2012 Tech - Having Shaking Problems

[newyork326]

Since I purchased the vehicle it has been shaking at highway speeds.

1st visit. Brought it in and they re-balanced all tires
2nd visit. Brought it back in again they again re-balanced, but this time used the road force machine.
3rd visit. Apt to bring back in Thursday for shaking at highway speeds and terrible shaking (almost feels like 4 flat tires) when the temperature is below freezing, or there abouts.

I think they are going to have to replace all 4 tires to rectify this problem, and if they don't fix it this time, I am going to beging with the Lemon Law proceedings and make them purchase the vehicle back from me. Lemon Law states that you just have to bring in the vehicle 3 times within 1.5 years and the dealership not fix the problem. My truck is less than a month old... I am sick of driving it while shaking!

Supposedly on thursday a regional Acura rep will be there and my truck is one of 15-20 at this dealership that is having the problem... hopefully Acura does the right thing!

Is anyone else having these problems?

[Latitude]

On a similar note, we just got a 2013 RDX and it started off 99% vibration free regardless of speed. But now after 5000 miles, there's a slight vibration on the driver side, and much worse vibration on the passenger side. So I don't know if it's because of the weather which has gotten pretty cold the last 2 weeks or if I've hit too many bumps and cracks that the alignment is off already. Or maybe the tires just need rebalancing which would be weird because it was perfect 2 months ago.

[tolson37]

This is my 2nd x. I have a 2012 with approx 13k miles. Never had issues w vibration up to 100-110 mph. Smooth as a baby's xxxx. That's the fastest I've taken her.


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[nsxtasy]

Originally Posted by Latitude

after 5000 miles, there's a slight vibration on the driver side, and much worse vibration on the passenger side. So I don't know if it's because of the weather which has gotten pretty cold the last 2 weeks or if I've hit too many bumps and cracks that the alignment is off already. Or maybe the tires just need rebalancing which would be weird because it was perfect 2 months ago.

Bad alignment doesn't cause vibration problems.

Balancing is the most common cause, and can result from a weight getting knocked off by a pothole, road debris, etc. It's also possible that the tire and/or wheel can be damaged by a pothole, road debris, etc. And a tire can have a manufacturing defect that becomes noticeable after a while. But the first thing to check is the balance.

If there are 15-20 SUV's at the dealership with vibration problems, that sounds like something that's not just road damage. If it is fairly common among all dealerships - and the regional rep will know whether other dealers in his/her region are experiencing it - then it's possible something's going on at the factory. If it's isolated to this particular dealership, then it's possible they have a problem with their balancing equipment or personnel.

[AC_MDX]

I disagree. A bad alignment wear the tires unevenly. Then you balance and rotate them and it works for a little while until the tire wears differently and the balance goes out again.

From my experience and other friends experience, our X is very sensitive to wheel/tire vibrations in the front area.

I found, too, that Acura (in the same way as other brands) can come with a very bad alignment, from factory, which complicates the vibration issue because once you wear the tires unevenly, it is very hard to keep the tire/wheel balanced correctly.

The best shot-gun solution that we found for these problems is to buy new tires and immediately perform a 4-wheel alignment. Otherwise, be prepared for a long game of wheel/tire balancing.

As I mentioned in another post, and like they do in Europe and many other people/countries to, I don't rotate my tires to avoid breaking the wheel/tire balance and distorting the tire contact patch pressure points, since the rear and front tires have different natural wear patterns regardless of the vehicle alignment. When the tires wear off, I just change the both front or both back before they get too worn.

I, too, had the same tire/wheel front off-balance issue when I bought my 2011 X. Now I have 46,000 miles and still no issues at all... smooth as butter...

AC

Originally Posted by nsxtasy

Bad alignment doesn't cause vibration problems.

Balancing is the most common cause, and can result from a weight getting knocked off by a pothole, road debris, etc. It's also possible that the tire and/or wheel can be damaged by a pothole, road debris, etc. And a tire can have a manufacturing defect that becomes noticeable after a while. But the first thing to check is the balance.

If there are 15-20 SUV's at the dealership with vibration problems, that sounds like something that's not just road damage. If it is fairly common among all dealerships - and the regional rep will know whether other dealers in his/her region are experiencing it - then it's possible something's going on at the factory. If it's isolated to this particular dealership, then it's possible they have a problem with their balancing equipment or personnel.

[G. COLTON]

Originally Posted by AC_MDX

I disagree. A bad alignment wear the tires unevenly. Then you balance and rotate them and it works for a little while until the tire wears differently and the balance goes out again.

From my experience and other friends experience, our X is very sensitive to wheel/tire vibrations in the front area.

I found, too, that Acura (in the same way as other brands) can come with a very bad alignment, from factory, which complicates the vibration issue because once you wear the tires unevenly, it is very hard to keep the tire/wheel balanced correctly.

The best shot-gun solution that we found for these problems is to buy new tires and immediately perform a 4-wheel alignment. Otherwise, be prepared for a long game of wheel/tire balancing.

As I mentioned in another post, and like they do in Europe and many other people/countries to, I don't rotate my tires to avoid breaking the wheel/tire balance and distorting the tire contact patch pressure points, since the rear and front tires have different natural wear patterns regardless of the vehicle alignment. When the tires wear off, I just change the both front or both back before they get too worn.

I, too, had the same tire/wheel front off-balance issue when I bought my 2011 X. Now I have 46,000 miles and still no issues at all... smooth as butter...

AC

A bad alignment takes time to wear tires. The original poster stated he had problems immediately after buying.

George

[nsxtasy]

Originally Posted by AC_MDX

I disagree. A bad alignment wear the tires unevenly. Then you balance and rotate them and it works for a little while until the tire wears differently and the balance goes out again.

You are correct when you say that a bad alignment wears the tires unevenly. But it doesn't cause vibrations.

And if you have a bad alignment, the way to fix it is NOT to balance and rotate the tires. It's to get the car properly aligned within specifications.

Also, it's not normal for the wheel/tire balance to go out over and over again. Once a wheel/tire is balanced, it should stay balanced, unless it is damaged in some way by a pothole or road debris. That's when it can go out again and need rebalancing. But that's VERY unusual. How unusual? I've driven hundreds of thousands of miles over the decades, and used dozens if not hundreds of tires. Not counting times when I've moved tires to different rims, and not counting a few times when the balancing wasn't done properly and I took it back within a couple of days, the number of tires that I've needed to get rebalanced in all that time is exactly... one.

Originally Posted by AC_MDX

I don't rotate my tires to avoid breaking the wheel/tire balance and distorting the tire contact patch pressure points, since the rear and front tires have different natural wear patterns regardless of the vehicle alignment. When the tires wear off, I just change the both front or both back before they get too worn.

Now you're not making any sense at all. "Breaking the wheel/tire balance"??? What is THAT supposed to mean? If the wheel/tire is balanced, you can't "break" the balance by moving the tire to a different corner. And "Contact patch pressure points"??? What is THAT supposed to mean? There aren't "pressure points"; the tires are made of rubber, and contact is made throughout the contact patch with the same amount of pressure.

The main difference in wear, front vs rear, is that the front tires wear faster. Any differences in the wear PATTERN should be minor to the point of insignificance; if they are not, then there is something wrong with your car's alignment and/or suspension that needs to be fixed. And the purpose of rotating the tires is to even out those differences so that all four tires wear at approximately the same rate over time, so they have similar tread depth and all four can be replaced at the same time without throwing out tires that have plenty of tread on them.

[AC_MDX]

My vibration problem was from the start, too. In the case of the original poster, the tires may have been mounted incorrectly which would have messed the tires shape, the alignment may be completely out for whatever reason (mine was severely off spec), the tires had a flat spot from long storage, there are too many reasons why the tire wheel/balancing is off and gets off in a short amount of time.

The key issue is how to solve the problem once for all without having to come 3 times to the dealer, or many more times, for the same issue/problem.

If they could not fix the vibration in three consecutive occasions, the tires may have an uneven wear that may be very difficult to fix without changing the tires and making sure that the alignment is correct.

AC

Originally Posted by G. COLTON

A bad alignment takes time to wear tires. The original poster stated he had problems immediately after buying.

George

[nsxtasy]

Originally Posted by AC_MDX

the tires had a flat spot from long storage

Tires don't develop flat spots from fairly long periods of storage. I've stored my cars for as much as a year at a time. The tires have TEMPORARY flat spots from sitting, and feel lumpy when I first drive the car again, but they disappear after driving a few blocks.

Now, if you're talking a much longer period, like 5-10 years, that I don't know. But they sure don't develop permanent flat spots after a year.

[nsxtasy]

Originally Posted by newyork326

Supposedly on thursday a regional Acura rep will be there and my truck is one of 15-20 at this dealership that is having the problem... hopefully Acura does the right thing!

Please let us know how this turns out!

[AC_MDX]

I guess that narrows it more to a tire/alignment issue, which is still my best guess.

They should swap all the wheels/tires from another vehicle that doesn't have vibration problems and drive test it. It would be obvious if the problem is still there or not. If the problem is not there, then they should change all the tires, balance, and perform an alignment. This is not rocket science guys..

AC

Originally Posted by nsxtasy

Tires don't develop flat spots from fairly long periods of storage. I've stored my cars for as much as a year at a time. The tires have TEMPORARY flat spots from sitting, and feel lumpy when I first drive the car again, but they disappear after driving a few blocks.

Now, if you're talking a much longer period, like 5-10 years, that I don't know. But they sure don't develop permanent flat spots after a year.

[nsxtasy]

Originally Posted by AC_MDX

They should swap all the wheels/tires from another vehicle that doesn't have vibration problems and drive test it. It would be obvious if the problem is still there or not.

[newyork326]

Thanks for all the input and concern guys. I will be heading to the dealership tonight after work and dropping the MDX off for the last time (whether or not they fix the car). Either they fix it and I take it home or they don't fix it and I'm leaving it there and taking my business elsewhere.

The car is 3 weeks old and there is no way I should have to be dealing with this.

[fredthenav]

Back to original notes--sounds like the MDX and RDX vibrations started when cold weather showed up---surely it is tire manufacture issues?? Wrong tires or bad batch? I am up to 45k miles on my 2011 and no issues at 110 mph regularly (when I dare)--still original OEM tires.
Sorry you folks having troubles---keeping my car until it falls apart. Don't want to take chance on a bum one!

[nsxtasy]

Originally Posted by newyork326

Thanks for all the input and concern guys. I will be heading to the dealership tonight after work and dropping the MDX off for the last time (whether or not they fix the car). Either they fix it and I take it home or they don't fix it and I'm leaving it there and taking my business elsewhere.

Do you have a status update you can share?