My 03 Odyssey, which now has 80K miles, has developed a strange vibration and noise at speeds above 60 mph. The symptoms first appeared a year ago after I had the tires replaced and the wheels aligned at a local tire shop (the new tires were Michelins equivalent to those removed). Initially, the symptoms occurred only at or above 70 mph. The vibration appears to come from the front right, but it does not cause a visible movement of the steering wheel. You feel it in the steering wheel and in the accelerator pedal. Accompanying the vibration is a pounding noise of such a low pitch that it literally makes the ears ache.

Since I rarely drive on the freeway, I procrastinated with resolving the issue until a tire rotation was due and I noticed a slight feathering on the inside of the right front tire. I rotated the tires per the manual and expected the problem either would go away or would relocate to the rear of the car. Neither happened, so I took the car to my Honda dealer for diagnosis.

The dealer suspected improperly balanced tires and balanced all four tires. According to the dealer, the symptoms went away. However, immediately, I noticed that the symptoms became more pronounced, occurring now at 60 mph.

I jacked up the front end and checked all the boots for damage and the joints for looseness. I could find no sign of excessive wear in the drivetrain, the steering mechs, or the suspension components (struts, control arms, sway bar). I did, however, notice what I consider to be excessive slop in the right engine mount (the one mounted to the right frame rail).

I'm wondering: could a sloppy right engine mount allow the engine to rotate enough to put undue tension on the right drive shaft, which runs through an idler bearing?

Has anyone had problems like this?

I had the same problem with my '06. The dealer kept telling me to rotate/balance the tires (which didn't help.) I took it somewhere else and they resurfaced the brake rotor. Problem resolved!