[Sportfury70]

Hi all, new here.

My brother in law has a ‘13 Crosstour V6 AWD that vibrates while accelerating. It has 106k miles on it.

it only does it while accelerating, not coasting or maintaining speed, and at almost any speed from 10 mph to highway speeds. VERY light accelerating doesn’t seem to cause it.

Im an accomplished mechanic, and did a full inspection of the suspension and driveline. The large forward control arm bushings look good but have some flex. Half shafts seem tight, boots not cracked, and no clicking binding or movement in the CVs at full turn. Motor mounts seem slightly soft but are not cracked. Overall it seems in good repair.

The only anomaly I can see is the center support bearing/bushing on the propeller shaft has a fair amount of deflection, and it certainly seems that’s where the vibration is coming from.

I cannot find that part anywhere. I can only find the full driveshaft assembly for lots of $$$. Do any of you know where to find that center bearing? Or can you confirm that it is my likely culprit?

 

[NailGrease]

Hi all, new here.

My brother in law has a ‘13 Crosstour V6 AWD that vibrates while accelerating. It has 106k miles on it.

it only does it while accelerating, not coasting or maintaining speed, and at almost any speed from 10 mph to highway speeds. VERY light accelerating doesn’t seem to cause it.

Im an accomplished mechanic, and did a full inspection of the suspension and driveline. The large forward control arm bushings look good but have some flex. Half shafts seem tight, boots not cracked, and no clicking binding or movement in the CVs at full turn. Motor mounts seem slightly soft but are not cracked. Overall it seems in good repair.

The only anomaly I can see is the center support bearing/bushing on the propeller shaft has a fair amount of deflection, and it certainly seems that’s where the vibration is coming from.

I cannot find that part anywhere. I can only find the full driveshaft assembly for lots of $$$. Do any of you know where to find that center bearing? Or can you confirm that it is my likely culprit?

I believe Honda wants to sell you a whole new shaft.
Has the ATF been drained and filled? In colder weather, a transmission with old ATF will not perform well. Since the transmission has a 9 quart system, multiple drain and fills may be needed.

 

[Sportfury70]

I believe Honda wants to sell you a whole new shaft.
Has the ATF been drained and filled? In colder weather, a transmission with old ATF will not perform well. Since the transmission has a 9 quart system, multiple drain and fills may be needed.

If Honda actually did do that, they would certainly lose me as a customer. That’s a $20-$50 bushing, I’m sure not paying 10 times more for the whole assembly.

ATF was flushed a couple oil changes ago, but who knows.The frequency certainly does not feel like a hydraulic issue, and I see no seepage and feel no play at the output shafts of the transaxle.

Anybody ever pull a prop shaft off and take pics? Wonder if there’s a part number stamped on that bearing. Someone has to manufacture it for Honda, like SKF or Timken?

 

[NailGrease]

Please let us know if you were able to find a way to repair a Honda propeller shaft. Ty

 

[Sportfury70]

I’ve had no luck finding a replacement bushing. My brother in law does not want to drop the money on a new prop shaft, so he’s going to give it a trans flush to see if that helps.

If that doesn’t work, and I suspect it may not, then I’ll update and continue to look for that bushing. If I find it I’ll post the r&r here.

 

[Travelor]

I’ve had no luck finding a replacement bushing. My brother in law does not want to drop the money on a new prop shaft, so he’s going to give it a trans flush to see if that helps.

If that doesn’t work, and I suspect it may not, then I’ll update and continue to look for that bushing. If I find it I’ll post the r&r here.

@Sportfury70 -
A little late to the conversation but I did want to confirm your suspicions regarding the propeller shaft assembly. The shop manual treats the 2 props and connector bearing and bracket as one component. Only one part number for the entire component. I suppose the engineering specs are such, that only a factory pressing is "good enough" for vehicle use. You're best bet is either a local wrecking yard aka pick-a-part lot or eBay. I've had some good luck with eBay and local. I'm also on the mail list for all my local yards and I get notified whenever a new vehicle enters the yard that matches any one my vehicles.

I am curious as to what you saw in the way of deflection at that center bearing? Is the bearing loose?

FWIW from my research and experience. Having been one who is looking for the allusive shutter shimmer noise or vibration. One of the prevailing theories, is that the front drive shafts are under spec'd for a traffic heavy stop and go usage. Specifically, the type of use where the driver is accelerating and rapidly coming to a stop only to accelerate off the line once again. Like most drivers in Southern California. Racing up to and short stopping a stop sign and punching it to get off the line and back to speed. It would appear that the shafts can go out-of-round. At the shaft level even the smallest anomaly will have a larger noticeable impact other components in the drive train. Even more so if corrective action is not taken and is used even while out of tolerance.. Honda does not deny or confirm the theory, but factory mechanics have whispered unconfirmed confirmations. From my own experience, having come into ownership of my XTour at 200,000 miles and put another 35,000 since. I swapped both factory shafts out within the first weeks and it did remove some of what I was experiencing. Disabling the auto ECO mode also made a world of difference in the perceived vibrations and shimmies I was experiencing.
My $.02 worth...

Trav...
Keep on Wren'n

 

[Sportfury70]

@Sportfury70 -
A little late to the conversation but I did want to confirm your suspicions regarding the propeller shaft assembly. The shop manual treats the 2 props and connector bearing and bracket as one component. Only one part number for the entire component. I suppose the engineering specs are such, that only a factory pressing is "good enough" for vehicle use. You're best bet is either a local wrecking yard aka pick-a-part lot or eBay. I've had some good luck with eBay and local. I'm also on the mail list for all my local yards and I get notified whenever a new vehicle enters the yard that matches any one my vehicles.

I am curious as to what you saw in the way of deflection at that center bearing? Is the bearing loose?

FWIW from my research and experience. Having been one who is looking for the allusive shutter shimmer noise or vibration. One of the prevailing theories, is that the front drive shafts are under spec'd for a traffic heavy stop and go usage. Specifically, the type of use where the driver is accelerating and rapidly coming to a stop only to accelerate off the line once again. Like most drivers in Southern California. Racing up to and short stopping a stop sign and punching it to get off the line and back to speed. It would appear that the shafts can go out-of-round. At the shaft level even the smallest anomaly will have a larger noticeable impact other components in the drive train. Even more so if corrective action is not taken and is used even while out of tolerance.. Honda does not deny or confirm the theory, but factory mechanics have whispered unconfirmed confirmations. From my own experience, having come into ownership of my XTour at 200,000 miles and put another 35,000 since. I swapped both factory shafts out within the first weeks and it did remove some of what I was experiencing. Disabling the auto ECO mode also made a world of difference in the perceived vibrations and shimmies I was experiencing.
My $.02 worth...

Trav...
Keep on Wren'n

Hey Trav, thanks for weighing in! My BIL just lives with it, the car is just an appliance to him pretty much, point a to b. The trans flush did nothing. If it were my car, I would have swapped the prop shaft out and if it still didn’t fix it, go up and down the drive train testing and replacing anything that spins. It’s not my car tho!

the deflection at the center support was enough so that I could move the shaft up/down/left/right more than a 1/4” by hand with relatively little effort. Even though there was no grossly obvious damage, it just didn’t feel right. Similar shaft supports in BMWs I’ve worked on were very stiff and needed quite a bit of effort to deflect. It just seems like the likely culprit given the symptoms.

I know a great driveshaft and axle shop that could easily disassemble and balance the shafts. I’d even consider pressing out the failed rubber and milling a new polyurethane bushing with the same ID/OD and then reassembling it with the balanced shafts. I think that would work and end up being bulletproof. And even if it didn’t, it’s only $50 to balance and maybe another $50 to make the new bushing which is cheap enough to try. You know, if it was actually my car LOL