[datechboss101]

While driving today, I noticed my MDX pulling right. TPMS screen shows all the PSI at 34. Not sure what is causing this, since I still have the steering wheel shimmy. Something is making me believe local Acura dealer (Fountain Acura) might have done a botched job when replacing the half shaft axle. Any idea on what is causing this issue?

 

[Mdx-4me]

When was the last time you had the alignment checked? That can often be why a vehicle pulls one way.


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[datechboss101]

When was the last time you had the alignment checked? That can often be why a vehicle pulls one way.


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Last time it was checked was at the Acura body shop, pretty sure. But anyway, I will have my Honda dealer check the alignment out while I’m getting the OC (which is happening soon since MID shows 20%). They did the alignment back in September.


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[Mdx-4me]

Make sure to get a written alignment report.


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[Donn0128]

Car pulling one way or another can be caused by a bunch of things. Bad tire, stuck brake caliper, qorn auapenaion components to name a couple. If it were me I would swap the front tires right to left, take it for a drive and see how it behaves. If that does not do it, then do the swap on the rears. While you have the wheels off the ground give them a spin and listen. Any sounds? Do they spin about the same?

 

[mrgold35]

Do you have the Road Departure Warning and Lane Keeping Assist on or off? Does it pull to the right at any speed and pulls the same during any city or hwy road surface? How new are your tires (might need +200 miles to break tires in)? Do the hwy road surface have a crown, weather grooves, 18 wheeler ruts, asphalt -vs- concrete, etc...

Every new Conti DWS tires I purchased would always follow the weather grooves on the hwy for around the first 300 miles. The drifting feeling would go away after a little wear on the tires.

Another thing I do with all my Acura's is do the lifetime alignment with Firestone ($100 for initial, $100 for lifetime). My 19 MDX didn't feel right on the hwy and Acura said the alignment checked out. Took MDX to Firestone and half of the 14 alignment points were in the yellow or red.

 

[datechboss101]

Do you have the Road Departure Warning and Lane Keeping Assist on or off? Does it pull to the right at any speed and pulls the same during any city or hwy road surface? How new are your tires (might need +200 miles to break tires in)? Do the hwy road surface have a crown, weather grooves, 18 wheeler ruts, asphalt -vs- concrete, etc...

Every new Conti DWS tires I purchased would always follow the weather grooves on the hwy for around the first 300 miles. The drifting feeling would go away after a little wear on the tires.

Another thing I do with all my Acura's is do the lifetime alignment with Firestone ($100 for initial, $100 for lifetime). My 19 MDX didn't feel right on the hwy and Acura said the alignment checked out. Took MDX to Firestone and half of the 14 alignment points were in the yellow or red.

I pressed that main button to turn off everything and its still giving me the issue. My original complaint is still coming even with all those assist features turned off. I have put 2000 miles on these sets of tires, and it was replaced I believe in on November 23rd, but I need to check the manufacturing date of the tires though. I literally drive on back roads where the post speed limit is between 45 MPH to 55 MPH, and there isn't any weather grooves or any crowns I am aware of. Most of the roads here are asphalt.

Car pulling one way or another can be caused by a bunch of things. Bad tire, stuck brake caliper, qorn auapenaion components to name a couple. If it were me I would swap the front tires right to left, take it for a drive and see how it behaves. If that does not do it, then do the swap on the rears. While you have the wheels off the ground give them a spin and listen. Any sounds? Do they spin about the same?

The thing is, even with tire rotations and balancing, my car still has the steering wheel shimmy going on. When I had the first set of Goodyears on the MDX, my tire guy literally swapped the front two tires and my original complaint came immediately instead of the good 100 miles or so after doing a balance.

When you mean by stuck brake caliper, could you describe how one gets stuck? I do have a shimmy while braking too, and I know that its related to warped rotors, since my MDX shows that. For some reason, I am believing my front passenger side has some suspension issues, since I heard metal-on-metal grinding noise when I had Yokohamas on for the first 1500 miles.

 

[Donn0128]

Stuck brake caliper is exacrly what it says, stuck. Dirt buildup, frozen pin, not changing brake fluid all could cause a brake caliper to stick. Disc brake calipers are designed to float, as the pads wear the calipers move on pins or bolts to compensate. Stuck caliper can also build heat and warp a rotor. There was a TSB a while back about contaminated brake fluid from the factory. Is your car part of that? Heck, you might even have a loose of bad bearing.

 

[datechboss101]

My Honda SA said to bring in the MDX to the dealership and they have a machine on the service drive that literally checks the alignment right there for me. I will be going there this afternoon to check the alignment.

Stuck brake caliper is exacrly what it says, stuck. Dirt buildup, frozen pin, not changing brake fluid all could cause a brake caliper to stick. Disc brake calipers are designed to float, as the pads wear the calipers move on pins or bolts to compensate. Stuck caliper can also build heat and warp a rotor. There was a TSB a while back about contaminated brake fluid from the factory. Is your car part of that?

I had Honda do the brake fluid flush back on August 21st since the MID code was thrown on when it said to change oil. Should I get the TSB done still, since my MDX falls under that TSB.

 

[Donn0128]

No need. The TSB just says to do a brake fluid flush, which you already had done. MDX has a well documented issue with rotor warping, so I would still not rule out that as part of your issues.

 

[datechboss101]

I haven't ruled out the warped rotors at all (even though AutoNation Acura said I don't have warped rotors). I still have that in the back of my head while looking at my choices, since I still have the warped rotors shimmy symptom alongside the steering wheel shimmy that's been bothering me while driving. Not sure if my Honda SA will allow me to bring aftermarket brake pads and calipers for them to install.

 

[mrgold35]

Discount Tires had a bad habit of over tq the lugs a few years ago with impact wrench. They even broke one of my lug studs on my TSX (Discount fixed for free). The lugs would be so tight to the point I had to purchase a 2 foot breaker bar to get them to budge to re-tq to vehicle specs. Discount now finishes all tire jobs with a tq wrench after all the complaints.

Over tight lugs might cause the pull issue. Over tq lug studs will start to stretch and thin out before breaking in half. That "could" cause the pull issue if the lugs on one wheel can't be tq properly.

 

[datechboss101]

Discount Tires had a bad habit of over tq the lugs a few years ago with impact wrench. They even broke one of my lug studs on my TSX (Discount fixed for free). The lugs would be so tight to the point I had to purchase a 2 foot breaker bar to get them to budge to re-tq to vehicle specs. Discount now finishes all tire jobs with a tq wrench after all the complaints.

Over tight lugs might cause the pull issue. Over tq lug studs will start to stretch and thin out before breaking in half. That "could" cause the pull issue if the lugs on one wheel can't be tq properly.

I might have to personally check the tq on my tires after each job, even though Discount uses a torque wrench after each job too.

 

[Donn0128]

FYI bought one set of tires for a leased car from Discount and could never get them to work on it. Discount swapped then for a set of Michelins, no more problems. Tires no matter what brand or how much you paid for them can have a bad tire. There have been other threads recently about tires not liking the MDX. Specifically the Yokahana YK740 did not work for one person. So dont discount tire issues

 

[datechboss101]

FYI bought one set of tires for a leased car from Discount and could never get them to work on it. Discount swapped then for a set of Michelins, no more problems. Tires no matter what brand or how much you paid for them can have a bad tire. There have been other threads recently about tires not liking the MDX. Specifically the Yokahana YK740 did not work for one person. So dont discount tire issues

Lol, that person was ME! I started with the Yokohama YK740 GTX and now on the Goodyear Assurance Maxlife. Just got the alignment checked at Honda. It showed my alignment is perfect and no issues with alignment. I didn't discount the tires issue at all. If I have to get another set of tires, I might as well just get it done while I have aftermarket rims installed and air ride suspension too.

 

[mdxstang]

even though Discount uses a torque wrench after each job too

Even though they use a torque wrench it doesn't mean they torque to the correct spec. I've experienced some places using the torque wrench to over torque the nuts to 100 ft lbs or so. The spec on my 2014 is 80 ft lbs.

I do have a shimmy while braking too, and I know that its related to warped rotors

I had this for a long time on my 2014 MDX and just lived with it since , while annoying, the brakes still worked fine and the pads had reasonable life left in them. I finally, at 70K miles, replaced the pads and rotors even though the pads 'still' had plenty of life left in them. I used Acura pads and AC Delco rotors. The brake shimmy is now gone. I hope it stays gone for a long time but I only have around 2k miles on them at this point.

The brake shimmy had no effect on driving smoothness - there was no shimmy when not braking and the MDX still drives very smoothly through the life of the original tires and through the life so far of the replacement tires (Michelin Premier LTX - at Discount Tire). It's also still on the factory alignment and IMO many people overdo alignments since the alignment should only change with severe damage to a steering component or severe wear, it's not something that changes routinely, and doing an alignment without fixing the damaged/worn component is pointless (but an alignment s/b done after replacing certain steering components).

 

[datechboss101]

Should I just try my best to ignore the shimmying then? It does drive my OCD crazy even though I try my best to ignore it.

 

[jefferson88]

It seems that you've done everything except replace your warped rotors, an issue you brought up here months ago but (surprisingly) did not address:

Steering wheel shakes while braking (warped rotors or...

Not sure if this is due to the rotors being warped or anything, but my steering wheel shakes while I am applying the brakes. One Acura dealer noticed this shaking while doing a check on the TSB 20-015 and 18-010 (navi tsb) that another Acura dealer did. But their reasoning is the microwaves (the...

www.mdxers.org

Post #18 you said:
"Acura and Honda both told me that the rotors needs to be resurfaced and it will cost near $315. For the Acura dealership, it is $289.99 + tax & shop fees. For Honda, its $315 and they need to order the pads."

to which many people gave the advice to replace the rotors because making them thinner makes them more prone to warping.

This PowerStop Kit is the same price:

PowerStop Evolution Brake Upgrade for Daily Drivers | Quiet and Clean

PowerStop evolution performance brake upgrade kit for daily drivers. Experience quiet, clean and incredible stopping power at an affordable price.

www.powerstop.com

 

[datechboss101]

It seems that you've done everything except replace your warped rotors, an issue you brought up here months ago but (surprisingly) did not address:

Steering wheel shakes while braking (warped rotors or...

Not sure if this is due to the rotors being warped or anything, but my steering wheel shakes while I am applying the brakes. One Acura dealer noticed this shaking while doing a check on the TSB 20-015 and 18-010 (navi tsb) that another Acura dealer did. But their reasoning is the microwaves (the...

www.mdxers.org

Post #18 you said:
"Acura and Honda both told me that the rotors needs to be resurfaced and it will cost near $315. For the Acura dealership, it is $289.99 + tax & shop fees. For Honda, its $315 and they need to order the pads."

to which many people gave the advice to replace the rotors because making them thinner makes them more prone to warping.

This PowerStop Kit is the same price:

PowerStop Evolution Brake Upgrade for Daily Drivers | Quiet and Clean

PowerStop evolution performance brake upgrade kit for daily drivers. Experience quiet, clean and incredible stopping power at an affordable price.

www.powerstop.com

I think I have to pull the plug and get them replaced. Its going take a lot of convincing of my father (since I still am a student) to order the parts for me. But before my warranty runs out, I would like to knock out any parts that is relating to this issue within the warranty period so it doesn't cost me out of pocket. My indie mech guy doesn't offer brake jobs at the moment, so I have no choice but to wait.

 

[datechboss101]

Autonation tech noticed the MDX is pulling right, and he tightened up the lug nuts. It's still pulling right regardless of the road I am on. One thing Autonation is doing that Fountain Acura doesn't want to warranty is the fuel door. I have to go back to Autonation to get the fuel door replaced. Might as well get my OC done there and the tire rotation as well.

What the shop foreman, tech, SA, and Service Manager told is that I need to have video documentation of the steering wheel shimmying so that they can escalate it from their side to Acura via the techline.