Acura TL Maintenance and Repair

buzz0004

I just bought an 07 base and have about 220miles on it and have noticed the same thing. The downshifting does not seem right and does not allow the car to cruise at a normal speed. Has anyone had similar problems or is this just normal for the transmission??? Thinking about calling dealership and having it checked out.

ggesq

might be the answer to your questions...

http://tl.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109735&page=1&pp=25&highlight=gr- ade+logic

1808

Has anyone experience improper tire wear?

twmark

I have a 2006 TL with about 16000 miles and recently have noticed that the green drive light (the "D" indicating the gear) is blinking. When I turn off the engine and restart the car the blinking resolves. The car appears to drive normally and shift gears normally when I use the auto-manual. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

1808

have you experienced improper tire wear after the suspension was lowered?

camon

A blinking transmission light indicates a possible transmission problem. The owner's manual states to not accelerale too rapidly, and to get it into your dealer immediately.

twmark

Thanks. I called and set up an appointment for a check up at the dealer. The car seems to drive fine and when I restart the engine the light disappears. The problem does seen the recur however.

buzz0004

It sounds like its a common thing that I will have to get used to. Thanks for the info ggesq

hometour

I noticed the slow down when I took my foot off the pedal while test driving the 2007 Acura TL. It concerns me. I'm not sure if I should buy one now.

Plus, I've read some consumer reviews that report that there is a rattle in the car. Are you experiencing that?

I noticed a 1/2 inch piece of tape or something that the salesperson said was a door jam protector. It goes along the vertical portion of the door on the exterior from under the door handle most of the way down the door. Do all of the 2007 or 2008 have that?

Jay

rfftype2

I had rattle sound from front center speaker grill while I took delivery of my TL. The technican checked it and push down a bit of grill the sound was gone. But after 3 weeks of driving rattle is back. I'll take it back to the dealer.
After reading many postings it looks like that transmission downshift is a normal thing to TL. I guess I need to get used to it.

financebuzz

I went ahead and went in per the maintenance minder. Some had posted on the cost of the dealer oil change and tire rotation being $100. Fortunately, my dealer was only about $76. The breakdown had the oil change at only $34.95 which was not too terrible. However, I do not know if that is a package price if you get the rotation. Being that this is my first premium brand car, the waiting area was a big improvement over what I have been used to at Ford dealers in the past. That is worth some amount of premium to have a nice quiet area to get online with my laptop but I am not sure how much of a premium!

Also, the dealer next oil change sticker was at +7500 so they were not trying to push for the lower as 3750 interval that someone else had posted about their dealer.

gvb

Just purchased a 2006 TL with a manual transmission. Twice already, I have had it "pop" out of 1st gear when going down a steep incline at a parking lot at very low speed (5mph). Has anyone else experienced the same? Could this be a manufacturing issue, or specific to my vehicle? The car has less than 2,000 miles on it. All I've ever owned are manual transmission vehicles, and have never experienced this before. Would love to know if anyone else has experienced this or what the fix is (if any).

vveerara

I have a 2006 TL with manual transmission and had a the exact same problem. I've reported it to the dealer and have also spoken to Acura about it. I had the 1st gear pop out about 15 times within the first 4000 miles and in the first 4 months. I changed the transmission fluid to the new one that Honda recommends at 2000 miles and changed oil at
~3800 miles. I am not aware of any TSB or fix to this problem.

The problem seem to have disappeared. Don't believe you can reproduce the problem since it only happens during cold start and within the first mile or so.

gvb

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a known problem in the design. Good to know that it's cleared up for you. I'll hope/expect that it will do the same for me.

cambrea

I have 2000 TL, with 124K miles. The transmission have been re-build with some new parts about a year ago... per former owner. I bought this one few month back.

In recent days, I noticed transmission (geat) position indicator on dashboard doesn't show illuminated 'D5' position. All other position displayed OK. Upon further observation, I found it happens when the knob shifted back from 'D4' position. No other symptoms. When it happens, I put it back to 'R' or 'P' and then put into 'D5' solves the problem... the 'D5' lights up.... for couple of weeks.

Then, I noticed this remedy doesn't work anymore. 'D5' position doesn't light up, in any condition. Also, I noticed that '+/-' shift, supposed to show numeric numbers...doesn't work "sometimes." It works most of time, but sometimes (happened couple of times)... it doesn't display any... and it seems stay in 'D5' mode, even if I play with the knob.

Is this a transmission malfunction? or is this would be light burb problem?

camon

It could be a third possibility. That would be that the gear position indicator sensor switch is either worn,slightly corroded, or not properly aligned. This could cause such symptoms without affecting the transmission's operations. My guess (and it is just a guess) would be this is the problem from what you described.

engrniz

Recently there were heavy rains in my area and I went with my TL thru a puddle. To my surprise and amazement the TL's engine sucked up water resulting in its locking and seizure. I would like to know if anybody else had similar experience and how do we prevent this from happening. I saw lot of other cars go past by me thru the puddle without any problems at all.

Mr_Shiftright

Just bad luck and maybe some problem with intake design. This is a fairly common problem and depends mostly on how you hit the water and where it ends up...not too predictable. You could have hit the wake of the car in front of you and your car could have an intake just a little bit lower than the car behind you....so it's all a matter of inches and angle of attack and your speed. Too bad, I'm sorry that happened to you. There's really no defense for it on a regular passenger car (jeeps and off-roads can re-route the intake upwards).

engrniz

Thanks for your explanation.
I have been told by a auto mechanic friend of mine that Hondas & Acuras are more prone to this (water intake and engine seizure) problem then other nameplates. I do not know how far this is true however.

Mr_Shiftright

The only way I'd believe that is if you measured the height of the intake tube's (where air first starts its journey toward the air filter) distance to the ground, as compared to other makes, and then also compared the size of the opening, and what if anything, protects that opening.

If your mechanics did that, well fine, otherwise they it's just beer talk IMO.

There HAVE been a few cars that were notorious for sucking in water...the old Mercedes 280SL "pagoda roof" two-seaters come to mind. Low intake, slanted downwards (duh), right against a wide open grille.

I'd certainly consider re-routing the air intake on your car, given what happened.

jdcar1

Anyone know when the timing belt/water pump needs to be replaced for an 06 TL? Not sure if Acura "recommends" replacing at 70k miles. Thanks!

bdemarr

look in your owners manual or give your dealer a call

sundance2

We have just replaced our rear pads at 42,000 miles which is about what we expected. However, our dealer reported we still have 80% of the front pads left. This has suggested to us that there may be a problem with the hydraulic proportioning valve, which equalizes the pressure between the front and rear systems. The dealer is looking into a possible service bulletin on this.

Has anybody experienced this excessing wear on the rear brakes when compared to front pad wear. We are very easy on the car and on our Accord's have usually been getting 60,000 miles on the brakes.

willis3

I have an 07 TL-S. I have never experienced the transmission popping out of 1st gear, but have experienced it three times popping out of 3rd gear.

I have read on another board that this is a commonly experienced problem with MT owners, and many have switched transmission fluid to GM Synchromesh, which has remedied the problem.

starman98

I own a 2006 Acura TL and it just hit 31,000 miles today. I need an oil change soon but does anyone know what I need to do at 30K miles for maintenance? Most of the traveling I do is on the freeway normal conditions.

I don't want to ask the dealer as they will charge me for a bunch of stuff I don't need.

Thanks.

pat

Your owners manual lists what needs to be done. You can also check here: Maintenance Schedules.

rvator4

I have always taken my 2K Acura (60K miles) to the local Honda garage for service because the dealership is too far away. The service guy at the Honda garage tells me what he recommends, and it is always a lot less than the maintenance book.

ggesq

For my 30k service, I did:

Oil/Filter change
Cabin Filter
Air Filter
Rotate Tires
Brake Fluid
Tranny drain & fill x 3 (Honda recommended method)

new2cars

I bought a 2007 TL at the end of March. It's been starting and driving without a hitch until today. My car wouldn't start because the battery was dead! I hadn't driven it for 2 days and when I went to drive it today, it wouldn't budge. My lights and electrical items were fine. What's wrong with my TL?

BWT, my sister's car which is a '97 Accord was left undriven for 2 weeks and her battery was fine and the car started perfectly.

Anyone have any ideas? This is bizarre and disappointing.

bodble2

Do you have navigation? On some previous years' TLs, there was an issue with the nav draining the battery when the engine's off. It happened with my '04. They had to take the nav out and replace some part behind it. There is a TSB on the issue.

Or, you may just simply have a defective battery. If it is the nav problem, there are usually accompanying symptoms, such as your outside temp readout going blank.

scottm123

Could be anything.
Earlier models had similar reports, and turned out to be a bluetooth/navi module that wasn't turning off correctly.

If you are sure the doors were all shut correctly and no lights were on, it could be anything and only the dealer will be able to trace it down for you.

That sucks!

bodble2

The headlights and the interior lights turn off automatically, even if a door was left ajar, so that probably wasn't what his problem was.

tumbestere

I just replaced my rear pads at 36,300 miles (90% worn). My dealer reported that I still have 60% of the front pads left. Worse than that, my rear rotors needed to be replaced due to excessive grooving of the rotor (without any metal to metal contact). I have asked the dealer service reps about this and they have no clue. In addition, the dealer reported the rear pads were worn just 10% to 20% on my last service (8000 miles ago). This makes me wonder if something like the front/rear proportioning system has malfunctioned. I also would be interested to hear from others on this problem.

upstatedoc

You haven't been driving around w/ the parking brake on have you? :P . I had the rear rotors and pads replaced on my '05 TL @ 6000 miles, some sort of defect covered under warranty.

upstatedoc

Just searched my post about the rotors, the car actually had 15,000 miles on it. Still covered under warranty though.

new2cars

I just returned from the Acura dealership who said they couldn't find any problems with the battery. They said the battery tested in the "high" range so they ruled that out. I told them I didn't want to drive my TL until they diagnosed the problem. Therefore, they gave me a loaner and they are keeping it overnight to conduct a "draw test." I really hope this TL isn't a lemon!

Yes, I have navi. Do you think it's a navi problem?

Also, I have a GPS theft recovery system called Karr Track and I'm suspecting maybe there's an electrical draw from this system.

Either way, I'm absolutely clueless to cars and want to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Any input is appreciated.

ggesq

Maybe this is the problem?

http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SB/B05-029.PDF

Navi- draining power. :confuse:

bodble2

That was the problem with mine. Unfortunately, if that is the problem, then they would need to take the dash apart to fix. And that may result in rattles, as it did with mine. :sick:

upstatedoc

Never had the dead battery thing but they replaced something behind the navi unit. I think it was an actual recall.

scottm123

You did the right thing.
The draw test should find the culprit and then it can be repaired.
My money is on the Navi as well.

new2cars

Hi everyone,
I appreciate everyone's feedback! The dealership just called and the draw test didn't reveal any problems. Talk about frustrating! I had a tech from Karr Track (GPS recovery system) meet my Acura service tech to check the GPS device. (Being a 30 yr old woman, it just seems like I don't get the straight answer on car issues from men so I thought it would handy to get the 2 techs talking.) Anyways, Karr Track didn't find anything wrong but predicted that the tracking device stayed on which drew from the battery.

I'm bummed a concrete problem wasn't spotted but I did what I could. I guess I'm disappointed that just 4 months of owning an '07 TL has led me to no answers to the root of the problem. I just hope I don't get stranded with a dead battery again!

Any input is appreciated. Thanks for letting me share.

bodble2

Actually, on the TL, it is difficult to forget to release the parking brake because there are visual and audible warnings!

bodble2

Was that the first time you left your car sitting for 2 days or more? Even though it would potentially be a huge pain in the butt to do, you could try the experiment again --- leave it sitting for 2 days or so. If the battery dies, again, then try it with the Karr Track turned off or disconnected, and see if the results are any different. If it turns out to be the Karr Track, then you would have to decide whether or not to do away with it altogether. :sick:

engrniz

I had a similar battery problem with my TL 2006 and the guy who came to tow my car to the dealership solved the problem. He tapped on the cover of my starter with a metal bar while I kept turning the ignition and the car started. He explained that the connection between the battery and the starter was loose. I drove the car to an Acura dealership and they fixed the problem in 20 minutes.

starman98

My 2006 TL has 31,500 miles on it. Anyone know how long these stock tires are going to last? 80% of my travel is highway.

bdemarr

You are doing well-my '04 I got 16k.

new2cars

No, it wasn't the first time I've left it there. I have left my car sitting for more than 2 days and it's been fine which is why I was so perplexed that it happened.

Thank you to everyone who responded. I'll keep you posted. This battery thing is still a mystery.

laurasdada

I swapped my Bridgestones at the mileage you are now at. Two were pretty much gone, two were OK. But with winter approaching (and tires on sale) I switched to Toyo Versados. Much smoother and quieter.

mikey38

I have just over 25k miles on my 06 TL with Michelin Tires and they look just about brand new. Probably about 80% highway also.

gotribe

My 06 TL 6 speed recently suffered impact damage when I hit a big pothole. Put a big bubble on the tire sidewall of the right front OEM Michelin tire. I replaced the tire with an identical new Michelin--so now I had one new tire with 10/32 inch of tread and the other front tire with 7/32 inch tread. Amazingly (to me anyway)the car began violently pulling to the right upon even the slightest acceleration. Dealer thought we had a defective new tire (radial shift)so he ordered another one. Same thing. Moved the new tire from the right front to the left front. Same violent pull only this time towards the left. We then put two new front tires on--problem solved. We concluded that the very slight difference in tread depth right to left was causing the problem--perhaps due to the TL's limited slip diff, traction control or who knows. Anyone else ever have this problem and know why for sure? This is a nasty little problem because it means you almost always have to replace both front tires at the same time if you have a problem with one like I did. At close to $300/tire that gets expensive.