Over the past year or so I've been dealing with a few issues that I've put way too much time and money into attempting to fix. Let me lay them out:
1. The transition and blending of the friction and Regen is not smooth, and the braking action for pedal depression is not at all consistent. An example is when in engine drive and deaccelerating it seems to limit Regen until it disconnects the engine. When that occurs, the braking gets noticably stronger.
2. When engine drive kicks in, it feels like your getting a bit more power to the wheels, and I have to noticeably let off the accelerator pedal while cruising otherwise I will start to pick up speed. My only guesses as to what's causing this is that the engine is making more power than the ECU thinks it is, but I know my car didn't exhibit this behavior earlier in it's life (a feat I consider to be amazing as the ECU has no direct way of measuring the engines output), and I have a hard time believing that the engine gained horsepower over that time.
3. At very low speeds (around 1-5 mph, perhaps 1-10), if the car is in its creeping range of speed tapping on the brake pedal (going from "power" to "charge") will produce a noticeable jolt. If I'm above the creeping speed, and tap on the accelerator pedal (going from "charge" to "power") will produce a similar jolt.
4. When I make a complete stop with a low-medium rate of deacceleration, there is a "creaking" or "groaning" sound right as the vehicle completely stops. Coming to a stop like a feather doesn't make the sound, and coming to a stop at a high rate of deacceleration also doesn't produce the sound, atleast to the same degree. I'm tempted to point my fingers at the brake rotors and pads, as the inner side of the front rotors are kinda rusty, and due to spirited driving, the rotors are very slightly warped too, but the sounds are annoying intermittent, sometimes they go away for no apparent reason.
5. This is far more of a diagnostic indicator than a symptom I experience in everyday life, but if I put my foot on the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal (in drive, or reverse), a creaking/groaning sound is heard. Holding the parking brake on will do the same thing.
Over too much time reading the service manual and forums, I have replaced all 3 motor mounts, none of them being replaced made much of any noticable difference. I should also note that I take very good care of my car, brake fluid was changed at 50k miles, as was the transmission fluid, engine oil every 5500 miles. Car is 76k miles. Most of these issues if I had to guess originate from a single, or multiple common points of failure. My current theories regarding most of the issues are:
1. Something in the front suspension is worn, and in need of replacement. Nothing obvious stands out underneath the car, there are no steering issues noticable, and no sounds are produced when going over bumps, cornering, etc. Some of the suspension components on the rear are definitely starting to wear, most noticably the bushings on the rear trailing arm, but I doubt they would cause the issues I am experiencing, I'm fairly certain that the issue is originating in the front.
2. Something between the transmission and the wheels is messed up somehow, ie some bearing, or the CV axles. Perhaps there is some spline that is messed up, or something similar. CV axles themselves seem to be fine, boots are in good shape, and they don't make noise. Wheel bearings are possible, but unlikely, they have never made noise, and if they were somehow so absurdly broken to mess things up in the symptoms above, I'm certain the car wouldn't be driveable.
3. The worst case, somehow something in the transmission failed, almost certainly a bearing, but a failed bearing would most likely produce lots of vibration and noise. I highly doubt that the gears themselves are mangled. Gear slop/play would cause the jerking im experiencing, but something would have to be really wrong to increase the amount of play in the gears, and the transmission fluid would most likely be metallic if that was the case. It wasn't.
4. The torque rod is designed or manufactured incorrectly. This is a theory of mine because the drivetrain still rolls a good amount in the engine bay (used phone camera to record) when pressing accelerator and brake at the same time. Unfortunately, I don't have any reference footage of a normal clarity under the same conditions. It appears to me that the 10th Gen civic torque rod and the claritys torque rod are almost exactly the same, so I might try slapping in an aftermarket performance oriented torque rod. Even if it isn't the issue the stock torque rod doesn't exactly impress me.
I would love it if anyone would chip in, or shared similar experiences.
1. The transition and blending of the friction and Regen is not smooth, and the braking action for pedal depression is not at all consistent. An example is when in engine drive and deaccelerating it seems to limit Regen until it disconnects the engine. When that occurs, the braking gets noticably stronger.
2. When engine drive kicks in, it feels like your getting a bit more power to the wheels, and I have to noticeably let off the accelerator pedal while cruising otherwise I will start to pick up speed. My only guesses as to what's causing this is that the engine is making more power than the ECU thinks it is, but I know my car didn't exhibit this behavior earlier in it's life (a feat I consider to be amazing as the ECU has no direct way of measuring the engines output), and I have a hard time believing that the engine gained horsepower over that time.
3. At very low speeds (around 1-5 mph, perhaps 1-10), if the car is in its creeping range of speed tapping on the brake pedal (going from "power" to "charge") will produce a noticeable jolt. If I'm above the creeping speed, and tap on the accelerator pedal (going from "charge" to "power") will produce a similar jolt.
4. When I make a complete stop with a low-medium rate of deacceleration, there is a "creaking" or "groaning" sound right as the vehicle completely stops. Coming to a stop like a feather doesn't make the sound, and coming to a stop at a high rate of deacceleration also doesn't produce the sound, atleast to the same degree. I'm tempted to point my fingers at the brake rotors and pads, as the inner side of the front rotors are kinda rusty, and due to spirited driving, the rotors are very slightly warped too, but the sounds are annoying intermittent, sometimes they go away for no apparent reason.
5. This is far more of a diagnostic indicator than a symptom I experience in everyday life, but if I put my foot on the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal (in drive, or reverse), a creaking/groaning sound is heard. Holding the parking brake on will do the same thing.
Over too much time reading the service manual and forums, I have replaced all 3 motor mounts, none of them being replaced made much of any noticable difference. I should also note that I take very good care of my car, brake fluid was changed at 50k miles, as was the transmission fluid, engine oil every 5500 miles. Car is 76k miles. Most of these issues if I had to guess originate from a single, or multiple common points of failure. My current theories regarding most of the issues are:
1. Something in the front suspension is worn, and in need of replacement. Nothing obvious stands out underneath the car, there are no steering issues noticable, and no sounds are produced when going over bumps, cornering, etc. Some of the suspension components on the rear are definitely starting to wear, most noticably the bushings on the rear trailing arm, but I doubt they would cause the issues I am experiencing, I'm fairly certain that the issue is originating in the front.
2. Something between the transmission and the wheels is messed up somehow, ie some bearing, or the CV axles. Perhaps there is some spline that is messed up, or something similar. CV axles themselves seem to be fine, boots are in good shape, and they don't make noise. Wheel bearings are possible, but unlikely, they have never made noise, and if they were somehow so absurdly broken to mess things up in the symptoms above, I'm certain the car wouldn't be driveable.
3. The worst case, somehow something in the transmission failed, almost certainly a bearing, but a failed bearing would most likely produce lots of vibration and noise. I highly doubt that the gears themselves are mangled. Gear slop/play would cause the jerking im experiencing, but something would have to be really wrong to increase the amount of play in the gears, and the transmission fluid would most likely be metallic if that was the case. It wasn't.
4. The torque rod is designed or manufactured incorrectly. This is a theory of mine because the drivetrain still rolls a good amount in the engine bay (used phone camera to record) when pressing accelerator and brake at the same time. Unfortunately, I don't have any reference footage of a normal clarity under the same conditions. It appears to me that the 10th Gen civic torque rod and the claritys torque rod are almost exactly the same, so I might try slapping in an aftermarket performance oriented torque rod. Even if it isn't the issue the stock torque rod doesn't exactly impress me.
I would love it if anyone would chip in, or shared similar experiences.