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Vans & Minivans Honda Odyssey Honda Odyssey Alignment Problems
87 messages, Last post on Oct 30, 2009 at 7:49 AM
You are in the Honda Odyssey Forum. Your Host is Karens
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Most tires should probably have less than .050 inch of radial run-out, and some even less depending on how sensitive the vehicle's steering and suspension (and driver) is to vibration. TIRE RUNOUT An out-of-round condition can be confirmed by measuring radial runout on the vehicle with a dial indicator. Position the tip of the pointer against the center of the tread and slowly rotate the tire until you've found the high and low points. If the difference is more than .050 inches, you've found the problem. If you don't have a dial indicator, the "poor man's" alternative is to use a piece of chalk and a block of wood. Use the wood to support the chalk. Spin the tire by hand and move the chalk closer until it just touches the tire. This will mark the high spot. If the mark extends less than half way around the tire and you see an air gap between the tire and chalk that's as wide or wider than a nickel at its widest point, the tire has too much runout. You can attempt to correct runout by repositioning the tire on the rim to match the tire's high spot with the rim's low spot. By the same token, you can minimize potential runout problems when mounting new tires by aligning these two spots if the tire manufacturer provides a mark that shows you where the high spot is on the tire. On some vehicles, the low spot on the rim may be marked with a paint dot inside the rim dropwell. Ford and Chrysler do this on their steel rims. Most steel replacement rims are similarly marked. General Motors and most Japanese vehicle manufacturers use the valve hole to mark the low spot. This is also the case on most aluminum and polycast rims as well as unmarked rims. Medium truck (20 inch or larger) steel tubeless disc wheels have a dimple or small indentation to mark the low spot on the same side of the rim as the valve hole. Of course, you can always find the low spot on a rim by mounting it on a balancer and using a dial indicator on the bead on the rim. Once the tire high spot and rim low spot have been found, rotate the tire so the two line up. Or, if you suspect runout but don't know where the high and low sports are and don't have a dial indicator to find them, try rotating the tire 180 degrees on the rim to see if that reduces runout. If runout is now less than specs, or the vibration has ceased, congratulate yourself because you've solved the problem. But if it still exceed specs or still shakes at speed, you have to make a decision. A tire with too much runout can be buffed or shaved on a tire truing machine. But removing tread obviously reduces the remaining service life of the tire, so this approach would not be recommended unless the runout can be eliminated with minimal tread removal. Lateral runout on the tire should also be checked. If more than .050 inches, measure lateral runout in the wheel and compare the two to determine which one has the problem. If the wheel is within specifications but the tire is not, the tire has too much runout and needs to be replaced. With wheels, the amount of lateral and radial runout that's acceptable will vary according to the application. Alloy wheels on small cars with MacPherson strut suspensions are much more sensitive to both kinds of runout than steel wheels on larger rear-wheel drive vehicles. If lateral (sideways) or radial (vertical) runout exceed specifications, the wheel should be replaced. As a rule, a wheel with more than .050 inches of radial runout or is more than .025 to .035 inch out-of-round can cause problems. Lateral runout may be excessive if it exceeds .035 inches on a steel rim, or .020 inches on an alloy rim. Some vehicles are so sensitive to lateral runout that a difference of only .008 to .010 inches side-to-side can cause a noticeable vibration in the steering. The only cure for a wheel with too much lateral runout is replacement (though there are aftermarket services that can straighten and repair expensive alloy wheels). Radial runout on a vehicle can sometimes be reduced be reindexing the wheel on the hub. If moving the wheel one or two lug positions fails to reduce runout, hub runout may be the problem. As a rule, hub runout as measured at the lugs should not vary more than .030 inch. |
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Replying to: giantman (May 06, 2008 11:07 am) Thanks. |
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I am so glad to see others posting about this problem. I originally started noticing this problem back in October but couldn't find any other prople having the same issue. I just now checked again and I'm glad I did. I am not alone. I have had the car in the shop several times with a couple different dealers. They've replaced the struts and the strut mounts, the steering rack and one other thing that has to do with camber. They tried a set of wheels from a 2008 oddysey. They did a couple of alignments and everything was dead-on. Nothing worked. Even honda ran out of suggestions. After that they started telling me that it was a "characteristic" of the van. They said they drove 3 other 2007s and that they all did the same thing to varying degrees. I asked to drive them and they said they just sold all 3 of them. I put in a customer care complaint, so they sent a district service guy out to drive it. I showed him the problem. He didn't say anything. He drove, but never took his hands off the wheel. He just said it was a "characteristic" and that all cars "drift". He refused to use the word "pull". He also said that he did not consider the van to have a "problem". I asked why they were trying to repair it for me if it wasn't broken. He said that they wanted to make my driving experience more enjoyable. I have had the car in 4-5 times, once for almost 2 weeks. I've spent countless hours of my time on this problem and it is no better than when I started. I feel like after spending $27000 for a car it should not pull and they act like its no big deal. I bought a Honda because of the supposed quality. The Odyssey in particular is supposed to be highly rated. This was my first import. I got fed up with GM. I also read alot of user opinions saying how Honda stood behind their product. Some were getting warranty repairs after their warranty was up. I was impressed. Well Honda is not standing behind their product in this case. They have told me that there's no more they can do for me and that this is just a characteristic of the van. I am convinced that this is a manufacturing defect in the van and that they know it and its too expensive to acknowledge it. Here are the particulars of my problem. They have started referring to it as "memory steer". If you go to a parking lot and crank the wheel all the way to the left to drive in a circle and then let the wheel go, it never comes back to center. It makes it back to about 9 or 10 o'clock. If you do the same to the right it comes almost perfectly back to 12'oclock all on its own. On the road, this means that when I make left turns, it pulls left from that point on. When I make right hand turns, it drives true for a while, but eventually starts pulling left again. At high speeds the pull is really noticeable. If I drive in the left (passing) lane on a highway, the crown adds to it and it pulls off the road within 1-2 seconds. This makes highway driving really uncomfortable. On long drives, my hands start to cramp after a while from holding the wheel to stop it from pulling. If I drive in the right hand lane, it still pulls, just slower and will eventually fight its way over the crown of the road. Once it makes it over, it really starts to pull fast. ON a flat surface street, it pulls out of its lane in a few seconds. I started this process back in october when it had 10000 miles (it took me a while to figure out the whole memory steer and what was happening), but I suspect it was doing it from day one. Now I have over 17000 miles on it and still no resolution. I had no choice but to open up a claim with the BBB autoline. They asked me to send one more request for repair via certified mail before filing which I did. Honda setup one final repair attempt and it failed. I'm supposed to have my hearing sometime next week. Wish me luck.
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Replying to: walczak (Jun 20, 2008 9:59 am) I give up on this subject and just waiting for this day when Honda will admit that there is the mistake on there side, that's constructors mistake...but so far they trying so hard to keep this quiet. I hope that they will post it on national bulletin and I could go to the dealer and fix the problem right a way. I drive with the van a lot , since sept. of 2007 when I bought the van I have already 18k miles and still putting up with this annoying problem. I hope this day is coming soon. thx. and good luck.
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| See #23 above, this may be your fix if you can get a dealer to do it. | |
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Replying to: zuraxus (Jul 12, 2008 2:35 pm) P.S. I'm glad you started this thread, I was starting to think I was the only one having this problem. I really think Honda has a major design flaw (that is too expensive to correct) in its steering and they're trying to hide it. They went from really trying to work with me and correct the problem to pretending there was no problem at all and using alot of CYA/Legal type speak.
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Replying to: walczak (Jul 14, 2008 7:00 am)
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Replying to: zuraxus (Jul 14, 2008 10:06 am) I sent them what was posted as the fix for it and they say that nothing is posted in the National Database. Whoever did get the problem fix, could you please call your service manager and find out if he indeed posted it to the national database and if so, could you get me a copy? It is so frustrating that you buy a NEW HONDA and find out that you have problems like any other brand. On top of things, my DVD player stopped working (this si the second time it happens). Two days later it started working again. I definitely believe that Honda has been dropping the ball. I guess in tough times evrybody has cuts, even if they sacrifice quality. Even if the car is under warranty, it is a pain to go to the dealer so often to fix little problems. I am also upset at the gas mileage that this car gives. So far I am at about 16.5 mpg. I will most definitely do more research next time I buy a car. And to all of you that have taken their time to share their problems here.......THANKS!!!!!
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Replying to: ricardo_33172 (Jul 14, 2008 2:41 pm) The easiest way is to find a tire company has Hunter GSP9700 machine to find the deflective one(s) quick by performaing 'road force' on each tire. http://www.hunter.com/pub/product/balancer/4159T/index.htm Below is article from tirerack.com Diagnosing Tire Pull Tires are manufactured by assembling components made of rubber, fabric cord and steel wire that are cured together in a mold. Under intense heat and pressure during the curing process, the rubber reaches a near liquid state before vulcanization takes place finalizing the tire's exact size, structure and shape. If a tire's internal components are misaligned as it cures, it is possible that unequal internal forces may cause the vehicle to pull to the side, even when it is steered straight ahead. When this occurs with a brand new tire it is typically due to conicity, a manufacturing glitch where a tire's tread has cured slightly cone shaped rather than in the desirable uniform cylinder shape. A tire that has conicity due to a manufacturing error will be apparent right after installation or immediately following the first time the tires are rotated. Because of this, tire manufacturers warranties only cover this condition early in the tire's life. If tire pull first becomes noticeable after many miles of driving on a tire, it is typically due to driving conditions or vehicle misalignment that has caused the tire's tread to wear on an angle (with one side wearing faster than the other), or allowed the tire on the left side of the axle to wear faster than the tire on the right side of the same axle. If a vehicle has a pulling problem, the alignment should be checked (including cross camber, cross caster and thrust angle settings). If the alignment is at the manufacturer's preferred settings or appropriately within the range, the following procedure can be used to confirm which tire is causing the pull. The following steps must be used to isolate a pulling tire. Click here for a downloadable version of these instructions. Step 1 Action to be Taken Rotate the two front tires from side-to-side. Directional tires can be moved from side-to-side for testing purposes. The short time that they are on the vehicle backwards will not harm the tire. Results 1. If the vehicle pulls in the opposite direction, the defective tire is one of the front tires. (GO TO STEP 2) 2. If the vehicle pulls in the same direction the problem is either with one of the rear tires or is not a tire-related problem. (GO TO STEP 3) Step 2 Action to be Taken Rotate the front tire on the side of the car that is in the direction of the pull, to the rear of the car. Results 1. If the pull no longer exists or diminishes greatly, the tire that was moved to the rear of the car is the defective tire. 2. If the pulling does not change, the defective tire is isolated to the front tire that was not moved in Step 2. Step 3 Action to be Taken Rotate the two rear tires from side to side. Results 1. If the vehicle pulls in the opposite direction, the defective tire is one of the rear tires. (GO TO STEP 4) 2. If the pulling tire does not change, the problem is not tire related. The car should be checked for possible misalignment or suspension wear. Step 4 Action to be Taken Rotate the rear tire on the side of the car that is in the direction of the pull to the front of the car. Results 1. If the vehicle pull becomes more severe, the defective tire is isolated to the tire that was rotated to the front of the car. 2. If the pulling does not change, the defective tire is isolated to the rear tire that was not rotated. A tire diagnosed as a pulling tire is a manufacturer's defect. The tire is covered under warranty only during the first 25% of tread wear. The defect is caused by the belts being incorrectly aligned during manufacture.
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