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Comments
I know Acura is currently testing it
Tee.
I dont see any screws to unscrew or any sort of groove to pull it out.
Does anyone know how? I need to clear out several Air Freshners that has gotten back there.
I'm afraid I'll just be trading it in for a new set of the same problems. I would be willing to deal on an '06, but only if the vibration problems have been corrected.
The vibration is not coming from the tires, but something internal with the transmission. The vibration is the same regardless of engine RPM, or even with the drive in neutral and coasting down the freeway. Maybe an unbalanced drive shaft or something.
But I've waited for this "fix" for 7 months, and it is worthless.
Has anyone else had their vibration problems corrected (not tire related)? Any suggestions? I'm slowly going crazy!
Hope your you know what is doing okay, smokey!
I had this done a few weeks ago. They installed the damper, but I think all it did was change when I feel the vibrations. It certainly did not eliminate them. I called my service advisor back to let him know of this. He said that there are harmonics involved with engine speed, transmission speed and tire speed. He feels that it is the tires that are at fault. He used to work at another luxury brand dealership and said they had this same problem with Bridgestones. They would switch out with Michelins and problem solved.
He said that since I now have 23,000 miles on my Bridgestones, there is nothing left for them to do, but that I am welcome to sit down with him and the service manager and see if there was other solutions. My argument is that I reported this issue way back at 7500 miles. I want them to at least supplement my tire purchase. I guess my advice to you is to have it done. Won't cost you anything and it did not make it worse, so maybe it will work for you. Right now, I am studying the information at TireRackdotcom to see which brand I want to buy when these wear out. Lots of information there, but some of the information is contradictory. I certainly don't want to make a second mistake on tires!
I would accept a new 06 tl but I’m not sure if all the 05's have been fixed.
It's hard to believe that the problem still exists on the 05 models.
I’m going to court in Dec. If I lose, I’ll just trade the car in
Actaully, I put my air freshners on the dash in the back right by the speakers.Sometimes I roll my rear windows down when driving around town; the wind actually gets them behind the brake lights.
It still puzzles me how they get back there though, the space is so tight, I guess this is a physics question.:)
I see someone mentioned the dash fading in an '05 loaner. I'm wondering about that myself. This dash doesn't seem to take ArmorAll the way all my other cars (foreign and domestic) did. Instead of leaving a nice semi-gloss look on the dash, I get a fairly streaky/blotchy appearance. Any thoughts on how to solve this long-term?
Finally, I'm not having many tire/vibration issues at present. I do get a tiny bit of "shimmy" at speeds between 35-45 on some days. It's so minor right now that I don't even worry about it. But I do see all the tire posts here. I'm wondering if I should ask my dealer to do something about this NOW? Would they replace the tires for me or do you have to have major problems and/or be a royal pain in the a** before they take care of you in this regard?
For those reading these posts I'd like to clearly state I LOVE this car and wouldn't trade it for the world.
Thanks all,
Rob
I bought my car used and was disappointed in the gray of the dash. My 1st go-around with Armor All left streaks, but the next day I added a 2nd coat and it looked great - black and wet. I Armor all about every 6 weeks - that seems to be when it starts looking grayish to me, but now I only need 1 coat. I guess that's my longwinded way of suggesting you try a 2nd, and maybe a 3rd coat before deciding it doesn't work.
I wonder if the windhseild has less UV protection than most other windsheilds, and maybe that's the problem (BTW, I'm completely guessing here - I don't know that any windshields offer UV protection).
PS - I use the premoistened armor all wipes and when I'm done with a wipe, I armor all my wipers. I know wipers aren't expensive and they're easy to install, but in the FL sun, they get dried out quickly and the armor helps with this, too.
I did apply another coat of ArmorAll to the dash yesterday and it seemed to look better.
Thanks guys,
Rob
***
People usually get the k&n air filter to get better horse power and gas mileage. This intake system is the whole deal. You get a tube and a air filter that will suck cold air through the engine thats makes more horse power and better gas mileage. This is easy to put on and no there is no instructions. All you have to do is take your air filter out, unscrew the screws on the botom of the factory plastic box, take it out put the tube in the hole to the engine and strap on and tighten the screws and put the hose on and your done.
***
Any thoughts on this? Does it work? Will it void the warranty?
Thanks, Rob
I have had my TL for two months now, and I notice that after washing the car, there is water in the door jams. I have had other cars that have had similiar problems but I figurered the Acura would be put together better. Does anyone else notice this? If so, have you found a solution to it? Thanks.
As for warranty, you have to be careful that the system you buy doesn't try to suck in air too low down under the grille, as this could cause you to suck up water going through a puddle, thereby locking and seizing your engine.
Drop-in "free-flow" filters that merely drop into your stock box, with no intake modifications, are generally no better than your regular air filter and not worth the money.
A really well-designed CAI, put into a car that has a restrictive or badly located stock air box (not many cars are built this way, but...) could give you maybe 8 HP or something like that.
The solution.... When you wash you car...just get a rag to wipe the jams. Besides...you should have already been wiping that area down anyways...along with opening your trunk and wiping the water channels. And of course...you should be driving your car after your wash to get any other latent water out.
In checking my gas mileage lately I have determined that I am getting about 17 mile per gallon. This is predominately city driving and is in rather hilly eastern Pennsylvania (York)
I believe that in the past I got better mileage.
How does this compare with other 1999 tl owners? And, is there anything I could do to the car that would increase this mileage. Something that others have experienced??
Thanks gandb777@wmconnect.com
Have you changed the type of gas used. While premium gas costs more it will give better mileage and performance, so the net cost difference could be quite small.
But, he let me drive it. I noticed what I thought could be an issue given some of the Acura automatic tranny woes I've read about in here.
When you shift from Park to either drive or reverse, there's a 3, 4, 5 second pause before the car actually moves. Matter of fact, one time when I was shifting from Park to Reverse, I hit the gas...after a couple of seconds, it went into reverse with a "jerk".
Is this normal?
I didn't want to tell my neighbor I'd heard of tranny issues, but he says he's concerned about it too. He's got less than 200 miles on the car and it's less than a week old.
At first, the dealer did not want to replace the dash b/c he was concerned with rattles.
It came out good.
Make sure they also replace the metal portion of the dash.
Nah...that doesn't sound typical of the current TL.
Also...don't believe that was a symptom of any past transmission issues which were within the previous generation of TLs...not the current.
I'm used to getting in a vehicle, putting it in gear and taking off immediately. In his TL, there was a definite lag between putting the tranny in D or R and the gear actually engaging. I think I freaked the owner out when I mentioned the lag. As I told him, it may just be some actuators or solenoids doing "their thing" as you switch from one gear to the next.
As I said, these are very fine cars and I enjoyed the ride. I expected torque steer to be an issue, but found little, if any, in my short drive. It handles much like a RWD car does.
The engine offers strong, smooth power. The amenities you get for the price are pretty incredible. And it feels like it's built very well and very rigid.
If I was in the market, I'd put it up there with the cars I'd be interested in like an A4/6, BMW 3 Series and Lexus IS/ES.
J.
I called the dealership this afternoon to make an appointment to get the Navi recall fixed and talked to them about the transmission as well. The service manager I spoke with said that they're all like that and that it's a known problem. According to him it has to do with the "learning" transmission and its fuzzy logic. Personally I don't care what the problem is, i'd just like it fixed. Unfortunately he said there is no planned fix for it that he knows of. Seems to me that this should be easily fixed with a software update.
Anybody else experiencing this? I have to put the car into sportshift and keep it in 2nd just to preven whiplash when i'm stuck in Atlanta traffic.
- J.
As for the head whipping, I can say I've not experienced that. But then again I don't do a lot of heavy traffic driving. I have a 10 minute drive to/from work - that's about it. Though on some days/nights I take the long way home so I can enjoy the TL a bit. The only head whipping I've noticed is when she gets pretty cranked up.
For the gentleman that compared the TL to the Audi and BMW I can say that I don't think the TL and 3-series is a fair comparison. I test drove a 3-series car through the mountains in Colorado (pretty cool, they had FREE test drives of their cars and SUV's at this nice hotel) and I thought it had about as much get-up-and-go as my old Taurus. That was going up AND down the mountains. The TL is a little slower off the line than I'd like, but once she's moving she can get to cruising speed pretty darn quick. Not to mention the 3-series makes you feel like you're sitting in a broom closet - very close quarters.
- Rob
Not!! I own both (TL anfd '06 3-series) and I have not found the lack of roominess hinted in this post to be the case with my 3-series. Maybe this is Rob's impression of the older 3-series?
In typical Honda fashion, the TL may not win every category whether it's performance, room, amenities, comfort, etc. What the TL does seem to do well is to be good in all categories, if not the best. When you factor in price, the argument becomes even clearer.
My post about the transmission was more a "knee jerk" reaction since HOnda/Acura had some issues a while ago with their automatic trannys. From all that I've read, Acura got those tranny problems ironed out, though.
Needless to say, I was duly impressed with my neighbor's TL. That's coming from a person who has owned 2 BMWs in the last decade. In fairness, I've not driven the new 3 Series.
BMWs are always finely balanced machines. They lack little when you load them up, but you pay dearly when you do that. You also pay dearly for service/maintenance when the warranty has expired. The Acura, on the other hand has very little in the way of options. They come fully equipped.
Great observation! When purchasing my five Acuras....it made it so much easier to not only to negotiate a great deal....but to find the car I wish. Other makes is where if you wish to obtain a certain feature...you were forced to purchase others which you really didn't want.
No prob about the transmission question. And with the extended warranty that is offerred through the 2005 tl...that won't be an issue even if there was one.
Yup, and some of us even get multiple shimmies, buzzes and vibrations at no extra cost (LOL).
I have owned a 20' open bow runabout for over 10 years, and the all of the vinyl surfaces still look like new. I have been using a marine product for cleaning and UV protection, so I went ahead and used it on the dash board. It now looks better than new.
The product I used is called "Mirror Glaze" #57 Boat/RV Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner/Conditioner, manufactured by Meguiar's. It's available in 16 oz. spray bottle. I know Boat US and West Marine sell it, and you should be able to order it on line as well. Believe me, it will work and will probably protect the dash from UV damage better than anything else. Make sure you let the car air out for a few hours, it's got a pretty strong smell.
Also, there's NO WAY I would let a dealer take out the dash. Unless it's necessary for a major problem. I did that a few years ago on an Audi. It took about a year for MAJOR squeaks to appear. I guess I should have expected it. There were left over screws on the floor after the installation. Who knows where they should have gone!