1998 Honda Civic Vibration at iddle

DSTAANA

MEMBER
1998 HONDA CIVIC
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
200,000 MILES

Hi,

I have a 1998 Honda civic with mileage of 200K and I am having a problem with the car, I brought my car to a diferent workshops but they cannot figure out the cause of the problem. The problem of my car is that when I turn on the a/c at idle but the gear is in drive mode I can feel a strong vibration in the stearing wheel, when I put the gear in reverse mode there is no vibration at all and also when start driving, it hesitates untill it reaches the speed of 60kph but if the a/c is off it goes just fine. Kindly advice me on what is the posible causes of vibration and hesitation of my car? Thanks

3 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi dstaana,

Thank you for the donation.

Quite often when vibrations are felt at the steering wheels, it indicates bad or out of alignment engine mounts.

Have the engine mounts been checked? Seems the mount might require readjustment or replacement.

However you mentioned that with the A/C off, it is fine, you mean the hesitation and vibration?

What is the idling speed when A/C is on and off?
Do you have the Check Engine Light showing?

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Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 AT 9:00 AM

DSTAANA

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Engine mount had been replaced.

Yes. If the A/C is off the engine runs smoothly (no vibration) and it does not hesitate as it runs just fine.

In terms of Iddling speed unfortunately I don't have that meter in my car, its just the tachometer, fuel meter, and engine temparature.

Engine check light never shows on.

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Saturday, April 4th, 2009 AT 1:51 PM

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

If the idling speed is too low, vibrations would occur. Without an in car tachometer, (I believe you only have the speedometer) you would need to get a clip-on gauge to check the idling speed. Try the local parts store, they might be able to assist you on this.

When A/c is turned on, the idling speed should be stable but if the Intake Air Control (IAC) valve air passage is partially clogged, it would restrict some air into the intake manifold and this would cause the idling speed to drop.

Cleaning the throttle body and IAC should help on this.

However low idlng speed would not affect the vehicle performance. Without the AC, engine load is lesser so hesitation might not show and with compressor, additional load would strain the engine.

It could be an intermittent misfiring spark, caused by loose connections, oil in plug hole or bad spark plugs and/or wires.

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Sunday, April 5th, 2009 AT 5:26 AM