Steering Problemunder Hard Acceleration

[SeanD]

Hi,

I recently bought a one owner 2001 Honda Accord (manual, LX), and have noticed that when taking off from traffic lights etc, under relatively hard (not wheelspin level) acceleration, the steering wheel tends to want to go off to the right. I'm wondering what might be causing this? I haven't experienced this problem on other vehicles.

[JadeyBlitzen]

thats definitely torque steer. the problem could be with the differential or with the half shafts

[RACERSEDGE]

hows yo tyre condition?,air n the alignments? check them 1st

[SeanD]

  RACERSEDGE said:

hows yo tyre condition?,air n the alignments? check them 1st

Tires were installed new before I bought the car, inflated to manufacturer recommended 30psi all around. Could it be because alignment is off? Note, the car doesn't steer crookedly with my hands off the wheel on a straight road. It only seems to do so when accelerating after balancing up a hill or that sort of thing. I looked up torque steer and it does seem to be that, is this just a normal occurence with this model or is it a mechanical problem that needs to be fixed?

[JadeyBlitzen]

  SeanD said:

Tires were installed new before I bought the car, inflated to manufacturer recommended 30psi all around. Could it be because alignment is off? Note, the car doesn't steer crookedly with my hands off the wheel on a straight road. It only seems to do so when accelerating after balancing up a hill or that sort of thing. I looked up torque steer and it does seem to be that, is this just a normal occurence with this model or is it a mechanical problem that needs to be fixed?

for normal torque steer to happen you need at least 200 bhp on a front drive car. unless your accord is a euro r this does sound like a mechanical failure. the thing is one wheel recieves more torque than the other. so i'd start by blaming the diff. however i suggest you get this inspected by a specialist.

[harshansenadhir]

Few questions,

1. What will happen if you remove your foot from the accelerator pedal, when cruising at an average speed with a bit of pulling power used from engine? does the car slightly turns to left hand side? if so most probably the culprit would be lower arm bushes of front left suspension..

2. Any brake bindings on the front right wheel? lift up each wheel at a time and check how they rotate

3. if suspension bushing and alignment is alright and no brake bindings then I might look for any anomalies or different wear tear of the CVs .. have you done anything to CV joints recently? what's the condition of the CV joints? my advise is to check them if all of above sounds right

[SeanD]

  harshansenadhir said:

Few questions,

1. What will happen if you remove your foot from the accelerator pedal, when cruising at an average speed with a bit of pulling power used from engine? does the car slightly turns to left hand side? if so most probably the culprit would be lower arm bushes of front left suspension..

2. Any brake bindings on the front right wheel? lift up each wheel at a time and check how they rotate

3. if suspension bushing and alignment is alright and no brake bindings then I might look for any anomalies or different wear tear of the CVs .. have you done anything to CV joints recently? what's the condition of the CV joints? my advise is to check them if all of above sounds right

Thanks Harshan I will look into these this week. The CV joints were inspected and in good condition according to the agents when I got the car. If there was a break binding problem the wheels would lock up under slight braking pressure isnt it? This doesn't happen though. But it's unlikely they would have checked the other points you have made so I will check and then take it in.

Edited February 16, 2009 by SeanD

[harshansenadhir]

  SeanD said:

Thanks Harshan I will look into these this week. The CV joints were inspected and in good condition according to the agents when I got the car. If there was a break binding problem the wheels would lock up under slight braking pressure isnt it? This doesn't happen though. But it's unlikely they would have checked the other points you have made so I will check and then take it in.

my point behind brake bind was if there's a single wheel with binding problem due to mis aligned brake pads or caliper piston issues.. you can check that on a gravel road.. which wheel starts to stop and drag over the other.. or jack up and rotate each wheel