Honda Ridgeline Owners Club Forums banner

Ice Formation around Drive Shaft

16K views 22 replies 19 participants last post by  zroger73 
#1 ·
Recently, my town in which I reside, has received it's more than fair share of snow in the past week (like much of the nation.) So this issue has never arose for me before. I recently have had to get underneath my ridgeline with a flat head screw driver and chip away at ice build up around the drive shaft right next to my exhaust heat shield. I have to carry and broom around with me to knock any slush build up from around the the area any where I drive. Quite frankly, its embarrassing. Does anyone else have this problem or have a solution? I have used the search tool and did not find anything, so im guessing this is new or Im just not a good searcher.
 
#2 ·
Ridgefly, what are the symptoms that the truck is displaying?

I live in a winter climate that ranges from above-freezing temps to extreme sub-zero climate and I've never had to do this procedure to my truck.:confused:
 
#12 ·
Yup. Just had this happen to me. I thought "what the...". HAHA. Came off by itself and all is well again but boy, did it scare me!
 
#6 ·
Same thing happened to me. I had the card in the spokes sound and figured it was in the wheels but upon further examination found it on the drive shaft. I just drove until it came off. I hit a few big puddles so that may have dislodged it like an under carriage wash would do. No harm done. :act035:
 
#7 ·
I too have had ice buildup around the driveshaft. Once a large chunk comes loose, it will fall on top of the driveshaft and ride there (because it's too large to fall from the surrounding parts), rubbing away and causing a racket.

It happened to me as I exited the freeway once.... I thought one of my front wheels had broken a brake component, and it was flopping around in the spokes. I spent 15-20 minutes in a parking lot and driving up and down a side street trying to isolate it, but was dumbfounded. Finally got under the truck enough to see the chunk, and was able to knock it loose.

Big releif to find out what it was, but it can be scary at first, thinking your truck is busted.
 
#13 ·
I believe the ice build up is because of the drastic temperature changes in my region. It gets up to 38 degrees during the day and turns to slush, then at night the temperature drops to the lower 20's. One huge chunk of ice gets caught up and rest on top of the drive shaft and sounds like someone knocking on the bottom of the floor board. I called the local Honda dealership and they had told me that they received 4 other calls from ridgeline owners about ice build up around the shaft. Would taking the heat shield off the exhaust located next to the drive shaft be contraindicated in any manner? Reason I bring that up is becuase it seems to be the area in which the ice gets caught up.
 
#14 ·
Last week we had a rare snow event in East Texas for the second year in a row. I drove around in a couple inches of snow and slush for a few hours. On my way back home, I began hearing and feeling a dreadfully alarming thumping/vibration underneath the truck. When I looked underneath, I was surprised to see the driveshaft covered in ice. I was semi-worried until I found a few threads about this issue. The ice has since melted and/or broke loose. All is well except for the rust that is now forming where the paint rubbed off the shaft. :act002:
 
  • Like
Reactions: bigbluesd
#15 ·
I believe this is what happened to me last week end. The temps were cold.....maybe 15F...the snow fluffy and dry. I went out to play, played well, and then parked it in the garage right after. Our garage stays around 40F inside when the outside is what it was. The next day we took it out and had a very out of balance situation for the ride to our friends house at 55 MPH. ....not bad up to that speed. It was 10F for the ride. When we left his house about 4 hours later, it was back to normal.

There is definitely something about the underneath aero on these trucks causing this build up. (my wheels were clean). I've had many 4x4 trucks and been in much deeper/more snow than last Saturday and never had an issue.
 
#16 ·
So thankful for this thread. I usually garage the RL but today I left it out after a snowy ride to a hiking trail with the dogs and left it in the driveway for a few hours. Pulling away, it was quite the noise and I probably would have freaked out about it not having just read this thread.

Used a snowbrush to stab off the offending blocks and it was good to go.
 
#18 ·
this ice build up has happened to me once last winter and today.(Oklahoma) It seams to happen when the temperatures are just around freezing and at night is below freezing.
Very disappointed this happens at all. I have never had this happen with any of the trucks I have owned over the years.
 
#19 ·
This happens to me all the time when playing around in deep snow in Colorado. It seems like the snow/ice builds up in the drive shaft cover directly above the drive shaft. Then proceeds to melt and fall onto the shaft and not having the room to fall to either side. I usually just crawl under the truck and bash it out with a rubber mallet.
 
#21 ·
Thanks to this thread. I reside in Alberta, Canada where it normally gets below zero Celsius throughout the year. I just noticed a vibration just underneath the shifter as soon as I accelerate the vehicle. It was the first time I heard it. I thought someone stole my catalytic converter (CC). But when I looked underneath, I saw ice build up around the drive shaft near the (CC). Will observe if it for now and see if the vibration goes away when the ice melts.
 
#22 ·
Thanks to this thread. ..... I thought someone stole my catalytic converter (CC). But when I looked underneath, I saw ice build up around the drive shaft near the (CC).
Lots of people are dismissive of this problem that affects the Ridgeline and other Hondas, notably the CRV AWD. The ice buildup occurs on the rear propeller shaft after driving in slushy snow and parking in a cold environment, esp. outside. The slush builds up on the pan on bottom of the cab and may run down around the propeller shaft. The immediate symptom when driving is a clattering noise that increases with speed. The noise is very hard to ignore and a look under the truck will easily reveal the location of the ice ball. Removal is somewhat challenging due to the low clearance. I have found that a full-length crowbar works best.

The recent driveshaft recall by Honda on Fit and CRVs has been attributed to improper manufacturing processes which allows early corrosion and failure of the shaft. It is noted that the problem is worse in states that use road salt. I am guessing that this slush ball that sits on top of the Ridgeline propeller shaft is also heavily laden with road salt and it cannot be good for it to remain in contact with the shaft for extended periods of time.

I live in the mountains and regularly see 250-400 inches of snow per year, including some slushy conditions, especially on main highways that are salted during each storm. Because I park outside I am going to have to make a regular check of the shaft area after driving is slushy conditions in an attempt to clear the slush before it freezes around or on top of the shaft

I have had 4 trucks and 2 Jeeps in 40 years here and all of them have been parked outside. I have never previously had this 'iced driveshaft' issue, so I certainly see it as a design flaw from Honda. Clearly there is not much that can be done about the trucks in existance, but Honda engineers should take a close look at how their shaft enclosures differ from all the other vehicles that don't have this problem.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top