Like I said, it was a thought. Not that I believe this is really the whole issue.

 

A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away,) I used to own a Civic. It was actually my girlfriend's car before I bought it from her.
For two years we chased a problem of a bad shake when the brakes were applied at certain speeds. My first thought of course were brake rotors and drums, so I took them into the shop I worked for at the time and cut them all. I replaced the shoes and pads and together we seated them in over the next couple of hundred miles as we drove the car normally.
That didn't fix it.
I balanced and re-balanced the tires. I had another mechanic double-check ALL my work. He couldn't see anything wrong with what I had done. The vibration persisted.
I used calipers to double check the rotors were round and even. They were. I replaced the drums w/new (after an initial cut,) and checked them for any deformities. Nothing. Same issue.
About that time the factory tires were getting thin so I replaced them with a better set.
VOILA!! No more vibration. After that it was a GREAT car... I've often said my favorite DD of all time!!.
In short, balancing out-of-round tires does nothing. A tire must be within a certain spec and if they fall out of that spec, they need to be replaced.
As a matter of fact (and as I'd said its been years,) I think the tires that came on that car were Toyo's!! I had never heard of them before that time.

Just some food for thought.

The only other thing that comes to mind is a driveshaft that is/was not balanced properly or lost its vibration damper. FWD shafts often have a metal or rubber donut on them somewhere in the length of the shaft that is supposed to absorb unwanted harmonics. That might also be a place to look.

 

Yes, the tire issue still needs to be resolved for Marked. The road force machines can identify problems related to untrue tire.

 

Yes. Those machines are like driving on a rolling road, sort of a dyno for tires. I understand that.
What I'm not sure of is can it detect a weak or seperated belt, should that be the problem?

 

Marked and GWESP1 - Are you having any success working with your dealers to get acceptable ride smoothness?

 

That would be ashame, especially if its just a crappy set of tires that's causing the issue, and most OE tires are pretty bottom of the barrel.

I know you've said everything from the hood to the mirrors shake, but when seated and driving the car, do you feel the vibration more in the steering wheel/dashboard area or more in the seat of your pants, the seat and floor of the car?

 

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the info posted here, sorry it's taken a couple of days to reply, kinda busy, no change in the vibration/shake/rattle and roll but have had positive response from the dealer to bring it in. I have pointed out that others are having a similar problem and they appear to be taking this seriously, so will keep you all posted on any progress.

To answer some specifics though, most of my driving is on a good section of I295 in SJ which I have been travelling for a number of years now so it is not the road. Also my last vehicle was a Toyota RAV4 which exhibited no problems with the road at all. So it is definitely the car and not any impression or other subjective reason.

As I mentioned I will keep all posted n the progress. Other than this the car is great, nice and quiet in comparison to the RAV4 !!

 

Hmmm.... I'd be willing to bet money, and I am not a betting man, that Toyo had a bad run of tires and that's what you guys are experiencing.
As I'd said above, tires can make a huge difference.
My/our Honda was like a completely different car after getting rid of the bad tires.
And 30 yrs later and after 3 sets of the wrong tires, my Mazda3 is much, MUCH better now too.

 

Agreed, sounds like a marginal tire. Combined with dealer techs that are less skilled versus the better custom wheel/tire shops.

 

I have also noticed the hood vibration and mirror shake at highway speeds also a small shake in the steering. Toyo tires on our vehicle as well. Going to let the dealer know as we only have 1000 on the clock will let everyone know what happens.