junehhan

Hey guys, I was curious if you can give me any thoughts. Lately, when driving on a really smoothly paved road at low to moderate speeds(25-45mph), I get this wierd noise sometimes that sounds like one of the tires is out of balance. I can't feel whether the tire is out of balance or not since even at 125mph, I can't feel any type of shaking. I think it's coming from one of the rear wheels, but can't seem to tell. I think this noise popped up after we did that Route 26 drive. Has anyone else experienced this noise, and was having the tire rebalanced the solution?

Thanks

junehhan

Well, for the search police, I tried to do a search before posting, but the search feature doesn't seem to be working since anything I type in comes up saying that there was no match even if I tried something really simple like the world "oil" or "engine."

xviper

I'm not so sure an unbalanced tire would make any noise. If it were in one of the front tires, you would "feel" it as a vibration or shimmy in the steering wheel. In a rear tire, is would be harder to tell. You say you think the noise comes from the rear. Does it change with speed? Is it a continuous noise or one that "oscillates? If it is continuous, it could be a CV joint or a wheel bearing or differential noise. If it oscillates, it could be a rubbing brake caliper which might indicate a warped rotor or a parking brake that is sticky OR it could be simple like something imbedded or stuck in the tire tread.

OhioRacer

Listen to xviper. He knows his s&^t.

junehhan

[QUOTE]Originally posted by xviper
[B]I'm not so sure an unbalanced tire would make any noise.

xviper

These can manifest themselves in different ways. The more common would be:
CV joint on this car (RWD) could produce a clicking sound that increases in frequency with road speed OR can be more evident under higher load conditions.
Wheel bearing noise is like a constant hum that also gets more prevalent with speed but this can also be similar to rear diff problems.
A wheel balance is not too expensive anyway, so it might be a good "trial and error". There is always the possibility you threw a wheel weight. Just make sure the tire shop uses a torque wrench (80 ft#s) to put the wheel back on the car or you WILL have a warped rotor.
Have you checked your tire pressures? Also take a look as best you can, at the tire tread to make sure there isn't anything stuck in or on it.

junehhan

Thanks, you've helped to put my mind at ease. I now know that it's definately not CV joints or the rear bearings. I've checked the air pressure and tread and everything checked out fine. I think I probably threw a wheel weight since that's happened before, especially on my Taurus SHO which was always throwing wheel weights. I'll probably get the tires rebalanced when I get my oil changed at 7k miles.

StrangeDaze

You might check with your dealer. I believe there is a 12 month/12,000 mile warranty on wheel balance from Honda. My dealer did a balance for free when I was in for the spark plug recall.

Of course, with the low price of a balance, you might as well take it somewhere that you don't need an appointment if you want it done right away.

Later,
Joe

IDO914S

There might be a problem with your clutch, I am having mine replaced tomorrow for the same complaint. Honda said the center in the disk is bad on some cars and is replaceing it under warranty.

junehhan

Well, thanks for the tips guys. I'll probably have them take a look at it when the car goes back to the dealership in a couple weeks. The unbalanced tire noise you figure would get worse as you increase the speeds, but after 45mph, it stops and goes away entirely which has been bugging me lately. My transmission is also really acting up and it's pissing me off because it's getting to a point that I have to muscle the damn shifter out of first gear for the 1-2 upshift, and it seems to drag into 2nd gear causing lots of resistence and the occasional grind. My clutch also seems to have gotten to a point where even with my foot off the clutch pedal, it seems to take a while for the clutch disc to grab and bite. I have a feeling that all of my clutch and transmission related problems are residing around either a bad TOB(rattles a lot now), or a bad hydraulic clutch, or maybe a combination of both. The dealer better not deny that problems exist this time because i'll be tempted to do something very irrational and stupid if they do.