01 Odyssey pulls right on highway deceleration and pulls left on acceleration. Clunk front left on accelerationg after full stop

500 Views 5 Replies 2 Participants Last post by Timf1981, 17 d ago

Timf1981

Discussion Starter · 1 mo ago

01 odyssey. 191k miles ,
Rebuilt tranny at 135k.
Also at 135k. new rotors and pads and suspension rubber bushings
and i believe motor mounts. Probably not Honda parts. And timing belt.

I then gave the van to my Nephew. He headed out west. 5 years later . Then van is back with me.
I did do all of the work listed above.

Front shocks were replaced by my nephew a few weeks ago.
Probably his first time replacing shocks. But he is pretty mechanical.

Its been raining here. so haven't been able to crawl under the van.
When i picked up the van it was dark and with a 25 min drive home.
Engine ran great. Tranny shifted better than new. I did do some tranny upgrades . Sonax
The first thing i noticed while driving side roads to get to the Highway was that the steering wheel
returns to center very quickly and powerfully. It takes normal pressure to turn the car at low speeds.

And upon normal acceleration after a complete stop. There is a clunk front left.
It sometimes can be felt in the steering wheel. Its not a 'click'. No clunking while braking.

When driving at 10mph and making the car weave down the road. It feels ok, no excessive role.
The van does have a pull to the right. Tires are at equal pressures 36 and low but even tread.
At 40 mph and in the right lane of two. If i let go of the wheel. the car will start to drift right.
Then you will see the steering wheel move 1.5 inches to the right. And the van turns right.

Once at highway speed . If foot is pulled off the accelerator . After a short pause. The van will pull hard right.
And when the accelerator is applied. It straightens itself out very quickly. Almost a like a quick pull to the left.
I did have my wife rev the engine while in park and there was no excessive movement of engine.
We will try it again in drive and reverse.

Any ideas?

My plan is to inspect front calipers for sticking. Especially front right.
Inspect sway-bar links .
And wiggle the wheels for any ball joint or tie-rod play.
Rotate tires.

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Timf1981

Discussion Starter · #2 · 1 mo ago

I just took the 01 Ody for another drive. I get the feeling its the alignment way off and the two front wheels are fighting for control.
The van drives squirrely.
I think the front left clunk is too strong for brake pad shift.

Visually both sway-bar links are there and connected. No odd wear pattern on any tire.

I am not sure if tie-rod was disconnected during strut change.

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Timf1981

Discussion Starter · #3 · 1 mo ago

Right upper motor mount is bad.
All the others look great.
No sticking calipers .
Sway bar links and bar bushings are good. No cracking.
After replacing top right motor mount, I will check to see of front left clunk
is still there with acceleration from a stop and if the pulling on deceleration is gone

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Dang Civic

· #4 · 1 mo ago

I'd look at your control arm bushings if you haven't looked at it.... did he replace the whole strut with a pro kit or just replaced the struts and used the original springs? It's not hard to mess that up if you're not used to putting them together. A lot of times people will not line the springs up properly on the new strut. Check the top of the strut to see if the rubber bushing is out of place or not centered as well.

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Timf1981

Discussion Starter · #5 · 1 mo ago

Thanks for the input.
I did replace the upper right motor mount yesterday. It wasn't totally gone. but soft.
The engine still rocks when revved in gear and brake on.
Lower front motor mount will be here tomorrow.
The veering left and right on the highway was decreased. Strangely. The clunk on acceleration after a stop increased.
If symptoms continue after second motor mount is replaced . I will rotate tires.
The struts and springs are new.
I will check bushings and top of struts.

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Timf1981

Discussion Starter · #6 · 17 d ago

Dang Civic said:
I'd look at your control arm bushings if you haven't looked at it.... did he replace the whole strut with a pro kit or just replaced the struts and used the original springs? It's not hard to mess that up if you're not used to putting them together. A lot of times people will not line the springs up properly on the new strut. Check the top of the strut to see if the rubber bushing is out of place or not centered as well.

So I just replaced both sides inner and outer tie-rods.
And still have movement and clunking.
It turns out the lower control arm horizontal bushing is clunking when grabbing left and right side of tire and torquinig it back and forth.
If I had a helper from the beginning. It would have saved a lot of time

I removed the bolt and rotated the lower control arm out.
The bushing looks fine. But the bolt is very loose when slid back into the bushing.
This is where all the play and knocking is coming from.

Should there be a brass sleeve inside the bushing?
Bolt does not look worn.
The bushing was replaced 60k miles ago.

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