leju0702

Good morning and Merry Christmas everyone! I'm new to this forum, so I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place to put this post.

I have a thumping noise in my Honda Civic 2006 that sounds like a helicopter in the distance when I drive. You can begin hearing it at approx. 30 mph, and by 70 mph it sounds like you're ready for lift off! (The noise is speed based).

I spoke to a shop about it and they said it has to be the bearings. I replaced all 4 bearings and it is still the exact same sound. I put new tires on about 5,000 miles ago, and don't see any noticeable bulges, etc. in the tires. There is no movement in the steering wheel, and it does not pull/veer/sway to one side.

While inspecting the tires, I did notice some of them have multiple weights on them which seems strange to me. Additionally, one of the inside edges of my rims is slightly bent, but it's so small that I would think it would have been factored in when they balanced the tires.

People have told me that it could be bad struts, a bad cv joint, bad bearings, unbalanced tires, defective tires, etc.

Any advice as to what it could be, or advice on how I can diagnose it would be greatly appreciated!

ezone

Two common things make noise that gives a complaint like that:
Wheel bearings and/or tires.

Here is some info.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...55534169,d.eWU

(I hope that links, PDF)
No, it is not covered by warranty now.


A professional may be needed to figure out what the true cause is.

dubtee1480

Did you replace the bearings or did the shop? Really cheap bearings can be bad out of the box. If you can tell what direction (corner of the car) the noise is coming is coming from, you might also try swapping wheels around and see if it follows the wheel/tire.

leju0702

Hello everyone!

Thank you for the advice. I just rotated the tires yesterday, and the thumping is much more pronounced and clearly coming from the front right. Because of this, I'm relatively positive that it is something with the tire or the rim.

I'll be bringing it into the shop within the week to determine what is wrong with the wheel(s). As for the bearing job, I did it myself. The bearings themselves are from the Honda Dealership.

If you have any additional advice, please feel free to include it! Otherwise, I will inform you of the mechanic's diagnosis when I get it.

Have a great evening!

ezone

It's the tires.

The ones that were on the rear have chopped the inner edges of the tread.
Now they are on the front.

(You can spin the tires and watch the tread...the inner edges will not be round.)

There is nothing you can do to stop it now.
Nothing your mechanic can do about it now either.
You have to live with the noise until you replace the tires.
Once it has started doing this, there is almost no way to stop it.

Go back and read the bulletin I linked in my previous post.
SYMPTOM
The customer may complain of uneven or rapid rear
tire wear, a roaring noise from the rear, or a vibration at
highway speeds.
PROBABLE CAUSE
The combination of the tires and the rear suspension
geometry may cause rapid and uneven rear tire wear.
Tires in an advanced stage of this diagonal or inner
edge wear may cause vibration and/or a bad bearing
type noise.

Does any of that sound familiar?
(The bulletin does not have a good pic of just the inner edge wear.)



The upper rear arms can be replaced with the updated parts if they haven't already been done, but this repair only reduces the tendency to chop the tire tread.
+ It does not eliminate the issue completely.
The bulletin info above tells what to check as far as telling if the car already has the newer parts installed:
"2. Inspect the rear upper control arms.
Do the arms have the letter %u201CC%u201D painted or stamped on them?"

The part number listed in the bulletin contains one box with both arms in it, along with the necessary hardware. Updated design arms.

If you order the arms listed in the parts catalog, you get original design arms and you have to buy 2 of them.

Car MUST receive a 4 wheel alignment when/if these arms are installed.




Many parts people will not be helpful. Many do not know about the updated parts. Just ask for the part number listed in the bulletin.

Aftermarket also makes adjustable parts for this, but I personally have never installed them.






The choice of tires plays a huge role in the life and wear.
Some designs are very prone to chopping. Other designs don't have as much of a problem.




Example of inner edge tread chop, no longer round (they can get much worse than this too):


HTH