We have a 2001 Honda CRV. Recently it began making this ogawful sound / shaking at lower speeds. It’s not consistent, although becoming more consistent. Car has about 40K miles. The car has an automatic transmission, and the problem seems to occur as it gets at the top end of the first gear and second gear or around 2000 rpm. At this point it starts to vibrate A LOT and I feel it through the doorframe on the driver side (I’m never a passenger so not sure it’s not also on the other side). It sounds almost like something wrapped around an axle and thudding against the bottom or side of the car. But it goes away at higher speeds and also seems to go away when the car has is really warm. Not just 5-10 minutes of warming up, more like 30 minutes or more of driving.
My guess is something with the CV joints but it could be an engine or transmission problem as well. Any thoughts?
Could be any one of a number of things or a combination of two or more.
Ignition cables, fuel injection, plugs or ignitors, acceleration, etc.
Take it to a good mechanic for an inspection and check out. May have to leave it all day or even overnight so they can check it out cold.
Also, I should mention that this doesn’t seem to occur in neutral, which again points to something in the drive chain and not the engine itself. (Mrs. Shibb says she first noticed this phenomenon after one of the hurricanes. How it could be related is beyond my ken.)
CV joints shouln’t be affected by engine temp, whereas tranny parts will act differently. Many trannies make use of the torque convertor differently depending on how warm the tranny is.
The torque convertor will act differently at different temps and speeds. Bad convertors can cause bucking and slipping.
So, if it isn’t the TQ, you still might want to focus on parts that are affected by operating temp and/or speed, but which can still cause the symptons you feel. All points to the tranny.
If it isn’t that, then definitely look into the flux capacitor.
Mrs Shibb took her car to the shop today, finally. They lubricated the spline on the front axle and that seems to have cured the problem. Now, of course, I must ask, WTF a “spline” is?
Inside an automatic transmission is a “drum” filled with transmission fluid, attached to the engine flywheel. (The torque converter). It, of course, spins at the same speed as the engine. This motion creates pressure in the fluid in the various channels and valve bodies within the non-rotating parts of the transmission. Pressure is manipulated and directed to the “outgoing” rotating parts of the transmission to engage the correct gear for the demand.
Naturally, there’s more to this than I can explain here, but that’s the general principle.
Additionally, this is a pretty old design. More electronics are used to perform the function of the torque converter, although hydraulics are still used to engage clutches and bands.
The torque converter is a fluid coupling…a liquid-charged clutch which works on hydraulic pressure rather than friction to transmit engine torque to the transmission.
Imagine a short squat cylinder or big fat donut with two fans inside, filled with oil.
At low rpm, the driving fan dosen’t put much pressure on the driven fan, but at power, the driven fan approaches the speed of the driving fan.
Newer converters made in the last 25 years or so have friction clutches in them to truly achieve one to one direct drive through the converter…called lock-up converters, managed by the car’s computer.
I am no auto expert, so take my post with a mountain of salt. I had a similar-sounding problem with a van that I owned, and it turned out to be the spark plug wires. They conked out at about 50K, and then again after another 50K.
What was very, very, very frustrating was, in six trips to the mechanic, 3 of which I rode along on, the car *would not * reproduce the problem. As soon as I picked it back up from them, it would do it again. Seriously annoying.