2000 Civic Si Help

Have a 2000 Civic Si that is currently SSC spec. Running a PDX this weekend at Road Atlanta and had the following symptoms occur on the 3rd session of the day.

The car developed a slight vibration and pull to the left. Continued for another lap and both conditions got worse. After pulling into the pits and checking the car for anything obvious (like loose lugs/tire pressures) went out and had same symptoms which got continually worse. Parked it.

On the drive home, wasn't comfortable going more than about 45 mph (thank goodness I live 5 miles from RdAtl.

The car actually brakes straight and the vibration is not really felt in the wheel which makes me suspect the rear end.

Jacked the car up at home and looked for anything clearly amiss. I expected to see something loose but found nothing.

Anyone have an idea? Would the failure of the large rubber bushing in the control arm do this?

Thanks,
Rory

When was the last time the front hubs were checked/changed? I had a left front hub fail on me during an 8hr. enduro in an ITA Acura Integra. Developed a very bad vibration from the front end. Came in and changed both front tires (thinking we possibly corded one) Went back out and the vibration was worse. Half way around the track the left front hub broke....

( I assume my EG has similar suspension to the your 2000 si).

Extreme case: Check the bushings in the rear toe arms, they sometimes become loose and change to spherical under high load.

I assume you are talking about the trailing arm bushings in the rear? Did you check the front rubber bushing on the rear pivot point of the front control arm as well? Check those bolts as well...

With a front hub, usually you also see the brakes go away at the same time due to pad being pushed back. My bet is something else. Keep looking for something that's causing unintended suspension travel. Probably the easiest way to find it is to take it on the road and have somebody see what corner is shaking.

Bringing this back up as I am still looking for a solution.

I've put the car up on the lift and yanked/pulled on everything (using hands, crow bars,etc.) with no obvious failures. Pulled off the shock/springs and checked again to make sure the suspension being loaded into full droop wasn't masking anything.

I think Bob has the right idea to have someone drive it and see if I can spot the affected corner.

Would a failed/failing bushing show obvious signs or could it be subtle? Anything I should look for besides obviously torn/loose/missing?

Thanks again for the input.

I think I know what it is because it happened to me on my 88 crx a long time ago. I was having a snap oversteer on right hand turns at full load. I was driving around the problem thinking it was a tire pressure problem but when I put a co driver in the car, he backed it into a tree at 50 mph.

When we were tearing the car down, I realized that the rear lower a arm bushing had come apart and as I recall the bushing was sliding in the lower a arm under load, causing tow out. Since then, its been all aftermarket bushings for me. I should have put two and two together then tourqing the wheels I would notice that the wheel would move back. Anyway, if you take your suspension apart, you might find something unexpected.

More from the ongoing saga. As stated, I had the car on the lift, removed the shocks (which included removing rear lower arms) and couldn't find the culprit. Decided to put shocks back on so I could have it driven and try to see the offending corner.

At that time I also removed the rear sway bar and disconnected the front so as not to transmit vibration across the car in an effort to make it easier to find the culprit.

So, take the car off the lift, roll it out of the garage and already notice a difference. Drive it out of the driveway and it is straight as an arrow. Drove it around the block and it still had a slight vibration but no pulling. The longer I drove it, the worse the vibration got, but it never started to pull.

Curious!

The next step is to put different wheels on it and see if the vibration goes away. After that, I will replace the cracked front brake rotor (that I forgot to mention earlier) and see if that helps.

Although the vibration seems to come from the rear, I am increasingly convinced the cracked front rotor is either a cause or a symptom of the real problem. Sorry I forgot to mention it earlier.:shrug:

One potentially unrelated question. When the rear trailing arm bushings (the big ones in the middle) fail, what are the symptoms/consequences?

Finally, any recommendations for aftermarket hard (delrin, poly, etc) bushings?

Thanks again for all the help.

Sorry, one more thing. Several people have mentioned failed wheel bearings. I've had that happen before and think I know how to identify them, but feel free to enlighten me on proper methods or unexpected indicators of failed bearings.

worn Ball joints, bushings, wheel bearings warped/ cracked rotors, bent wheels, bent unibody/ sub-frames, bad inner cv joints...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by backformore

Finally, any recommendations for aftermarket hard (delrin, poly, etc) bushings?

---

http://passwordjdm.com/PasswordJDM-R...P1854C326.aspx

Just a quick update to provide what was finally determined to be the problem. I hate to admit it because I should have noticed it much sooner, but hopefully it will help someone else.

The problem was ultimately a failed tire. The tire was delaminating internally which caused the vibration and enough deformation to cause the car to pull (the tire was on the front). It was the pulling that led me down the wrong path.

I think the root cause of the failure was a dragging brake caliper which caused the tire (left front at Rd Atl) to get too hot and eventually fail. It also resulted in tapered pads and a cracked rotor.

Like I said, I'm a little embarrassed I didn't notice the tire deformation when I first took it off the car, but I was too busy looking for loose or failed suspension components.

I hope this might help someone else in the future. I know it. We all know it. But sometimes we forget. Look at the obvious stuff first.