vibration in auto trans 99 CRV

[dan fitz]

have noticed a vibration at moderate speeds, feels like it's a tranny thing; have 140K miles on it, have changed the fluid a couple times recently. what could be vibrating/ out of balance inside to cause this? and of course i'm wondering if anybody has fixed or moderated this problem with a miracle additive. had an alignment recently after new inner and outer tie rod ends, no change from before the new parts.

[dan fitz]

talking to myself here i guess. some other web posts have suggested looking at the driveshaft u joints. a frozen u joint might fit the symptoms but i thought the shaft only rotated when the real time 4wd kicks in, which would mean it hardly gets used and the u joints wouldn't have had much wear at all on them. any thoughts?

[BullShifter]

Those u-joints do go bad, usually it's the front one. Last time I checked a new drive shaft from Honda was $1200 list. When do you feel the vibration? Only when you are on the gas? Does it go away if you let off the gas? The last time we had a CRV in for a vibration it was one of the front axles.

[dan fitz]

thanks for the response. I do have a torn boot on the right front axle, just noticed it a week ago but not hearing any of the familiar worn CV joint sounds. vibration is most noticeable at around 40 mph. am i right that i can get u-joints and put them in myself without buying the whole shaft from honda? i've done plenty of them on our vans and trucks with the hi-tech big C-clamp and socket press method. I work on a dirt patch currently covered with snow and ice so i probably won't get underneath for a week or so to look at the front to back shaft.

[BullShifter]

Many axles that vibrate look ok, with no torn boots. Those u joints are welded in, not something you want to tackle yourself. We send them to a driveshaft place, I forget what they charge...maybe $200. If you suspect the driveshaft remove it. It's very simple to remove. Drive it and see what happens. You should also be able to feel play in the joint with the shaft still attached. Does it go away if you let off the gas?

[dan fitz]

finally got under it sunday and sho 'nuff the front u-joint had a visible piece missing from one of the bearing caps. leaving it in place for now until i can find out more about repairing them. so here's my question; seems like welding a u-joint in place would be impossible because it would destroy any lube inside it. what it looks like (granted this was still in place and not well cleaned off but i did look close up with a good flashlight) is that the caps are held in place not with the common circlip but a hardened thin clip with notches around the edge-something that looks like it would be trashed if removed and need to be replaced. i have seen u-joints listed as available on the web but haven't established whether it's doable. any further thoughts on DIY?

[BullShifter]

We send them out or replace with a Honda part. That's all I can say.

[dan fitz]

searching the web i found some postings about "staked" u-joints, which fit the description of mine- apparently if you get the "staked" clip out you can proceed as usual and put ring clips in in place of the one-time clips used to put it together. i will post the results of my efforts after i get the joints, which appear to be a rockford 430-9B for my '99 CRV. regards, dan

[dan fitz]

sorry for the delay. i did order the above-mentioned u-joints, cost about $60+ with shipping. got my shaft out and went to work on the "staked" caps. so what they are is stamped with a grooved/splined ram in the ends to keep the caps in without a clip. bogus but there it is. ground the displaced metal out of the way with a dremel with a carbide tip, then pressed them out with a big C-clamp and sockets of the appropriate size. the new joints have clips that go inside the cross so no worries about how to keep the new caps in place. and of course they have grease fittings so i expect i'll never need to do this job again. figure a couple of hours after the shaft is out to get it all done.