OK this 5-speed 91 Accord EX has 350K+ miles. With her rusty rear fenders and various dings and scars on her body she is still my pride and joy. Everything works. Oil consumption is normal otherwise minimal with synthetic oil. I just replaced both front axles. The CV joint boot on the front right was torn but upon inspection, I found the left axle with an intact boot was also bad. It was making a lot of noise so I ended up replacing the left axle as well. The problem however [moderate “Vibration” in the front end upon deceleration] that I was hoping would go away or improve with axle replacement persists. The car is aligned, tires are new and balanced. This babe gets up to 100 MPH in no time. Of course I don’t do this as a habit but I “safely” push the posted speed limit whenever I can. Here is a description of the problem: upon quick deceleration say from 70 mph+ down I get quite a bit of vibration in the front end. There is no pulsation in the brake pedal. Rotors are fine. I have been thinking half shafts or struts or both may be the cause or may be the engine mounts? No doubt with that many miles things wear out. The car leans slightly on the left side and the strut on that side feels stiff. Please chime in if you have had experience with similar symptoms or have any suggestions.

TIA

alfi

 

You said it's ONLY on quick deceleration? That really sounds like brakes.

Just because there's no vibration in the brake pedal doesn't mean it's not brakes. Most often when you think the rotors are "warped", it's really pad material imprinted unevenly over the rotor. They're not physically warped, so it doesn't shake the pedal. It's more accurate to describe the rotors having patches that are more slippery & more sticky.

 

That could very well be the case. The pads (genuine Honda) have about 15K miles on them. So what is the recommened approach? Resurface rotors and replace pads and seat the pads afterwards or just replace the pads? If the pads are OK would cleaning the rotors with break parts cleaner do the trick?

 

Look in the DIY section where I posted about "bedding" new brake rotors. Small chance that will work just by itself.

Otherwise I think what I would do is resurface the rotors, then take emery-paper to de-glaze the pads. Then do the bedding-in procedure.

Of course, that all assumes it IS the brakes. Do you ever get any shaking when you're NOT braking?

 

Actually there is a slight intermittent vibration in the steering wheel under normal driving conditions with a light grunting engine noise that occurs mostly between the second and thrid gears when the car is cold. It then fades out but may fade back in at higher speeds in the 5th gear as well. I have been thinking this might be partially caused by possible clogged ports in the intake manifold of the EGR system.

I plan to look the brakes and rotors over and consider resurfacing/deglazing the rotors and bedding the pads as advised.

Thanks