The Accord is running great after all the work, but a problem I was half hoping was maintenance related hasn't been cured, so now I actually have to fix something.

When starting from a stop even somewhat aggressively, the front end shudders pretty violently, and it feels like the left front wheel is scrambling for traction.

What I've noticed:

1. If you start very slowly, and do not slip the clutch at all there is no issue whatsoever.
2. If you're at a stop, and you slip the clutch lightly, there is no issue.
3. The clutch never slips once moving, and shifting gears is always great.
4. If you slip the clutch from a stop to get moving a little more quickly, the nasty shuddering starts up.
5. If you stay on it (and ignore the shuddering), the front right wheel will break traction almost always.

At first I thought it was a trashed clutch or glazed flywheel, but there really is no evidence of this elsewhere. I'd expect if the clutch was trashed it'd slip, or if the flywheel was glazed I'd feel some oddness at other times.

I'm thinking now it may be a blown strut and I'm just getting gnarly wheel hop that isn't be damped. The entire car is pretty springy and floaty, but I really don't have anything to compare it to. It seems a lot floatier than my dad's '87 LXi was, but that was ten years go he got rid of it.

Anyone have any thoughts on what the problem might be? Also, any recommendations on front struts? It has Monroe Sensatraks on there. Not really a fan, but it seems like choices are pretty limited unless you spend a lot of money. I'm really not interested in spending $200/corner on Konis. Not on this car, anyway... I'm thinking about KYB GR2s?

 

Find a friend and an empty parking lot. He can watch while standing alongside, to rule out wheel hop. It does sound kinda like clutch chatter.

Look for loose stuff in the front suspension. Particularly the radius rod (#8) that goes forward from the lower control arm. It's bolted into the car somewhere up forward, & the bushings can rot & leave the whole thing loose. That would allow the lower control arm to move fore & aft way too much.

 

It really does sound/feel like clutch chatter, but the odd thing is that when the car is stationary, idling, and you slowly let out the clutch, you don't get chatter, and it never happens in reverse. I'd expect some grabiness or chatter under those circumstances, which isn't there. Also, it's REALLY violent. Like car-shaking violent. And it's only/always the FR wheel that breaks traction (although it could just 'cause it's shorter driveshaft).

It seems to get better/worse throughout the day, and changes in its severity based on the angle of the drive wheels. Some other suspension component could easily also be at fault. I'll definitely check that out.

It could also be rust on the flywheel - the car sat for the majority of the spring & summer. Maybe a dead motor mount? There wasn't any real movement in the mounts when I was hammering on the crank pulley bolt.

I put 500 highway miles and maybe 100 city miles on it since September, but I'm going to put about 1500 miles on it over the next couple weeks, so I'll pay some more attention, and have someone watch the FR from outside to see what they see.

Side note - It looks like shox.com has a $300 Koni Street Sport "kit" for the Accord, but it's only specified for the sedan - anyone know if there will be problems fitting on the wagon? $300 for 4x Koni would be great.

 

If it was rust on the flywheel, why wouldn't it happen in reverse? Maybe you don't normally launch in reverse with the same ... "enthusiasm" as in 1st?

I've driven cars with mildly chattering clutch, that wouldn't chatter at all if I was sufficiently careful & gentle. I never really understood WHY it can work like that.

I remember hearing about differences between sedan & wagon, but I thought it was brake caliper & rotors are different. Not sure about shocks.

Don't forget to look for ANYTHING loose, ANYWHERE in the suspension or engine mounts.