Acura TL Maintenance and Repair

gregory28

I had a rattle in what I thought was in my steering wheel which I noticed immediately after pick up. My dealer fixed it very easily- it turned out to be a loose bolt in my dashboard. Yours may be this or something related to the air bag.

The manual specifically states that one doesn't need to get the oil changed until the computer states it time. The new engines are incredibly clean burning and my dealer said oil changes will be in the 8-10K miles range. The computer is judging your driving habits and determining the expected time. Dude, it sounds like you're "babying" the car too much; crank up the rpm's! :-)

gkoff

I have a '03 TL. Of course in Canada they come with DRL's. I bought an aftermarket controller that normally is wired to the headlights, but with HID light, I know that won't work. So, I know I can hook it up to the foglights. It will then run them at about 70% power unless I turn them on. My problem is to make this DRL controller work you have to wrap a sensor wire around a spark plug wire. That way it knows the car is running and to turn on or off the foglights at low power. The only problem is with all the engine covers, I'm not sure where the the spark plug wires are. Can someone tell me where I can get to one easily? Thanks

gkearns56

Seems like my OEM Turanza EL42 tires on the new 04 Automatic TL have received a poor review after looking at www.tirerack.com. (Why did they put such a unimpressive tire on). I see other Bridgestone tires have scored exceptionally well. I'm thinking about removing these OEM tires for some "Ultra High Performance All Season" type tires. The current size on the OEM tires are 235/45/17 WR rated. If I did a "Plus Zero" sizing, 245/45/17, could this work or would affect the driving. I noticed the 6-speed has an 18" wheel option but I'd prefer to stay with the 17" rims. Does anyone have a specific tire manufacter they liked. Road noise is the biggest concern. Thanks for any input.

marquis2

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S is a good all season replacement for the lousy EL42s. Excellent ratings from tirerack.

gbriank

Seems the two most popular replacements (according to a Tire Rack associate) for the TL are:

1. Michelin Pilot Sport A/S
2. Bridgestone Turanza LS-Z

LS-Zs still have minimal flatspotting (according to an individual posting on another board) but are EXTREMELY quiet once warmed up.

Michelins are directional tires (rotate front to back ONLY). Take a look at these tires. Very good looking tread pattern (compared to LS-Z).

marquis2

Besides the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S, some other decent possibilities are:

Pirelli PZero Nero M&S
Sumitomo HTR+

The Sumitomo's are pretty inexpensive as well ($89 from tirerack). All 3 have excellent reviews on tirerack.

dulnev

Given all I've read, it seems that Continental ContiExtremeContact would be the best replacement for EL42. They are among the highest rated high performance all-season tires at Tire Rack. AND Consumer Reports just gave very high ratings to a similar Continental tire. That's what I'll be getting in a few months. I found these for $85 per tire!

gkearns56

I appreciate all the suggestions for the tires. I don't think I would go with the Michelins Pilot Sports A/S. For some reason I can't get use to a tire that looks like a snow tires on this sport sedan. I like Michelins and have them on my Toyota truck. Seems like in the "review" section on the Pirelli PZero Nero M&S, a fellow that also had an Acura TL 04 put a set of these on his car. He noted they were not a good selection for the FWD Acura. I really liked the tread pattern for them but since he had a similar car I may need to stay away. Again I am looking for "Ultra High Performance All Season" keep the suggestions coming please. I seen a tire that a person has recommended to me called the Toyo Proxes 4. Anyone no about these tires? Also back to an earlier question; is it ok to do "plus zero" sizing on this Acura TL 04 (245/45/17)? Thanx

dstr2

Also have had the check engine light come on under hard exceleration auto or ma tic. Flashed
for about 3sec first time 6sec 2nd time 3rd time
light stayed on. Fuel economy dropped about 2mpg
also sulfur/egg smell accured periodically.
The kicker the light went off before I could make
It to dealer.

Haven't noticed any rough Idle.
I also have Memory seat problems.
No rattles so far.
Still think fuel computer not callabrated corectorly, at least not based on 17 gallons.
Outside air temp indicating +3-4degres

Any opinions about butt prints on the seats?

surferdude1

I just purchased a silver 2004 TL three weeks ago and I accidently rubbed up against a metal sewer grate while parking. I'm not use to the low profile wheels, so I will need to be extra careful parking my car in the future. The grate left a pretty deep scratch about 12 inches long on the edge of my wheel. Any ideas on what I can do to repair this? Should I take it to a wheel shop to be repaired and does anybody have an idea on what this would cost? thanks

gbriank

ContiExtremes are nice tires (have them on my SAAB right now) but I have heard on the other board you and I both post on have flatspotting issues. Do they have nylon belting?

davidnj1

There ia a place in Allentown, PA, the name escapes me, that I have been at that seems to know what they are doing and does good work.

BMW wheels are made of silly puddy, so this is a big issue for their owners.

davidnj1

From the reviews, the Turenza LS's seem to be the best overall tire for the '04 TL.

The TL is a LUXURY sports Sedan. The BMW 3-series may be a luxury SPORTS sedan. If you read the reviews, few of the buyers of the Ultra and High performance tires are coming from new luxury sedans; their expectations are different.

dulnev

First of all, I got all confused about tires and posted incorrect information before.

Continental ContiExtremeContact is in fact a very highly rated tire by Tire Rack customers, but Consumer Reports never reviewed it. Also, it is not available for $85 per tire, as I mentioned in the last post. The price at Tire Rack is $111 per tire.

The reason I was confused is that I was deciding between two tires: the Continental one and the Falken ZIEX 512. It is the latter tire that got the highest rating from CR in November of 2003. It is available for $85 from www.edgeracing.com.

I'm going to get the Falken, as soon as I get at least some life out of EL42s. The flatspotting is annoying, but not enough to justify spending $400 for new tires right away. Falken tires are quite widely used by Audi enthusiasts, by the way and there are a lot of great reviews of them.

As far as flatspotting issue on Continental (and Falken, for that matter), I can't find ANY information about construction of these tires. I have only seen one report by Conti user saying that no flatspotting was observed.

richardgold

I just wrote a tire post on the TL Board. The Falken reads real well. I am considering replacing the Bridgstone's. The way I see it is I spent $34 plus, what is another $400. If the feed back is they are a real improvement, will do it. I only have 1000 miles on the TL now and do not care for the ride at all.

mobofe

good tire info. i was almost going to kick myself when i saw your post for $85 contis - glad to know there's nowhere cheaper than tirerack . Then again, the falkens can be had for $85.

I'm not exactly sure what flatspotting is but I can probably let you guys know if someone explains this phenomenon to me (theory but more importantly the specific symptoms).

dulnev

"I'm not exactly sure what flatspotting is but I can probably let you guys know if someone explains this phenomenon to me (theory but more importantly the specific symptoms)."

It's very simple. When the car is parked for awhile (hours, days), flat spots form at the bottom of the tires. Once you start driving the car, the flat spots do not immediatelly go away, causing noise and vibration while driving. They do eventually go away once the tires become hot.

Now, on good tires like most Michelins, flatspotting is only evident if the car has been parked for several days, and in colder weather. On some tires like Bridgestone Turanza, the flat spots form extremelly fast. I can leave my TL in a mall's lot for couple hours and have noticeable flatspotting. The spots also don't go away as quickly on the Turanza's.

Some have suggested that the reason these Bridgestone tires exhibit such extreme flatspotting, is that they are based on nylon belts. I haven't seen any "expert testimony" to confirm or deny this allegation. Furthermore, information about internal tire construction is available for very few tires on the market; so even if nylon belts are the culprit, how do you find out which tires have them (short of cutting one)?

gkearns56

"dulnev": I agree with your assessment for flat spotting. When I drive, the tires on my new TL feel like they are out of balance. After about 4 or 5 miles when they've gotten warm, it almost disappears. Problem is who wants to have to wait for this to rid itself by driving the car. I am in the process of replacing these tires as soon as early spring (I'll put a few miles on them). I average about 500 miles per month since I have another vehicle. At about 2500 miles these awful Turnaza EL42s will be coming off. This is my only complaint w/ this new 04 Acura TL. Otherwise, I think it's a wonderful sporty sedan. I have done numerous hours of research over the past week (because this flat-spotting is getting annoying). A couple of tires that were NOT listed on TireRack.Com, the Falken 512 (as mentioned by someone) is a great tire and also the "Toyo Proxes 4". This is a new tire from Toyo (made in Japan) and all the reviews I've read on the Toyo Proxes 4 have been extremely favorable (4.6 out of 5). This is an "Ultra High Performance All Season" tire that looks great! I found a site for $98 per tire, when most other sites have the tires selling around $114 up to $149 per tire. They come in V or W rating (like on the TL) with a nice tread design. I don't want a treat design like the Michelin Sport A/S. Those look too much like SUV tread/tires. Yokohama also came out with a new tire called the Avid Hs/Vs. Unfortunately these Acura's need to have a similar rating tires put back on (according to several of these sites - never go backwards in rating "W" to a "H"; but you can go "H" to "W"/"Y"). You may wish to check out these Proxes 4 they seem to be a very nice tire. Thanks.

msf2

So, which tires would you all recommend on the TL for a quiet, smooth ride with good handling?

gkearns56

"msf2": I think part of your Q has to be determined by where you live. I'm in North Carolina. We get a touch of snow but nothing serious. I prefer quietness & ride over other aspects of a tire. Yes, handling and performance are very important but one can only go so fast without getting a ticket or driving to a point of endangering someone's life. Tread pattern is VERY important to me. Let's say you just bought a new Corvette, RX8 or Z350. I surely wouldn't want those Michelin Sport A/S on my car even though they rate as a fantastic tire. They simply look like an SUV tire tread to me. Even those Contin Sport Extreme do too. I want a tire that defines what that car is about without sacrificing the nice tire profile you get with you favorite car. In my case my 04 Acura TL looks sporty as a sedan so I want some tires that look good without changing the suspension configuration. I like the Falken 512, Bridgestone 750 or their Bridgestone S03 or these Toyo Proxes 4. I would throw in Yokahama because they have always done me right but they don't have a "W" rated tired like their AVID Hs/Vs rated ones I like too. I think sometimes one pays for the name when you can buy just as good & reliable tire as some of the "Big Boys". BF Goodrich tires have always been good for me. I will NEVER buy GoodYear because of past problems I had on my Infiniti G35. Good luck and let me know what you decide.

msf2

Thank you very much! I'll jump into the market at the end of the month.

aircleaner

You can get wheels repaired at the Wheel Collision Center near Allentown, PA. You can find them on the web at www.wheelcollision.com. They have repaired two deeply scratched wheels from my 2000 TL. The wheels both came out perfect, in appearance. They are actually located in Bath, PA and will accept wheels by mail and return them the same way. The cost to repair my wheel was about $110, which was less than half the cost of a new wheel. It took about two days in the shop to do the repair.

drdarell1

One thing that has bothered me about this car are the (looks like felt) sound deadening pads in the rear wheel wells. Do these get clogged up with snow, mud etc. in winter driving? I can't figure out why these are not behind the wheel well???

gcruzsmith

I am glad to know that I am not the only one with the memory seat problem. I am really sorry to read that there are other TL owners with this problem. I too, am frustrated with this problem. After reading several posts and to confirm? Acura is aware of this problem? So if I took my Acura back to the dealer - they would know what to do?

Has anyone addressed their local dealership about this? What did they do?

kahunah

I thought I was having problems with this also. But, as it turns out:

1) No Light ≠ No Memory -- The little light on the memory button (1 or 2) does not eliminate after the next ignition cycle, once it has been programmed. This is normal. I kept reprogramming the seat, thinking the memory was somehow lost. Not so.

2) Safety Feature -- The seat memory feature is automatically disabled when the car is in motion/gear. This is a safety feature and is also normal. I have the 6-speed but I believe it also applies to the automatic.

Hope this helps.

waltercat

Aircleaner and DavidNJ1 Thanks, guys. I just discovered that the irritating vibration in my trusty '99 TL was due to a bent rim. I'll be contacting Wheel Collision Center for a replacement (about $125, I think). Glad to hear that others have had good experience with this firm, since I have not found anyone else in the business who reconditions alloy wheels.

BTW, the '99 TL will hit 110,000 miles this week or next - basically zero problems.

jjsacura

I purchased my 2004, Silver Acura TL with Ebony interior about 3 weeks ago. The main problem is the squeaky brakes at low speeds. The service guy said that a few people have complained about it and he said due to the "high" powered brakes they will squeak a little. He thought the problem should eventually go away. Has anyone else had this problem? I have 800 miles on it already and it hasn't stopped squeaking yet.

danny1878

I turn off the engine and pull out the key and get out of the car. I wait for 5 minutes to see whether it will lock the car by it self but it does not. I checked the keyless entry setup and it says 30s(econds). What does that mean? You see my other car which is a Honda Accord automatically lock the car after 10 seconds with a loud beep, so I know the car is locked. But this new TL04 doesnt, is this something that I dont know about or there is a problem. Please guys help me out thanks.

micked

I have a new '04 TL and for the past couple of weeks when I FIRST drive the car in the morning, when the car shifts from 1st to 2nd gear, there is a grinding noise like when you are in a stick-shift and the clutch is not all the way down. (My car is an automatic, but that is what the sound is like). Once I start driving the car shifts fine. If I am parked for several hours I hear the noise again but not ALL the time. I took it in for service today and because the mechanic could not duplicate the noise on a road test, there is nothing the dealer can do. This is the kind of thing that I may never be able to re-produce for the service techs. What can I do?

Thanks,

Eddie G

klunkman

The auto lock only works if you unlock the car and fail to open the door. This prevents the car from remaining unlocked if you accidentally unlock the door with the fob as you walk away from your vehicle.

I really don't think you want the car automatically locking for you when you get out of the car. How would the car know if you accidentally laid the keys on the seat after you shut the car off?

micked

I have a new '04 TL and for the past couple of weeks when I FIRST drive the car in the morning, when the car shifts from 1st to 2nd gear, there is a grinding noise like when you are in a stick-shift and the clutch is not all the way down. (My car is an automatic, but that is what the sound is like). Once I start driving the car shifts fine. If I am parked for several hours I hear the noise again but not ALL the time. I took it in for service today and because the mechanic could not duplicate the noise on a road test, there is nothing the dealer can do. This is the kind of thing that I may never be able to re-produce for the service techs. What can I do?

Thanks,

Eddie G

ant_live01

Has anyone with the 2000-2002 TL every had their transmission replaced more the twice? I had two transmissions in this car and I worried that the problem had not been fixed. I'm comming up on 100k and the warranty will be up. Anyone have any idea what your options our if this occurs?

danny1878

Yes you are right, I got locked out before but luckyly I have a spare key, quite annoying thou. I just wanted to make sure how this TL auto lock work. Thanks again.

klunkman

Thanks again for the post.

bodble2

I'd bet your Accord has the dealer-installed Honda alarm which can be programmed to auto-lock/arm. Klunkman made a valid point about this feature but personally I loved it when I had it on a CR-V. There were times when I had my arms full of stuff and no available fingers to press the key fob! Or there were times when I got out of the car, got distracted or started to talk to someone and forgot to press the lock button. But with auto-lock, no worries!! I was kind of hoping the TL can be programmed to auto-lock, but apparently not. perhaps the best setup is like th one on the FX45 or Corvette where if you walk beyond a certain distance from the car WITH THE REMOTE, then the car will lock and arm automatically.

bnet504

micked, maybe if you happen to have a voice recorder or something like that laying around you could use that to record the grinding noise if u haven't already thought about that

micked

Klunkman...your welcome.

Bnet, I thought of that but do not have a recorder. I guess I'll have to leave the car overnight and have the tech drive the car in the am.

Eddie

bodble2

May be the infamous ABS self-check, although I've never heard it described as a grinding noise.

micked

What is the abs self check, and does it matter that I hear the noise when accelerating, not breaking?

Eddie

bodble2

is a built-in feature whereby the ABS system verifies that it is working. It usually manifests itself in the form of a buzz/vibration that last a second or 2. It'll do it the first time you drive off after the car's been parked for a while. You should hear/feel it when you reach a speed of about 5 - 10 mph.

micked

I think this is what I am experiencing! I know I said "grinding" noise, but it is a vibration I feel under the car accompanied by a sound more like a "bump". I said "grinding" because I associated the sound with the car's transmision going into first to second gear, and the sound (like I said earlier) reminded me of a stick-shift when the clutch isn't in all the way. This is normal and happens all the time? It hasn't happened for the first 2 weeks I had the car.

Thanks!!

Eddie

micked

For the second time my car lost it's memory. I've read on this board that this is a known issue with the new TL. At the service dept. they knew nothing about it, saying with a new car they haven't gotten any reports on known issues with the car. Should I call a different service station?

Eddie G

dulnev

How does the memory loss manifest itself? In other words, since I'm the only one who drives the car, and I never move my seat/mirrors, I wouldn't even notice if the memory was lost. How did you notice?

gbriank

you may want to check the Honda Accord Problems site. Folks there are having the same sound and have identified it as the ABS system cycling.

micked

I had the car in for service and they moved the seat. The first time my wife set setting 2 for her and when I went in with my key-fob it was lost.

Eddie

micked

Is the Accord site here in Edmunds or on the web?

micked

I read one article about this and it says you will feel a vibration through the break pedal. I feel the vibration through the floor of the car while accelerating. My foot is never on the break pedal when I feel this.

Eddie

mmm17

The gas gauge in my 2004 TL sometimes sticks on empty when I first start up the car. This has happened twice so far, once during a snow fall and the second time when it was approx. 25 degrees outside. I haven't gone to the dealer yet because I can just imagine them saying they can "reproduce" this problem. Anyone else experiencing this issue?

Second, I seem to get a slight vibration in the steering wheel at 6p mph that increases noticeable at 80 mph. I brought the car to my dealer and requested the front wheels to be balanced. They road tested the car and said it was fine, that I wasn't use to high performance tires (my prev. car was a 2000 TL) Is this possible or should the tires need balancing. Any thoughts....

bodble2

I think what you feel is normal.

gbriank

Here on Edmunds...