Acura TL Maintenance and Repair

ricko

Vibration problem is not just a poor tire problem but one that is much worse and has to do with the torque converter locking up causing the vibration in the seat and steering wheel and will have a very negative affect on the car as time and miles pass. The integrity of the car will be compromised and so will our resale value. It is one thing for Acura to sell us this defective car but it is quite another to cram it down our throat with the phrase, "its a characteristic of the car". This car should be recalled and repaired or we should be refunded our money. I know where I would like to put this car, up Kondo's rear, I am a long way from finishing with them over this vibrating, rattling junk, not even offer to fix, its a joke.

tedescm1

I could not have expressed my frustration and anger any better than RICKO.

Acura should be ashamed of themselves for not addressing the harmonic vibration issue. They know what they were selling and just did not care!

They are no better than common thieves.

bob71

I just purchased a 05 TL and while I was "learning" the controls, I also lost the XM/FM/AM memory. I thought it was something I had inadvertently done and did not think much about it. A few days later my wife was driving the car and the same thing happened. I always reprogrammed the memory, but given your comment, next time (assuming there is one), I'll see if it comes back on its own.

bob71

I just purchased the V710 and the bluetooth feature works extremely well. My only complaint is that I need to reconnect the phone everytime I turn off the phone or car. I was under the impression that this would occur automatically whenever both the car and the phone were on.

lf05tl

I have my tl a couple of weeks, so far i have no problems with pre-sets. Every thing has been excellent. Try to re-set them again and keep track of what you do after that?

laurasdada

I think you may have a (somewhat) common problem regarding one of the computer modules. The most obvious sypmpton is the outside temperature guage reading ---. You may also lose some presets. This has happened to my 5.5 month old TL about a dozen times, a reboot of the car has rectified it. Someone somewhere in TL discussions posted what I believe was a TSB # or at least a solution from Acura. I plan to address it at service #1 coming up soon.

zurich

While coming to a stop and after taking my foot off of the pedal, my tachometer on my 2000 3.2 TL bounces between a 300 rpm range. This problem always occurs during the first few minutes of driving but the problem becomes less frequent after the car is warm.

If anyone has any suggestion on fixing this problem, they would be appreciated.

Thanks.

frisconick

Yes, warm up you car.

cerauli

I had the same problem with my Nokia 6600. Call the Bluetooth customer service and they will walk you through it! Don't let them tell you the phone is not compatable. They said that to me and I asked them to walk me through the steps as if the phone "was compatable", and it worked!

Good luck!

keifs

I finally got rid of rattle in drivers door. The dealer replaced gasket around door. No help. The noise seemed worse. Last night I spent about twenty minutes cleaning the gaskets on the door and all the gaskets on the car at the door opening. I used a multi-purpose kitchen cleaner. I got under the gasket in the crevices etc... Also check and make sure the gaskets are seated properly on the plastic clips around the door frame. A couple of mine were off.
Not a rattle, creak or squeak!!!!!! I think when the gaskets are soiled they rub together and create a creaking sound. I'll let you know how long the fix lasts. I can push on the seals w/o any noise.

aldwyn

I have the same issue... It's a major bummer to have to open the V710 each time you get into the car, and tellit to turn the bluetooth on. :-(

- Aldwyn

lf05tl

Good for you. Pretty easy fix. My tl been quiet. Enjoy your tl, its one heck of a car.

frisconick

I have been told that the V551 is a good BT phone. Anyone know about this phone?

ed31cincy

I am glad you were able to fix it yourself, but what does that say about your dealer's service department? It is beyond me why they were not as thorough as you were :confuse: . Aren't we paying them, the "experts", to do the work? :mad: I'll bet if you call them up and let them know what you did, they won't apologize, they'll just say "good for you" or something else equally weak.

bhelsdon

Yes have the V551 and it works perfectly w/ my TL. I don't know if it makes any difference but I am on Cingular.

bob71

I figured out how to fix this problem. The problem is the settings with the V710. It will turn off the bluetooth feature in order to save battery power. This is what Motorola says even though Bluetooth says the feature uses very little extra power. In any event, it is possible to turn off this battery saving feature. Go into the V710 settings menu, select connection, select bluetooth, select setup, select power, and change the setting so the power is always on. Once this is done, the car and the phone will automatically connect when they are both on and within 30 feet of each other. I just switched this recently and it works fine, however, I'm still not sure if it will have a major impact on the recharging time of the battery.

armand

I use it with my TL and it's great. Battery life is poor so I charge it every nite.

bodble2

I don't mean to sound like I'm siding with the dealer, but my experience is that rattles and various noises are extremely difficult for a dealer to fix, because they don't have the luxury of living with the car on a daily basis. A lot of noises come and go, or are more pronounced under certain weather, or road conditions. Also, everyone's sensitivity to noises are different.

My philosophy is if I can locate exactly where the noise is coming from, then I will instruct my dealer to fix it. Otherwise I won't ask them to go on a hunting expedition for it.

joanie

Does the V551 show battery and signal strength?
Also, does it show caller I.D. ? Is there anything
else that it does not do that other phones will do?
Thanks for your input.

armand

It shows signal strength but not caller ID on my TL. On my other car it doesn't show signal strength but does caller ID. Go figure.

frisconick

Thanks for the information!

bhelsdon

Yes the V551 shows the signal strength and the number of the caller in my TL

frisconick

Great info bhelsdon! I will buy by V551 today.

ed31cincy

My main beef is that this customer is able to find a couple of plastic clips for the weatherstrip that were not attached properly. That is poor attention to detail that the service department personnel should have found and fixed. I expect better from Acura service personnel.

joanie

Thanks for the info. Do you have navi or non-navi?

frisconick

If you have a hundred or so new cars on the lot, it seems that would be easy to over look, especially if the car has never been driven the the service people.

bodble2

I can see your point. They probably could or should have done a better job in that respect. But I think non-mechanical problems are often assigned to more junior mechanics, or maybe even to an apprentice.

frisconick

You are probably correct. But nobody noticed the rattle in the test drive, so the problem might not have manifested itself until later.

csullivan

I just had the 5th transmission put in my 02 TL Type S in less than 5 months. Acura Client Services is treating me VERY badly. They will not buy this car back. Any advice? I have an attorney, but he is not even getting anywhere with them!!!

bruizer

Please give us some more details about your transmission problems. What led to the problems each time? Since I have the same car, any info would be appreciated.

frisconick

In California there is a "lemon" law that you would qualify for, if you are not in California you may be out of luck. If you are in California check out the lemon law.

dlvana

I too am frustrated with Acura and my 2004 TL. My dealership has replaced a transmission mount and it has minimized the vibration. This was not company initiated but me complaining to Acura Clinet Services. Hopefully, this fix will temporarily curb my frustrations toward Acura.

tlremorse

My TL is a year old and I learned last week my tires (the car has 13K miles on it) must be replaced. I called Acura, and they were totally worthless. The dealer told me not to put Bridgestone's back on the car. I should have been suspicious when my neighbor, who works for Honda America Mftg, came over after I bought the car and told me to "watch your tires" (I live 20 miles from Marysville, OH, where the TL is built). Now I know what he was referring to.

After a year, my dashboard is faded beyond belief. The driver's seat is very worn and looks like crap (ebony interior). I am experiencing buyer's remorse. The car is only 1 year old and for $32K, I can't believe I'm having these issues.

Why are we hanging on to these TL's? My car is only a year old and I'm not impressed and am considering selling it and picking up something else. This is our first & last Honda/Acura. My wife drives a 2000 Lexus RX300 and to this day, the car is defect free. There is no comparison between Acura and Lexus. Any suggestions on what I should buy to replace my TL?

bodble2

"Any suggestions on what I should buy to replace my TL?"

How about the new GS300 or the upcoming IS250/350 from Lexus? Or, if you have a hankering for something German (no, not Heidi Klum! ), how about the 2006 BMW 530i with the new 255hp 6, or the new 330i (may have 1st year issues though)?

(although for sure you wouldn't be having buyer's remorse with Heidi! :P )

bodble2

but otherwise, you like your TL? :P :P

frisconick

I am wondering if the 04 TL has problems because it was the first year of a re-design. My 05 has no vibrations at any speed.

bodble2

For sure the '04 has more problems for the reason you cited, but I'm not sure if the vibration problem, whatever the cause, is an '04-exclusive because I don't recall Honda announcing they had found the cause and cure for the '05. If they did, they kept it hush hush, perhaps to not bring on negative publicity.

frisconick

That's too bad, what a shame to spend 30k+ for a car that has vibrations.
But that should have been detected with the test drive.

armand

Myself and others I know that have '04 TL's don't have vibration issues. My only issue with the car was the hard ride and poor wet weather capabilities of the OEM tires - which I have now replaced and the TL is much better!

I'm not saying some don't have the issue but the TL could not have gotten CR reliability ratings if that was a major issue.

frisconick

What tires did you get?

armand

I got the Continental Extremes (that's not the exact name but close enough) and paid about $140 including mounting and balancing. That seemed like a good price compared to other tires. The tire was very well rated by Tire Rack. I am very satisfied with them.

just_phil

Hi all,

'97 3.2 TL

Can someone tell me where the a/c clutch relay is located, and also the
pin-out of the a/c pressure sensor? The compressor is not coming on, the
clutch does not seem to engage.

TIA

Fil

bhelsdon

Have you checked the freon charge level? That is usually the reason for the clutch not engaging.

just_phil

I figured it's easier to check the relay and the pressure switch first, since I don't have the a/c pressure gauges.

stickyman

Check out the new Infinite M35 or M45......if you can put up with the orange dash lighting, you might want to check out the G35 or G35x (four wheet drive). Before you buy, make sure that you check out the Problems and Solutions on the Infinite board or on any other board. Good luck with the new choice, too bad you had to go through this, :sick:

syeargin

I am experiencing a loud popping noise in reverse, and then once more as I move through first gear. The noise doesn't occur again until I put the car in reverse. The dealer claims that the brakes on the manuals are "free-floating" and that the brakes shift when the weight of the car shifts. They say that that is why the popping noise occurs only once until the car is put in reverse again. Anyone else have this problem?

delmar1

The popping sound may be the ABS self-testing routinue....which is normal. I would characterize the sound more as a "clunk" sound.

"Free-floating" brakes? That is a novel concept.

Difficult to tell your situation without hearing the sound personally. Take the car to several Acura dealers for their opinion. Don't mess with brakes.

bhelsdon

The relay won't energize unless the pressure switch says it aright to do so. If the system gets low on freon in will not let the compressor come on as a safety precaution. You need to take it to someone w/ a set of gauges.

bodble2

Your dealer just might be telling the truth. I had the same noise on a '95 Maxima some year ago. The dealer gave me pretty much the same explanation. Other than the noise, didn't have any brake problem for the almost 5 years I had the car. So probably nothing to worry about (as long as there is no deterioration in stopping power).

poidog1

I have an automatic trans on my TL and noticed the same noise when shifting from drive to reverse. It does not sound like brake caliber movement but more toward the center of the engine compartment.