Acura TL Maintenance and Repair

coreyw

Y'know, I just looked at my invoice and, sure enough, the splash guards are on there - so I did get them.

I did already get the winter mats. No trunk tray, though.

The black interior is the only choice I had with exterior colors offered (my TL being a 6MT). I'd never get a black interior if I lived in Houston, but in Alberta it should be okay.

And I just LOVE the wing spoiler. The lip spoiler just isn't bold enough.

C.

bosoxin04

I got a Motorola V600 about a month ago, and had no problems synching it up to the TL through Bluetooth (and no problems since).

Did you synch your passcode between the HFL and your phone prior to linking? Is it possible that your HFL is locked and needs to be unlocked? See pp. 153-155 in the TL manual for a description.

Hope this helps -- good luck.

keithl

dtate99,

I agree Acura Carland rocks! They fixed some of my rattles and soon will have a chance to fix the rest. Where are you trading your Turanza's for $150 each? BS gave me LS-Z replacements for my EL42s, but I would rather switch to Falken or Michelins. I Purchased from Acura Carland too, Fred is they tech that is great, he fixed my rear deck from buzzing. Tom the SM is great and has been very cooperative!

dtate99

Keith,

I don't live in the Atlanta area. The local tire shop is where I went to deal...doubt you'd be interested in driving 2+ hrs. to try the same deal. Plus, small towns have advantages when people know who you are.

Anyway, after having the car back for a few days, I really don't think the boys at Acura Carland did anything to my car other than replace the passenger door panel and put on the new tires. All of the other rattles are still present. I'm thinking of trying Sutton Acura in Macon, which is closer for me anyway. I'm worried they may not really care to help me since I didn't buy the car from them though. For now, I'm just going to continue to isolate the noises as precisely as possible.

khelwein

I got a question for TL owners out there. My friends told me that the TL backseat is not comfortable.
I am wondering if you have heard of the same complaint.

pmf13

My wife and daughter have told me that the back seat of my TL is very comfortable. Were the passengers who complained very tall? If so, I can understand that they might be a bit squashed, but that would be the case in almost any sedan.

khelwein

They are not very tall. They just said that the backseat is not really comfortable, especially on bumpy roads. They felt that they were tossed around.
I guess the more appropriate comment should be its not as comfortable as it looks, since TL interior looks really nice.
I am the driver, so I am happy with what I got..hehe

bdemas

Hello all, I'm new to this board thanks to a recent purchase of a 2000 TL with Nav and 35k miles. Within a week my TCS and engine light started flashing along with a rough running engine. Had it towed to the dealer, they replaced all the fuel injectors and plugs. They told me it was caused by using lower grade fuel and to use only premium. I hadn't even gotten through the dealer tankful at that time.

I read back through the posts on this board and noticed the transmission issue. Are there any other common issues with this particular year that others have run into that I should be watching for? I have about a month left on the original warranty and would like to take advantage of it if at all possible.

As a side note, my neighbor bought a 2004 at about the same time I got mine. They ran about 2 tankfuls when their engine light came on. Same dealer told them it was caused by non-premium fuel, which is what they were running. Their salesman had told them they could run the lower grade, that it only affects the emissions. Any truth to that?

thanks
Bill

nw1997

bdemas,

    It's amazing how there are so many opinions on these forums in regards to Premium vs. Regular unleaded fuel. All of the Acura lines state you should use Premium fuel in their vehicles. Now the Honda lines all state you can use regular unleaded (86 octane "or higher"), except for the S2000. Keep in mind 86 octane or higher, (lets be frank, these vehicles, especially the V6's will benefit from the premium fuel). Honda and Acura are the same company, nearly identical VTEC engines, but "Honda" pushes regular fuel, IMO to sell the vehicle to a consumer who they believes is the "average" consumer. Now, Acura sells their vehicles, but it clearly states to use premium fuel, mainly they feel, if you can afford a premium vehicle, you should utilize premium fuel, etc. We own a 2004 V6 Accord and when we used the 87 octane we had the sulfur smell, in-which the dealer states goes away approx. after 10K miles, (it comes and go, especially after driving hard and coming to a stop). After the forth tank full I had enough and we have been utilizing the 93 Octane Premium fuel from Mobil and it is amazing, no more sulfur smells, no matter how I drive. Better gas mileage, and most important to me, it is high in detergent, so it should pro-long the life of my vehicle. We are planning to keep this vehicle for at least 150K - 300K miles. That's my two cents.

dtate99

The original warranty on the transmission of your car has been extended by Acura to 7yr/100k miles, so don't worry about that right now. I'd make sure everything else is in working order, however, before the other warranty coverage expires.

As far as the octane issue goes, the only downside to using lower octane is poorer performance and suboptimal fuel economy. It will not hurt the engine and will not cause the engine to run rough. However, if you somehow got some trash or poor quality gasoline in the tank, it could certainly cause the symptoms you describe.

igiban

Middle rear is indeed not comfy. In fact, I think TL's rear is meant for 2 persons to sit rather than 3.

The other thing is a driver's car sometimes does the opposite to riders, esp. when drivers get a bit carried away, which is not hard on a TL.

dvsone

Big problems guys. I owne a 99 3.2 TL, she runs as smooth as ever. She has not give'n me any tranny probs at all, but earlier today...around 12 or so, she acted up on me. This is what happened. The car was running, no noises or funny sounds, running normal. All of a sudden w/o warning, she just turns off. But the strange thing about this is, she didnt struggle, it felt as if I turned off the ignition. I restarted the car, she started up perfect, but 2 seconds later, she died out again. I know it can't be the bat, or the alternater, so what could it be? Please respond if you had a simular prob or know how to fix it. PS.. this also happened to me while..yes WHILE i was drive'n, she died out the same way..

njdriver2

Wanted to check in again. Has the replacement of the window molding kept your creaking noise at bay? I am planning to take my car in again, but wanted to see if you are still noise free. Thanks!

claimguy

Well yes and no...window no longer creaks and the molding is solid and tight. Have developed a rattle in the headliner above the door that many other say is the clip on the side air bag. I though it as the pull handle as I could recreate the same sound, but tightened it down and still rattles. Just not all the time. This is my last rattle...all others are gone or are intermittent only. I am getting second set of new EL 42s today and want to see what if any difference they make. When they changed out the tires the first time, they not only replaced the PVC tires with more PVC tires, the build date was even older then the originals. I am due for a oil change within next couple of weeks and will have then address the headliner rattle if it is still there.

armand

Pardon my ignorance but what is a PVC tire and what are the new ones?

gibo

I noticed that the latches for carseats are in an odd position, with one being on the sizeable middle "hump" in the TL's backseat. Wouldn't this make the carseat tilt at a angle? Those using carseats with latch please advise.

dtate99

I've said all along that the noises I hear above my head come from the headliner. When I took the car in for tire replacement, etc., they said they tightened the pulls and that everything seemed fine. I think the dealers are looking for some loud rattling sound, when in actuality the sound (which comes from the headliner on both sides, but in different spots) is more of a tick-tack sound. They also didn't eliminate the buzzing sound coming from the center channel speaker so I wonder if they actually test drive the cars when they work on them.

As far as the PVC tires go, I think the reference is to the nylon belts used in the tires, which contributed to the roughness of ride and certainly the flatspotting. The reformulated EL42s supposedly do not use the nylon, although the flatspotting is still a problem, but perhaps a little better in ride quality unless the car sits for several days. The improvement is not enough to take car of the cabin rattles though. I think I'm going to try another dealer to try to fix the small rattles next time.

Finally, I decided to go with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires to replace the Bridgestone replacements. Thanks to those of you who offered opinions. I'll let you know how it turns out.

armand

Thanks for the answer on the PVC tires. The car does take some bumps harder then I would expect. My wife 98 A4 does somewhat better. I think it also relates to the low profile design of the TL tires.

todd53

The "SRS" warning light on my '01 TL came on today. Does anyone have experience with this symptom? My Acura dealer said that if I'm in an accident, the airbags will not deploy until problem is corrected. They also said that it will cost anywhere from $78 to over 1k to fix. The car has never been in an accident and it has never given me any trouble at all....until now. Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated.

hals120

I have a 2004 TL which I use in a car pool. My back seat riders have no complaint.

dtate99

Hmmm...decisions, decisions...riding in the back seat of one of best equipped, state of the art, brand new sport sedans or driving their own clunker to work. No wonder they're not complaining!

emccartney

The aluminum trim on the right side of the console doesn't fit quite right. As it nears the top of the radio area it is coming out of the slot that runs along the edge of the air conditioning and radio controls. You can't push it back in. The one on the left side fits fine. Anyone else seeing this problem?

hals120

Very true. tomorrow is my day to drive, and I've already been asked if we are going to have another session of "name that tune" courtesy of XM radio as we motor quickly up the I95 HOV lanes....

claimguy

The PVC tires were the earlier build of the EL 42 which was then reformulated and became the TU2 (currently used on new TL's arriving from the factory). You can check your tires by looking at the sidewall and seeing either PVC or TU2 followed by the code for when they were built. The PVC tires are the ones that most people complain about due to flatspotting, vibration etc. The reformulated tires were supposed to improve this and for some folks, they have resulted in a better ride. I personally have noticed a difference between the tires and an improved ride, however would still like to have a tire with less vibration and smoother, quieter ride.

tomsr1

I now have 48000 miles and my Tranny is jumping out of gear so it is at the dealer being replaced.I was wandering what else may go wrong.
How does the engine hold up? They gave me an 04 TSX for a loaner but I would not trade it for my TL.There is no substitute for torque.I am 58 and like a smooth ride which the TSX is not.I think the manual mode of the tranny is not needed because it is always in the right gear.If you use the manual mode to it's potential you will have a speeding ticket soon.MY gas mileage is amazing considering the power.I have never gotten less than 20 mpg and have done 27mpg.Premium 91 is all I use.

armand

I have the TU2 tires and don't have any flat spot problems. I do wish they rode a little softer and would give up a little handling for some ride comfort. I think Acura has gone too far in the performance direction - which may suit some but I think maybe not a lot of people. But I do like the car overall.

emdoc

I just sold my Audi A6 2.7T and am seriously considering a 6 sp TL. Are there any focal problems of which I need to be aware? Would you purchase a TL again if you could remake your decision?

dtate99

Don't be so serious! Get the TL and have fun! It's the best product for the price on the market. My only recommendation is to make sure you get some type of trade for the factory tires. I just traded my Bridgestones in to a local dealer and upgraded to the Michlein Pilot Sports. You may be able to arrange this with your dealer at delivery of the car though. Otherwise, I'd buy the car again tomorrow without hesitation.

briden

I saw bmd in Message #5412 on the Acura TL board stated that he has discoloration in the bumpers of his Silver TL. I picked mine up on the 18th of this month and have the same thing. I was wondering if this is across the board on the silver? What about the desert mist? Has anyone found any resolution to this issue with Acura?

uvamarkg1

Ok, maybe I'm just not seeing something, but I don't notice ANY difference between when I hit the "Auto" button on the rear view mirror and when it's off (the right green light goes off). It seems like it ALWAYS auto dims, no?

Also, there is a light on the left side of the rear view mirror but no corresponding button or anything to make it go on... any ideas what this would be for??

aaargh

I don't mean for this answer to sound flip, but...

Is it possible the 'light' you are refering to is actually the hole in the frame for the rear-facing light sensor?

The auto dimming mirror works by comparing the amount of light from behind to in front. There is a forward-facing light sensor as well as the rear-facing one. When the light source from behind is brighter than from in front, it will dim. (EG: nightime with a moron with those obnoxious blue lights behind you for instance, um, er, ... nevermind, that's us). If you turn it on during the daytime, you shouldn't see any change because there is no difference between from in front to behind.

Hope this helps.

uvamarkg1

I figured that I would only notice the difference at night, so I've tested it at night with a car or truck with xenons directly behind me. It seems to dim it regardless of whether or not I have the button pressed. Have you seen a difference? At least it's always dimmed and not always too bright!

Very possible that the "left light" I was referring to is just that.. i guess I should have looked more carefully.

grri03

I have had the same issue. I just thought I was an idiot but anytime I press the autodim and the green light comes on, it dims (even during the day). I have tried it in several circumstances (day, night, headlights in back) and it always dims when it's on. I just decided to leave it off and only turn it on when I need it to dim but let me know if I'm doing something wrong and I actually am an idiot.

aaargh

One cause for this is if you have something hanging from your mirror that blocks the front facing sensor. I had this problem in my Pontiac Grand Prix (which BTW has the EXACT SAME mirror unit as the TL).

I had a hanging parking tag that blocked the sensor, so when it was turned on, it thought it was night in front and headlights behind and thus dimmed. The only resolution I found was to hang the tag from a string (to hang lower than the mirror) instead of from the mirror unit itself.

Is this the case for either of you?

And after looking at the left hole in the mirror (which is the rear facing sensor), it very much does look like a light.

uvamarkg1

Aaargh,

Oh yeah.. it must be those fuzzy dice I have hanging from it. j/k. I don't have anything hanging from it -- it just always seems to be in dim mode, regardless of whether or not the button is pressed. Do you guys definitely notice a difference at night when you have the button pressed/unpressed? I'll take it to the dealer in that case.

uvamarkg1

By the way, I guess my issue is slightly different than grri03 in that mine is always dimmed, regardless of whether the button is pressed. Is there a drastic difference at night between when you have it on/off? Maybe I'm just not noticing it?!!?

aaargh

I find the difference noticible, but not drastic. The way I test to see if it is working is by blocking the front sensor during the day. If you block the front and DON'T see a difference withing a few seconds, I'm gussing it is broken.

BTW, I'm pretty sure the front sensor is directly opposite the rear sensor. That is, they are both on the left side and below the mirror.

dtate99

I like your idea on the '05 TL of speed sensitive volume control for the stereo. But, I just wanted to make sure you know that full size CD jewel cases fit nicely into the top compartment of the dash below the radio unit. Of course, the only problem is trying to access the compartment in the Park position. But going down the road should be no trouble. And then there's the center console, which can also house the cases so I'm not exactly sure where you're trying to put them.

beichhorn

It is too bad that the CD storage in the center console is not wide enough to fit the DVD-A cases.

aaargh

To clarify, I was trying to fit a DVD-A in the center console - which as mentioned, doesn't fit too well.

As far as the top compartment under the radio, I use that for my sunglasses. I know there is that thing on the door for sunglasses, but try to get them out of that compartment when the door is shut. I find it to be a pain in the keester, not to mention how easily the sungalsses can be scratched by other things stored in the door compartment.

Honda has paid so much attention to ergonomics in their cars that I am surprised they couldn't come up with something better.

Minor complaints though - I know no car is perfect.

I love my TL!

agostev

Does anybody know how to find the color code for the paint on the wheels? Or how to find a matching paint?

mdhauke

paint on the wheels???????????????

c5_4fun

Acura customer service sends us to the dealer and the dealer (in some cases) seems worthless; I've read on this site that the zone office seems to get things fixed once and for all. How do I cut through the nonsense and get in contact with Acura's zone group?

Memory Seat
Next week will be my 3rd trip back to the dealer to finally get my memory seat fixed when the new part comes in. Two months ago the dealer "couldn't duplicate problem" and said they needed to see the "failure" before taking action, and they weren't aware of any memory seat problems in the TL. Last week they still weren't aware of any TSBs on the seat (I even had the number off this site #04-005), but now know it doesn't work since they personally set the memory last time.

Flatspotting
I've experienced significant vibration in the steering wheel after the car has been sitting for a few days within the first 5-10 minutes, and after the tires warm up the vibration ceases..........is this a symptom of "flatspotting"? (My car was built in Nov '03 and has the first batch of tires.)
A couple months ago the dealer wasn't aware of any tire problems on the TL, so they rotated the tires hoping to satisfy my complaint. Upon further complaint, they re-balanced the tires. All they really did was put the tires out of balance as the wheel vibrates all the time now!

I love the car, but its aggravating with multiple service trips for items Acura knows are their problem. My 2000 TL had no problems, as I would expect from Acura.

By the way, anyone else notice water laying at the base of the back window and the trunk with nowhere to drain?

kahunah

Yes paint. When damaged wheels are refinished for example, one of the 1/2 dozen processes includes priming and painting. This is where I had one of my '04 TL wheels refinished after I grazed it on a curb. They did an amazing jog and the wheel looks like new again.

http://www.carcone.com/choice_wheelsmags.html

agostev - if you contact them they may be able to tell you the color code but don't try to touch it up yourself. You'd just be painting over the powder coating. If your wheel is damaged spent the $100 and get it done right.

mdhauke

ohhh, your talking about the rims. Why didn't you say so? You sounded like you were talking about the wheels.

luvmylt

I have ~ 5k on my 04 TL (5AT). Whenever I drive for the Ist time in the morning I hear a "crunchy" sound lasting ~ 5 secs. when the car goes into 2nd gear (~10mph). In fact I can even feel it in the accererator pedal. I have noticed this since I first got the car. Sure enough the dealer cannot 'duplicate' my complaint. Any ideas or suggestions would be highly appreciated.
SK

exb0

I can’t believe this is still happening. I purchased my car in December and had same problems. In beginning of March I took the car back to the dealer, and I was brushed off just like you are. In late March, when people started reporting that the Acura has memory seat fix and they are replacing the tires, I called the Acura Customer Service. At first Acura Customer Service rep tried to brush me off and told me to go back to the dealer. In a strong tone of voice I told that the dealer would not admit to these problems and that the dealer had brushed off just like he was trying to do. The customer service rep backed off and somebody else called me from Acura an hour later. The guy told me that he spoke to the dealer and asked me to bring the car back in for service. The following day the dealer fixed the memory seat and replaced the tires. The memory seat was fixed, but the tires are still flatspotting, but not as bad as they used to.

Call back the Acura Customer Service and be very persistent, tell them about your dealer experience and don’t take no for an answer. Please let us know how it goes, because I received an Acura Customer Satisfaction Survey about my experience with the Acura Customer Service, and I would like to know your experience before I fill it out.

bodble2

I think the "crunchy noise" is the ABS self-test.

billyperks

Does anyone know a good refurbisher?
My wife came home on Friday with chipped up rim-she hit a curb, and wants me to replace it with a new one($180.00 ea.).

I live in Connecticut- so anyone from this area please direct me to a good wheel refurbisher

bodble2

Does she hit curbs regularly? If so, you'll go broke replacing or refurbishing the wheel everytime. May as well wait until the rim is all scratched up.