Taigher

I went to the mechanic because I needed an oil change. I told him about how my gas pedal vibrates and makes a noise when I accelerate every once in a while. He looked underneath the car and checked out the axles and he said either one or both of them needs to be changed. I think both.

Does this make sense? I'll just do this myself because I watched a youtube video and it doesn't look difficult but I want to make sure he wasn't just ripping me off or something before I buy these things. He also said that one of my seals that can only be replaced by taking out the whole engine is "saturated" and a job like that costs 1300 bucks and internally I was like **** me.

I'd rather buy them off amazon because I have free prime shipping. Do these two axles fit with my car? 2003 Honda Civic LX Sedan | automatic

mikey1

what is his reasoning for wanting to change the axles?

the seal he is talking about is probably between the engine and the tranny

ezone

OP might mean axle seals?
OP should ask his mechanic for clarification, maybe even raise the car and show it to him.


Second and third opinions can be invaluable.

Taigher

He believes that new axles will stop the vibrating. I think he said that they're "giving" or that they "give" or something like that. If that doesn't make sense then he's was feeding me a load of bs or I remembered it wrong.


I'd just like to know if axle problems can lead to a vibrating pedal or if this doesn't make sense. I'm also trying to figure out if the parts I linked fit on my car.

Taigher

I don't think he means axle seals because he said that the whole engine would have to come out and if it was the axle seals I think it's just the tranny that would have to come out. (Still expensive I know).

I should get second opinions but for now I'm getting internet forum opinions.

ezone

Pedal vibrating makes no mechanical sense in my own mind, but I can't feel what your car is actually doing. Many people (untrained, casual observers) give verbal (or written) descriptions that end up being quite different once I drive the car and experience the complaint.

Got any more descriptions? Conditions it happens in? Speeds?
How about the whole front of the car shakes when you accelerate briskly in a straight line?


Wear of an inner CV joint, which is a part of each axle assembly, can cause weird side-to-side shaking---- during acceleration seems to be more common but it may be felt during steady speed and deceleration as well, depending on the wear involved. So axle replacement suggestion might not be unreasonable.
If there is not obvious leakage or damage to either inner joint, replacement diagnosis is limited to guessing at one or the other, or just doing both axles.


Unless they have had to figure out uncommon problems like this before, most average green mechanics wouldn't be able to guess "axles causing vibration" unless it's got some obvious outer CV boots split open and/or the CV joints are crackling during a tight turn. Maybe your issue is related to the outer CV joints instead? You DID say noise on occasion.....but without more details all we can do is guess. What does the noise sound like? Got some video with sound?
Axle seal replacement would be done while the axles are removed for replacement, for minimal additional expense (cost of 2 seals, plus a little more labor added to the axle replacement labor fee).


================


If they are talking about removing the engine to do a seal, then it may be a rear main seal (rear crankshaft seal) they want to replace.
I have a hard time believing that one without seeing it for myself....because there are several other very common oil leakage points that your mechanic may have overlooked.

And, if it were really that rear main seal, I'd remove the transmission to replace it instead of the engine. (Unless it's absolutely raining oil out faster than you can dump it in, you can buy a whole lot of oil in quart bottles for $1300 and go for a quite a distance as long as you don't let the oil get low)


You need someone with experience, who can drive it and experience what you feel and hear in person.

How many miles on this car?
What year/model/trim is the car? Auto or manual trans?

Taigher

The full description that I gave the mechanic is this: Sometimes when I'm accelerating my gas pedal vibrates on my foot. As soon as I take my foot off the pedal it stops vibrating. This can happen once and again 5 minutes later, or sometimes not for as long as an hour. It also seems like this happens when I'm going 30 and accelerating into the 40-whatever range.

I pointed this out to a friend and he didn't hear, then the next time I pointed it out he did hear the vibrating noise. It does seem that driving uphill causes this more often, but sometimes I'll be driving down an even road and it still happens. It sounds like this could be happening around the axles/trans based on where the noise is coming from.

My car has 209,000 miles on it. 2003 Honda Civic LX Sedan with an automatic transmission. Obviously I want a Shelby Mustang but I can't afford new cars right now as a full time student with a part time job. I don't really know anyone that'll take my car for a long enough drive. The mechanics I go to drive it around for a little while then return after not hearing anything.


I know these cars have notorious auto trans problems. I ordered 6 quarts of the specified fluid and I'm planning on draining what's in the trans now and replacing it with the new stuff. I'm also going to do it a week later because I guess about half of the old fluid is in the inner working of the transmission and doesn't just drain out. Hopefully that buys me some more time before it bites the dust. I'm also thinking about taking the bottom pan off the trans to see if it's full of metal shavings, then I could clean that out and maybe install a new filter too.

Taigher

And if I had to say which side I hear vibrating it's the passenger side axle. Although I'm definitely not a professional mechanic so who knows.

ezone

Your conditions described do make me think of an inner CV wear problem.

An issue of terms here?
Hear, plus vibrating?

I expect only a shake feeling from this sort of axle problem, not necessarily noise --- unless maybe something loose is being shaken and banged around by the events. At that sort of mileage, there are a lot of possibilities for noises that might occur with shaking,such as worn or loose suspension parts, loose body parts, etc.

Suspension and axle issues would not surprise me at all. And leaks.
IMO the 03 trans had some improvement over the 01-02.
Dream big!

A friend from the Ford dealer came by in a new Shelby F150...That's a helluvalotta truck with a hella price tag and he said it goes hella fast.

I got to drive a Hellcat....O Lawd, throw me in jail now. Then the cars owner took over and ran it to about 150 MPH on the expressway with me as passenger.

"Slow down! I see spots!
The lines on the road just look like dots."


LOL
If you expect anyone to do this, YOU have to show them what the problem is.
YOU drive it with the mechanic as the passenger.
BUT you need to be able to make it happen in 5 minutes of driving or less. Seriously. Many of us in a shop don't have time to joyride unless you want to pay shop labor rates for windshield time. Time is money.

I'll go for a quick ride with just about anyone to experience a complaint first-hand, but if it goes beyond about 10 minutes I start reminding them they are paying for this quality time we spend together.


There's no bottom pan, there's no filter you can replace (unless the trans has already been replaced with a Honda reman or someone installed an inline filter).


Make SURE you have a funnel set up that can reach the dipstick hole BEFORE you begin to drain fluid out.

Each drain and fill will need around 2.5 quarts.
Check trans fluid level within 90 seconds of turning the engine OFF.

Fluid level will rise after the fluid gets hot, so I'd set the level around the low mark when you do the fluid change (fresh fluid is cold). Then take it out and drive it around for 20 minutes, park, shut it off and recheck the level and make adjustments if needed.

Taigher

I guess I made some dumb assumptions about what this trans is like lol. I did buy a special long funnel because I was watching a video and it's necessary. I'm just waiting for the weather not to be terrible. Thanks for the advice about the fluid levels. I'll keep that in mind.

The thing about this car is that I do want to keep it alive for as long as I can. Even if I buy my dream car I'll need this thing anyway for the winter season because it's long, brutal, and salty here. I don't mind buying new axles. I just want to do it myself to save money. If there's still vibration after changing the fluid and axles then I'll take it to a different mechanic, get a second opinion on that seal, and drive him around. I'm just going to buy those amazon axles because I'm pretty sure they fit.

ezone

You might check websites for whatever local parts stores you have nearby (autozone, advanced, pep boys, oreilly, NAPA, etc.), and shop local that way if there's a warranty issue you don't have to deal with shipping and waiting for several days and all that hassle.

Don't forget to check your car for needed recalls below

OneJzSupra

I had the same issue but I ended up replacing a bunch of stuff because the roads on Guam are old. I ended up with Tein Shocks because my Napa shocks were garbage after 1.5 years and then I replaced both CV joints because they made a lot of popping sounds while turning. In total for CV joint replacement it took me 20 mins total for both sides.