I have a 1992 Civic EX 4 door 5 speed. The car has 250k miles. I have a problem with a vibration coming from the front passenger side at speed when pressing hard on the gas. If I release the gas or at least let up a bit on the gas while coasting or going downhill the vibration disappears. The vibration is most obvious between 60 and 70 MPH. It's hardly noticeable at all (if all) at speeds lower than 40 MPH. My mechanic checked out the engine and transmission mounts and says they are in good shape. I just had new tires put on the car and same issue. My mechanic now suspects either the CV joints or ball joints. The plan is now to replace both sets of CV and ball joints with new parts and do a 4 wheel alignment. My mechanic is telling me he can't rule out the transmission or clutch. The CV joints were replaced with rebuilt ones about 5 years ago and almost 100k miles ago. Should my mechanic go ahead with the CV and ball joint replacement? I have an appointment on Saturday so please post your thoughts ASAP.

Thanks.

 

I would think the mechanic should be able to determine whether the ball joints and CV axles are bad by inspection.

 

Mechanic says the ball joints have a little bit of play but play is equal on both sides. Says CV joints look good on exterior and no clicks when turning. I've been told that CV joints can loose their rotating center with power at speed and this is internal damage that can't be seen. What do you think?

 

If the ball joints have excess free play, then they should be replaced. I am not sure that bad ball joints would cause your vibration problem.

Regarding the axle, it could be bad without having a torn boot or making knocking noises when turning. However, if it were out of balance, then I think you would feel vibration at high engine rpm at any vehicle speed aside from idling.

 

I know some CV shafts have a hard rubber vibration balancer to dampen out vibrations similar to this. If your car is supposed to have them and it goes missing, I believe that this would cause similar symptoms to what you describe.

Ron not to argue your point, but I disagree, because CV shafts dependant on vehicle speed, not RPMs, and the vibes could be most noticeable between 60-70mph as stated (similar to tire.wheel imbalance) . Then again I could be wrong. Its happened before

 

well if it was me before id replace all those parts id have the wheels ballanced and rotated and ask them to check for any bends in the rims. a cheap wheel ballance could save ya alot of cash and time if its just the wheel being bent.
also rotate the wheels and if the vibration moves then its definatly the wheel with a slight bend.

 

Don't worry about challenging my statements as I have been wrong many times in the past and will be wrong many more times in the future!

Let me try to clarify what I was trying to say. The rpm of the axle is what determines whether a vibration is felt or not. Typically, a higher rpm will produce greater vibration. The rpm of the axle is not dependent on the car's velocity but instead depends on both the engine rpm and the gear engaged by the transmission. Do we now agree?