aaronnn

So I'm nearing 200 miles now on my odometer..
Haven't heard any strange noises yet from my ILX. Although I'm already going to be swapping out my rear sway bar/bushing/endlinks and possibly getting coilovers shortly after.

And Spirited Driver, since I only live 10 miles away from you, it should affect my ILX the same way as yours. Maybe I haven't clocked in enough miles yet but it seems like people were noticing this suspension noise right away after driving the car off the lot or within a few miles down the road..

All I know is, this car is still quieter than my TL, but my TL had 260,000 miles on it and the rubber in the motor mounts, trans mounts, suspension bushings were turned into dust.

Spirited Driver

I got the car in August (warm out). At that time I immediately heard "knocking" in the front passenger end; brought it in a few days later to get it checked out. I also heard noise/thumping from the rear, thinking it was the trunk floor lid, which there is a thread open for this.

As time has progressed, the noises became louder, more pronounced. It also got cooler out.

I then removed the trunk floor lid, spare.....still heard knocking from rear. That leads me to believe the front, along with the rear noises, are both related to the struts/shocks.

I have almost 5k on the car now.

Spirited Driver

For all the folks here and in case Acura is reading (PAY ATTENTION).

http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews...cember_update/

We know we have a ringer. Our ILX, with its top-spec 2.4-liter engine and 6-speed manual transmission, is definitely the pick of the litter where Acura's smallest sedan is concerned. And indeed, we have roundly praised its smooth-revving 4-cylinder, and even more so, its sweet-shifting manual gearbox. But that's not the whole story of this car.

"While we love our car's 2.4-liter engine and the 6-speed manual bolted to it, the vast majority of ILX intenders won't even glance at it," says associate editor David Zenlea. This powertrain will account for but a sliver of sales. Most of those who are lured to the luxury marque's most affordable entry will probably live with a base model or a hybrid. Unfortunately for them, the base model's 2.0-liter engine is gutless and underwhelming, and the ILX Hybrid put senior web editor Phil Floraday off so much that he begged to get out of the CVT-hobbled car after only 1 night behind the wheel.

No doubt, the best ILX is the 1 we have, and that isn't great news for Acura. That's not just because so few customers are likely to choose this iteration -- even when they do, that delicious powertrain can't mask some this model's blunders.

We complained that the car's engine was noisy in last month's update, and we've noticed that a lot of ambient noise worms its way in as well. "The ILX is in desperate need of sound insulation," says Floraday. Managing editor Amy Skogstrom agrees, saying that highway crosswinds caused a racket. She also called out the grainy rear-view camera, which deputy editor Joe DeMatio had previously harped on as well: "At night, what you see looks like a fuzzy old black-and-white movie on a crappy old TV."

The rear suspension is a multilink unit, not a torsion beam, but Floraday said, "The ILX could use better suspension tuning at the rear axle. Several times over the weekend I felt a well-damped bump under the front tires and then a moment later heard a thud and felt a much sharper impact from the rear tires. I don't feel like I'm in a luxury car when the impacts are this loud or jarring."

Word has it that Acura is working on an emergency refresh for its smallest offering, much like what parent company Honda recently did with the Civic. We'd like to see better sound insulation, as well as a more powerful base engine. And while we love the 6-speed manual, Acura should offer buyers of the 2.4-liter an automatic option. That's what Buick does with the Verano turbo, and looking at last month's sales numbers, Buick sold almost twice as many Veranos as Acura did ILXs.

spdandpwr

The eibach kit doesn't come with Endlinks.

aaronnn

sorry, eibach rear sway with whiteline adjustable endlinks.

aaronnn

im glad they're doing a thorough 12 month review on this car.. hopefully Acura listens up and put up a recall on our suspension or something after all this. Mine hasn't been that bad yet, but I would like it if it never does once the miles start racking on.

spdandpwr

You think you'll need endlinks on a 19mm bar?

aaronnn

not at all. But It's nice to know the endlinks are alot sturdier than the stock pieces of garbage glued together with a piece of rubber covering the ball joint.

I went through three of them on my TL, although it had a bigger sway bar, but I had it when the joint part gets pulled out of place and it's impossible to yank out of the sway bar because with the endlink popped out, there's nothing for me to hold on to, to take the nut off.

I rather just over-do everything, even if its overkill, than having to deal with it in the long run.

fishy21

Got a new ILX yesterday, heard this "trunk" noise last night while driving over a manhole cover. I've driven over several bumps, and I have only heard it once. Sounded like a license plate or trunk lid cover hitting something.

Trentimus

I think I for the better part know what it is.. take out your spare tire cover. The plastic piece that goes around the trunk hook where it latches.. That piece slaps up against the back wall of the trunk.. Since dynamating that area it no longer makes the sound. I am pretty sure thats the issue.. Someone try taking that off and driving around. It's very easy to remove. Pull straight up on it and it has 4 pop panels in it. Let me know the results.. I hope this helps you guys. Doesn't explain why the RDX does it too though.

I am having trouble articulating the piece I mean.. it's the black plastic piece right where your trunk meets the car behind the rear bumper.. the bottom of it slaps the back of the car. I dunno if that explains this sound though.

Spirited Driver

I highly recommend you bring the car in to the dealer and have them write up a service ticket/complaint regarding this. You want to make sure they write up a ticket and not just have a verbal discussion about it with them. Have it documented.

As you can see, quite a few people on here are experiencing the same. The more and more people let Acura know about this, the sooner we as a community will have a solution for this.

I would also recommend contacting Acura relations (corporate) regarding this as well

I've been hearing the noise, along with other suspension noises since August.

fishy21

I found the piece. I didn't want to take it off since I am leasing the car. Have you tried it?

I did try to dampen it, but placing towels under the contact area where the plastic meets the car. I don't think it's working... but I need to drive the car a little more.

Trentimus

I am pretty sure that black plastic piece slaps the back of the trunk. I am not hearing the full sound anymore.. however I still hear a thud. The thud was originally more violent and louder but I have since then dynamat'd the entirety of the trunk.. I am not really a good help to the stock guys anymore. I am now under the impression that the plastic piece slaps the back of the trunk but that the shocks still are bottom'ing out.. or something.

If anyone wants to test this I can post up the process to removing that back piece. Essentially you just prop up your spare tire cover so it's out of the way, then you pull directly up on the black plate applying pressure on each side equally.. it's got four pop pins so it will just pop right out.

probmxstyle

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am experiencing this issue on my 2012 TL w/sh-awd. There is a noticable clunk coming from the right rear suspension. The TL uses "dual-stage hydraulic "blow-off" suspension dampers". Not sure if its the same tech in the ILX. I ordered a new OEM strut and will see if it fixes the issue.

Trentimus

It's not that back panel I spoke of earlier.. must be the shocks..especially considering people with other models experience it too

RENARELLO

Throw my hat in the ring.
Hearing the same thud in the trunk area when hitting bumps.

Spirited Driver

Hoping everyone is going to their dealers to address this "thud" noise and having them write up a ticket so that corporate is aware.

By doing so, we hope we have a resolution to this. I've been hearing it daily since August.

weather

so the TL, ILX and RDX has it....RLX?? next...TLX?

Rocket_man

One of the guys who drove the RLX said he heard a clicking but in the front. The RLX has DWB's in the front, unless the shock is the same as the ones in the rear of the RDX, ILX etc. But 'clicking' and 'clunking' are not the same.

From Capco in the RLX Forum... "....Very quiet on smooth roads but was so so on uneven surfaces to the point I was a little disappointed for 60k basically do to the front suspension. The front suspension couldn't handle bumps it had a clicking noise it felt like it was loose or something and didn't feel as solid as my 2012 TL w/tech. ..."

weather

^^^ Thanks for posting. I do recall reading his comments as well...the bottom line is has anyone driven the RLX in a cold climate yet? This is where the problem with the RDX began, I heard nothing all spring/summer/fall then cold weather hit and the "Thud" from hitting certain types of potholes began....It will be interesting (and potentially disappointing) to see.

probmxstyle

Update:

I put a new oem strut in my TL and the noise is completely gone. I only went around the block, so I will update again after I drive to work

probmxstyle

Noise if still gone after my drive to work. Another thing I wanted to mention is that the strut I removed had a different part number than the new one I put on. I cross checked the new strut to make sure I ordered the right one and the part number is correct. Not sure if the part number is different because it came on the car new or if they revised the struts. Again, this is on a TL and not an ILX.

Trentimus

Good to know that it's not a defect in something more complex.. that's good news! Thanks for the update.

Spirited Driver

Your car under warranty? What year?

probmxstyle

Its a 2012, so yeah its under warranty. However, my dealer said the noise was normal and is a "characteristic of the car". I disagreed and took it upon myself to replace.

psunuce

My dealer pretty much said the same thing. There was nothing physically wrong with the car, and they blamed the engineers.

Spirited Driver

You mention that you put a new "oem" strut in, at your own expense. Isn't that what the dealer would have done under warranty; replace with the same oem strut?

Trentimus

Acura will probably sweep this under their rug but I guess at the same rate it could just take time... but I bet if they dont see a safety hazard they ignore it.

probmxstyle

That's what they would have done if they said there was a problem, but they told me the noise is normal.

Spirited Driver

My dealer has reported today that cars have been finally coming in with this suspension "clunking" noise. They currently have two at the shop. Mentioned that they will give me a buz tomorrow once they diagnose what the problem is with the two cars they currently have in.

Spirited Driver

As assumed by myself and others in this thread for months now; it appears that the noise is indeed coming from the rear struts. Local dealer is reporting of leaking rear struts.

Rickards

Perhaps not related to the issue that you all are experiencing, but way too often whenever I go over bumps, I hear a loud PI-TOOOING noise come from the car, loud and jarring enough that it echoes the entire car and to the point that I'm wondering if the car is being damaged. Living in Quebec, where our roads are filled with potholes and cracks, I hear these noises all the time and it's becoming unbearable in long trips.

I'm curious to find out if anyone else is experiencing this issue, or if it's in fact the same one you all have. I cannot tell if it's from the rear struts but I can tell you it's VERY annoying.

Spirited Driver

Correct, that IS the noise we are all hearing which is coming from the rear struts.

It appears that the struts are failing under a certain temperature along with signs of leaking. In short; they are cheap and defective.

At the moment; they are replacing them with the SAME part.

Rickards

Not acceptable at all on Acura's part, imo. I live in a cold climate for most of a year and I don't want to hear that 6-7 months out of 12 at all. I'll stop by my dealership very soon before the weather goes away. We have plenty of roads and a bridge nearby that will gladly demonstrate to noise to them and have them document it if it helps at all, which sadly may not do anything at all after reading this thread =/

Spirited Driver

OF COURSE IT's NOT ACCEPTABLE (HEAR THAT ACURA?)

Hopefully they step to the plate and assume responsibility and take action, sooner than later.

aaronnn

yeah, i dont think it matters at this point for me to bring it in.. upgrading the stupid struts anyways.

seriously unacceptable regardless of an expensive factory replacement product for us to buy, if they don't warranty.. when they used such cheaply made product, installed it and sold it to the masses.

Spirited Driver

Sick and tired of their BS.

For about the 5th time now I've been to the stealership regarding this ridiculous repeating suspension noise, along with numerous other times with customer relations on the phone.

Today

1: They put the car up on the lift to check for any leaking of the struts. "Tech did not see any leaking".

2: Tech supposedly WENT AROUND THE BLOCK to check and hear for any noise "Tech did not hear anything".

What a JOKE Acura is with their politics and constant lying!

The other day, service rep had 2 (two) cars in that they replaced, which had leaking rear struts. Customers were complaining of same rear suspension noise.

I've have now been going back and forth with Acura since AUGUST pertaining to this ridiculous suspension noise.

End result - I have gotten NOWHERE due to their BS, scamming and politics.

NEVER AGAIN will I get another Acura, and this is my third. Enough is enough!

Trentimus

Honda is pretty notorious for "not being able to replicate the issue" .. This is making me consider many a things..

aaronnn

so that new MB CLA250 in manual is sounding pretty tasty right now. At an MSRP supposedly under 30k as well. Better equipped, available AWD, 2.0L TURBO, 6 speed manual gearbox, beautifully well-bolstered seats, that brute torque figure, and overall better quality. After driving around in my gf's SLK250 all day today, I feel like it's time to move on and stop messing with these quality-lacking toys and move into an overall better packaged car. I could see maintenance costing more in the long run, but if you jump on some of their awesome lease packages with no-cost maintenance, how can you beat it?

I'll just have to look past these stupid factory kinks and just drive the car as it is and enjoy the most of it until this CLA comes out next year or so.

weather

I know this is not the RDX section but as you know, we have been having a similar problem there. Hand-filer just posted in the RDX (2G) section that Acura has acknowledged that a fix is under way for the RDX...maybe this will also mean that eventually, the ILX will get a similar attention.