Acura TL Maintenance and Repair

bodble2

You know that the interior lights do have a delay-off feature? I think you can program it to turn off immediately.

carteach

I have a new 2006 TL with less than 900 miles on it. Last week I looked down to see how the side pocket at the bottom of the door pulls out, and I saw a raised piece of leather no bigger than a pinky nail. It doesn't have a hole in it or a scuff mark near it. I called the dealer and after waiting a week I was told I should bring it in and they would tell me if it was something covered under warranty or something that I did.

I had my nephew look at it tonight; and he thought I could have done it by sliding the toe of my shoe along the side as I got out of the car. Needless to say, I have no memory of that. And I've been in and out of ten cars in my lifetime without damage to the door. I'm hoping that the dealer will fix it or replace that pullout tray. If they refuse to, how much do you think it would cost me to replace the tray and/or pay to have the leather repaired?

I recently sold my 2002 Saab 9-5; and it had a spotless interior with not even a scuff mark. So you can see why this is driving me crazy.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

nnnnnpatel

I just brought me New TL and I have about 100 miles on it. There is a check engine light (malfunction Indicatior Lamp) staying on. I wasn't on when I drove off the dealer lot. Now it stays on. Has anyone had similar problem?\

thanks
Nick

sda

Recently purchased 03 TL with 21000 mi. Super clean, drives great. Been to several web sites--all seem to harp on horrible transmission problems for Acura/Honda with 5 sp auto from 2000-03. I don't see many posts on Edmund's mentioning these problems. Should I be concerned? My warranty is good for another 6 months. Other than the trans, I understand the car is Honda reliable. Buy an extended warranty?

camon

Acura has extended the transmission warranty to I believe, 100K miles, on most of these cars as a result of a class action lawsuit. Check with your dealer for its applicability to your car. It probably will apply.
Yes the transmission is a problem. Mine suffered a total failure at 93K miles but Acura replaced it for no charge.

carteach

I love my new '06 TL. But when I'm driving even at relatively low speeds, I hear what I think is wind noise. I don't feel any air coming in. It's not coming from the road. Any thoughts? Anyone else hear a whistling/wind noise while driving even at low speeds? Or is what I'm hearing something else?

nnnnnpatel

Are you sure your moonroof is not cracked open?

nick

guest

I tried opening and closing it and putting my hand up there and didn't feel any air coming in. Any other thoughts? I have to have something replaced on it. So when I take it in, I'm going to ask the tech to go out with me.

nnnnnpatel

I noticed on one of my non-acura car, I use to get noise when I turned the air on. Did you shut the air off and see if the not was coming. Try it with refresh air and recycle air to see if noise is still coming. Also can you pinpoint if the noise in the front or in the back, left, or right?

nick

carteach

The noise always sounds like it's coming from the right. I think part of it is the kind of road surface because I hear it less when I'm driving on smooth macadam. I can hear it when I go even 30 mph; but it definitely gets louder as my speed increases. I tried turning e'thing off. No luck.

Are your cars completely quiet inside except for the sound of the road?

nnnnnpatel

Totally quiet. Barely hear anything outside. Did you check to see if any of the door seals are not unglued (highly unlikely, but then again). Maybe you should have someone ride with you in the back sitting on the right side and see they feel any air around the back windows, doors or bottom front doors. Can think of anything else at the moment.

nick

frisconick

I have heard of this problem usually in 04 tl's. I have an 05 and have no wind problems, or any problems for that matter.

carteach

I've been thinking about this; and maybe what I'm hearing is road noise...tires turning on the macadam. Does that make sense to any of you?

starman98

Is it possible to get a 2007 acura tL key and have it cut and programed to work on a 2006 TL. I like the 07 keys much better one key instead of a key and fob.

scottm123

Awesome question but I'd bet the answer is no.

I have the same issue with the 06 MDX.
The new keyfob is so nice, and the 06 is absolutely some of the worst quality I've seen in a fob.
I have only one key on the ring with my fob... the ignition key.
When it's not in the ignition, it's in my pocket with NOTHING else.

And yet, still, the fob is scratched to death and looks like a 15 yr old piece of junk.

newowner14

I just got a new 06 TL 2 months ago and noticed the same wind noise you are talking about. This may sounds silly, and you probably already tried this, but it took me a few days or so to figure out that it was actually my windows cracked a hair!! I couldn't even tell the windows were cracked, but apparently when you use your clicker the windows (all four) come down VERY slightly. If you hold the button longer, the window will roll down all the way when using the clicker. So when you enter your car press the window buttons in the up position to see if they had possibly rolled down a crack when entering the car! It still happens to me, and then I remember...oh yeah, the window is actually rolled down a bit.

ggesq

Actually you can "mod" the 07 switchblade key to fit the 04-06's.

newowner14

I see this was posted a while ago, but I bought my 2 months ago, brand new. I took it into the shop a few weeks ago because of that exact complaint. I felt the idle was very rough-even other people mentioned it to me when I took them for a drive. The dealership said everything was normal, and TLs tend to have a rougher Idle. I think it's a little rougher than what a normal idle should feel like, but I feel better that it's not just my car. From reading the postings, it seems like it's just the design.

newowner14

I bought my new 06 TL 2 months ago and I noticed that at about 70 MPH a shimmy/vibration begins. I took it into the shop and they said the two front tires were not good so they replaced them. Now, why the front 2 were "bad" and the back were apparently ok, I have no idea how that's possible considering it was brand new, right off the lot, with the original set of four tires on it. To me, it would seem that since they all came from the same batch, they probably all should have been replaced. Regardless, replacing the two tires did not solve the problem. I still feel a shimmy when going at higher speeds.

Has anyone had this experience? It's not the alignment, because they said they redid it when they replaced the tires. Any ideas??

newowner14

ok, I'm replying to my own posting, but I just went through a lot of postings here- dating all the way back to 2004 and see that this has been an issue for a long time! I can't believe it!! I love the car, but now that I know the shimmy really has NOTHING to do with the tires, I'm depressed. It sounds like it's a design flaw that acura never corrected. I previously owned an Integra, had it for 5 years and never had a problem with it, which is why I went back to acura to purchase a new car. I'm really disappointed with this problem, and at this point don't seem to think there is a solution. If anyone has any other information on this issue, I would love to hear from you!!

Thanks!

moneyfool

I have 2005 Acura TL and has around 13K miles. Never has the maintenance minder gone on. Is that fine? Oil change was done around 50% since I was in for inspection.

Do tire rotation go on the maintenance minder?

bodble2

I don't think the windows are designed to go down slightly when you use the remote to unlock. There is no reason for them to --- since the windows are not of the frameless variety. If yours does that, I would bring it to the attention of the service department.

Wow, so your car has the window issue, plus the rough idle and the drivetrain vibration. :surprise: I thought all the bugs had been worked out by '06. The only common issue you don't have seems to be interior rattles, which my '04 has been inflicted with.

scottm123

I don't think the windows are designed to go down slightly when you use the remote to unlock.

I understand what he's saying.
The remote allows you to roll down the windows.
You do this by holding the Unlock button in and the windows will roll down. If you release the button while the windows are rolling down, they stop.

If he is unlocking his car with the keyfob, but holding the button just slightly too long, the windows will begin to roll down and then stop as he releases his button....
Enough to create a wind noise, but not down enough to notice visually.

carteach

I've done the partial roll-down a number of times. I agree, I don't think it's a flaw and I don't think that's what I'm' hearing because I've double checked using the controls that each window was closed tight. But I definitely don't have a quiet ride. I guess I'll ask the tech to ride with me though I wonder whether I'll get a totally honest answer. Too bad we can't compare cars.

shoresailing

Tell me more please. I purchased an 06 TL on 12/1 and I would love to get the new 07 key if it will work on my 06.

ggesq

shore,

I don't want to upset the host by posting a link but I would suggest going to the acurazine website and find it there. Good luck

pat

Why not just post the information here?

starman98

Does anyone know how this done? I know I will need to program the remote and get the key cut to match mine but is there something else I need to do to it?

newowner14

hmmm, ok I will tell them about my windows then. That's weird. One more thing to add to my list! Thank you.
Ok, yes I have all those things PLUS a rattle on my passenger side door. It drives me nuts because it only happens once in a while (doesn't matter what road I'm on, bumpy or smooth) and I can't tell exactly where it's coming from! Of course it never happens with a passenger in the car for them to see if they can tell where it's coming from.

newowner14

I just saw the other messages confirming my window situation. Ok, seems like that's a normal thing.

PS....I'm a she

bodble2

Your passenger side rattle may be from the glove box door. That was a common source of rattles on the '04-'05. Mine has a few miscellaneous and intermittent rattles, but by far the most wicked one is from the glove box door. They will have to fix that somehow, because I can't live with that rattle!

z71bill

I bought some round self-sticking felt pads from Wal-Mart - like you use on a cupboard door - I used the large size - they are about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. I tried the rubber ones first and they did not work - they were either too thin and did nothing - or too thick and the door would not close.

I started with two - then added two more - and my glove box has not rattled since. It did make the glove box door a little hard to close at first - but it works fine now.

I also used them on the side pockets on both doors.

steelman5

I purchased a 06 TL for my wife last February and last month while pulling into a parking space in a strip mall she feels that the throttle stuck while she was applying the brake to stop in the parking space, the car lunged forward causing a great deal of damage to it. I would like to know if anyone else has had this same experience with their TL.

bobarmilo

Anyone else experience a major engine failure with their 2002 Acura TL-S involving frozen camshaft? The car just died while idling at a traffic stop. I had it towed to the Acura dealer where I bought it and they said they couldn't even turn the engine over manually 360 degrees because of a frozen camshaft. They suspect it was due to a lack of oil delivery. They ended up replacing both heads, including all of the parts. As soon as I got the "repaired" engine back from the dealer, I noticed a "tapping" noise coming from the front engine bank. I took the car back to the dealer and they determined that a rod was bad and now have ordered a new engine block to go with the new heads. Again, they suspect an oil delivery problem. The car had 54,000 miles on it. Luckily, Acura agreed to pick up the cost, even though it was just out of warranty.

meateater

Tell her to take her foot off the gas when she wants to stop.

laurasdada

Sounds like a call to 60 Minutes is in order... You sure it wasn't an Audi?

But seriously, no I've not had this experience with my TL. Nor my father, brother and neighbor with their TLs. Nor any posts on Edmunds that I can recall. I hope your wife wasn't hurt.

bodble2

I have developed a bad habit of sliding only half the width of my shoe over to step on the brake pedal. So, what happens sometimes, depending on amount of travel in the brake pedal, is that I would end up stepping on the gas at the same time. There's been a few times when I'm stopped in traffic where I've inadvertently made the car lurch forward due to this bad habit. I'm not sure if perhaps your wife is doing this. It wouldn't seem likely since ladies' shoes are not that wide, but she may want to pay attention to that possibility.

bodble2

I have actually used felt strips. They were effective for awhile, but the rattle came back. I assume you've applied the pads, not on the door itself, but on the edge of the opening in the dash. Which part exactly did you stick the pads? Near the top, or near the bottom where the hinge is?

Thanks.

manmountain

I bought a TL new in Sept 04. Within a few hundred kilometres, it developed the 'shimmy' or vibration around 95-100 ks (55-60 mph). The dealer tried several times to fix it - some form of special balancing at a specialty tire shop, several alignments, changing the front tires, then changing the back tires. Nothing worked and at 9,000 kilometers, Acura authorized new wheels and tires. And the problem has never surfaced since then. The service manager (who I respect and trust) believes the issue was the low profile rims and tires and the difficulty of getting all 8 in balance at the same time. I also bought another set of rims and winter tires and never experienced the problem with them. And they've all been on and off the car several times now over the past two years and the problem has never surfaced again (up to 230 kph thanks to eastern California rural highways) - the car now has 80,000 kilometers on it and runs better and tighter than when new.

z71bill

Correct - not on the door but the part of the dash the door closes on.

The felt pads I bought are 3/4 of an inch in diameter and 3/16 of an inch thick.

I put one on each side of the little metal bar that the latch on the glove box door hooks onto - plus on the face of the dash - right where the edge of the door closes there are 2 - 3/4 inch diameter indentations molded right into the plastic - the round felt pads fit inside them perfectly - almost like they were designed to have them placed there.

Its been about 4 months since I killed this rattle - it could come back - it if does I will just replace the felt pads with new ones.

bodble2

Thanks! I'll try that.

debis04tl

I purchased a 2004 TL in Dec. 03. A few months ago I noticed that my black leather jacket and my wife's full length black leather coat were staining the Parchment front seats. My Dealer was kind enough to offer to put new cover on, so it was done. Problem is, they would not install tightly so now have many wrinkles. The Dealer has taken them off again and has done a reinstall, that was no help.
My question is, since I have not been following this form lately, "is anyone else having this same problem ?" and if so what was the out come.
We have two vehicles so in three years it only has 31,000 miles on it and is driven maybe once a week from Dec. to March with our leather coats on.
Any help would be appreciated, thanks, Don

richey02hg

I got an 07 TL in December and so far it has 1200 miles on it and I have been noticing the low fuel light comes on really early. Usually when i reach about 260 miles. I have yet to test whether I still have 2-3 gallons left in worry that I'll be stranded on the highway. So I haven't even gotten to 300 miles on a tank of gas yet.

I know the TL is supposed to have a 17 gallon tank yet the most I have ever had to fuel up is 15 gallon so far. Does the low fuel indicator come on that early for everyone else?

debis04tl

On three occasions I have almost run into something when moving my right foot from the gas to the brake. There is something in that combination that is not quite right. I know at the time I could not feel my foot on the gas but the more I pressed on the brake to stop, the faster I went. Because of the unexpectedness of this happening it took me a second to realize I was causing the problem. I am sure that reaction time will vary depending on the driver.
Solution.... I retrained my feet. I know that we are taught these days to only use our right foot on an automatic but my feet are old enough to remember when that was not the case. Sooo.. left foot for the brake and right for the gas. No more power surges.................

ecnirp

Just noticed that the passenger side view mirror on my 06 TL does not automatically adjust when I put the car in reverse. The car is only a month old and used to do this. Must have stopped working over the weekend.

Is there a setting on the car to turn this feature on/off or should I call the dealer in the morning to fix?

buyer777

Make sure Mirror switch still has that side selected.

bodble2

The low-fuel light on the TL does come on really early. Like you, I haven't had the nerves to test how long I can go after the light comes on before I run out of gas!

bodble2

I also wear a black leather coat in my Camel interior TL from time to time. So far, no problem with staining, but the seats do stretch and sag a bit.

laurasdada

For the mirror, ensure that the selector switch is either left or right to tilt down the desired mirror.

Yes, I find the low fuel warning light to come on in a conservative manner. At least 2+ gallons left. And it is better than running dry!

manmountain

I thought for a long time that the low fuel light came on early. So last summer, I took the chance based on what I thought it would do and I drove 75 ks (about 47 miles) past the light coming on and it still had just over a litre (1/4 gallon) left (or about 7-9 ks or 5 miles) when I filled up.