing the problem here for help.

There is a slight wobble at lower speeds and seems to peak at around 55 mph. Go above this and it lessens.

I took off the wheels tonight and took a look visually at the tierods and control arms but to my untrained eye nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I'm attaching a photo of the left rotor/tierod area where I suspect the problem is. Based on this photo can anyone help me diagnose? How can I tell if the tierod is the cause and should be misplaced? What else should I do to investigate?

I'm close to bringing it to a mechanic to just have it fixed but I first wanted to try and educate myself and am looking for help here.

Thanks in advance,

Scott

 

Put the tire back on, but keep the car up in the air. Turn the steering wheel inside the car until the steering wheel locks.

Try pushing/pulling on the tire at 12/6 then at 3/9 o'clock. There should be almost zero movement in the tire. The only movement is from the slight play in the steering wheel. Having someone hold the steering wheel should give the tire zero play.

If you have play in one direction, then remove the tire and repeat the movement on the knuckle. Movement at 12/6 would be from upper or lower ball joint. 3/9 from inner/outer tie-rod.

 

First, make sure the car is supported real solid so it doesn't fall on your arms.

When you use the steering-wheel lock, the steering wheel can still move a bit, knocking back & forth against the lock mechanism. So I prefer having a helper reach in through the window & HOLD the steering wheel.

In your picture, there's a ball & socket joint inside that rubber boot. You want to figure out whether that's at all loose. Stick a great big screwdriver in a vent hole of the brake rotor. Put your hand around that rubber boot, so you can feel whether it's loose as you use the screwdriver/lever to push the rotor in the direction of "steering" the wheels back & forth.

Another place for it to be loose is the inner tie-rod. That's another ball & socket joint inside the rubber rack boot, just off the right side of the photo.

Then check the same thing on the other side, because knocking sounds can travel around a car in funny ways.

 

I did the 3-9 and 6-12 checks while holding the steering wheel tight and there didn't appear to be slop. The more I thought about it the more I realized it was a vibration tied to the speed of the car. Turns out the back tires were worn uneven and must have had some steel showing. I had the tires replaced and problem went away.

Thank you all anyway for educating me on tierods...I'll be keeping an eye on those from now on too.

Scott

 

Thanks for letting us know how it worked out. So many times we never find out the "end of the story".