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vibration between 48-50 mph

34K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  galmcrantz 
#1 ·
Whenever I am accelerating through 50 mph my van shudders, do you think this is a alignment or tire issue or possibly engine mounts. Any ideas?? Thank you Odyclub.
 
#2 ·
can you be specific about the vibration, is it the steering wheel or the body, front end back end etc. etc.? Thanks!

Steering wheel viration could be because of tires are out of balance or balancing weight may fell off the inner rim (happened to me just few days back and took it back to dealer and got them to do the balancing again and it is all fine now)
 
#3 ·
Search for the terms:

vibration
Droning
Lugging

and see if the descriptions are similar to yours. I believe you are mentioning the light droning/lugging that most mention on here.
 
#4 ·
Is droning a noise? Because there is no noise. The whole vehicle kind of shakes while accelerating from 48 to 50 mpgh and then smooths out. It feels like I am driving on a wavy road. I have looked up all the droning posts and they seem to be during lower mph's. Thank you for your input.
 
#5 ·
Sounds like alignment to me. I suspect you have something misaligned or out of balance, and only really notice it when travelling at speeds that the van likes to vibrate at.
 
#8 ·
Vibration

I have a 2002 EX. We have the vibration at around 65mph. I just replaced the tires and that helped a little. I had the dealer check the alingment and it was fine. I was told that you need to have the tires "Road Force Balanced". Very few places do this and it's about $150!!! Why should I have to pay for something like that? The vibration is seen in the steering wheel and the console between the front seats.
 
#9 ·
#10 ·
"...accelerating through 50 mph my van shudders..."

We've had the same problem on our 2007 Odyssey EX-L for the past 20 thousand miles now. We're now at 58,000 on the odo.

We've had the front and rear motor mounts replaced in an effort to cure the shudder. That was not the issue, although active motor mount failure is common on the latest generation Odyssey.

See the below links for more engine mount failuer information:

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f1085e1

http://accuratecars.com/blog/2008/11/26/excessive-engine-vibration-with-eco-on-the-honda-odyssey-ex-l-and-honda-odyssey-touring/

A honda dealer technician finally experienced the shudder problem between 45 - 50mph, and is now in the process of replacing the torque converter & updating Power Control Module (PCM), (to remedy the shudder) and is replacing the front wheel bearings (this is the source of the "drone")

I highly recommend you get a honda technician to experience the problem while you are in the car. There's no denying the existence of the problem at that point.

It took five trips to 3 dealerships to finally find someone who would take the time to diagnose and repair the issue.

To summarize, shuddering between 45-50 is NOT NORMAL. And anyone who tells you it is - is full of crap.

I'll let you know the outcome as soon as I get my car back tomorrow (06/11/09).
 
#12 ·
Shudder as lockup engages at 50-52mph

I've checked all the related threads and this one seems closest to my 2000 LX with 163,000 miles. Dealer installed reman trans last month (replaced original). I'm not the everyday driver so I'm not sure if the problem originated immediately after tranny upgrade or later.

My wife and daughter complain of a moderate to strong (varies) shudder around 50 mph. It seemed they were generally backing off the throttle rather than stepping on it when it happened, like when cresting over a slight rise in the road. It doesn’t happen all the time, but I've been able to recreate the problem using the cruise control as follows:

1. Cruise control engaged at 52mph, torque converter lockup noted with engine at 1,500± rpm
2. Cruise off, decline to 50 mph
3. Re-engage cruise control, rpm's increase to 2,300± as lockup disengages
4, Vehicle reaches 52 mph, torque lockup re-engages as rpm's drop back to 1,500±
5. Shudder begins within 1-2 seconds after torque lockup (rpm drop) and continues for 2-3 seconds. Intensity of shudder varies.

Possible causes:

Does anyone feel it's NOT the torque converter? Could it be the CV axles (never replaced)? How could I validate? I want to be pretty sure before I bring it back and complain under warranty so I don't pay shop rates to correct something else I can easily do myself.

EGR seems wrong for the cause because the shudder occurs upon decline in rpm’s, not when accelerating.

Filling up with premium fuel had no effect (trying to isolate weak ignition/bad gas issue). A/C on or off doesn’t seem to matter. The motor mounts seem visibly solid when engaging drive or reverse gears. Any other thoughts?
 
#13 ·
I wouldn't rule out a faulty EGR valve yet. Back in May you mentioned you had the EGR codes for years. You cleared the ports as per the TSB but did you replace the EGR valve?
 
#14 ·
Thanks for the reply.

I did clean the intake manifold ports in May but did not replace the EGR valve. The EGR code disappeared upon the cleaning.

The shudder began since Honda replaced the trans in June. I had other issues with another service provider who lied and installed 2 salvage trans that both failed despite my original requirements that only a reman unit would be acceptable. That's another story....

In reviewing Honda's bulletin that suggests EGR relationship to the shudder problem (http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SB/A04-029.PDF), the specific diagnostic test requires acceleration. In their words, "Under light acceleration, the engine exhibits hesitation or surging that can be mistaken for a lock-up converter problem"

In my instance the engine is under declining load. As the torque converter lockup engages (when rpm drop noted) the shudder begins.
 
#15 ·
Shudder as lockup engages at 50-52mph

Final update - problem resolved.

Upon further experience, I realized the shudder would occur at speeds above 50 mph, up to 65 mph that I tested/observed.

I brought the vehicle into Honda and their computer analysis indicated a bad EGR valve. They said $550 to fix including cleaning out the intake manifold (as well documented elsewhere on this site).

I had already cleaned the intake port 2 months ago, so I reclaimed the vehicle ($60 diagnostic fee), picked up a replacement EGR for $80 at Advance Auto and after an easy 15-20 minute operation, the problem is fixed.
 
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