Rough Idle and Vibrations
 

I know this has probably been mentioned before, but none really link to my problem as they have worse problems.

It is simply, the car runs smooth through all its gears and it is only when it comes to a full stop in "Drive" it idles, and it is a really rough idle, at times if the car is still a little cold the dashboard and the pillars will sound like they are vibrating.

When the car is put in "Neutral" it stops completely.

Now I need some possible fixes, could it be a motor mount?
Could it be the EGR valve needs some cleaning or anything in that matter?

I cannot take my TL to the Acura Dealership because I am past warranty I believe, and if I did show up they would just point to my intake :rolleyes: and blame that.

I use to have same issue with my 90 Maxima back in the day, in my case it was a bad MAF sensor. I think that could be the case with your TL as well.

Alright I will look into that also, do you suggest that maybe the sensors need to be replaced? or cleaned?

I know this is located around the throttle body except I have yet to see it, I remember doing an intake on a MK4 Jetta (2001) and it was easier to find, so I don't know...

i had the same problem back then with my Nissan S14. 1st i took the maf sensor out and sprayed it with some electrical decarbonizer or something im not sure but u can get it at any auto part store. Then i put it back on and the problem didnt go away so i bought a used MAF sensor and the problem is fixed.

Try doing a Seafoam, see if that helps any. If not, MAF sensor it is.

The TL does not have a MAF sensor. It's a speed density setup.

If it goes away in neutral, try putting it in reverse and see what it does.

Have you checked the mounts and the vaccum line going to the mounts? This sounds like the most probable cause. If the vacuum line is off it would cause a leak plus the mounts will stiffen up. Mine would vibrate the dash also, especially when cold and the new mounts cured it to where it's hard to tell if the engine is running while sitting at a redlight. The vibration going away in neutral is classic of a bad mount.

Thanks, I knew for some reason the TL didn't have an MAF because I've done various intakes and the TL didn't have one.

On second note, I will try to see what happens in Reverse and I will go under the hood and take a look at the vacuum line and the mounts. Which was my initial guess.

My problem sounds very similar to yours because in the summer it ran smoothly no problems and as the temperatures dropped the vibrations started to occur which is really annoying and somewhat embarassing how such a nice car and almost looking brand new still sound like an old beater car at a stop.

Anyways thanks a lot guys, this is one of the reasons why this forum is great. Plus it saves me a bunch of money on at dealers who just hook up computers and run diagnostics and check codes and then dish into both your pockets :thumbsup:

:doh: No wonder I couldnt find it while looking up TL parts.

I have a simliar problem with 06TL with 66k miles. When it was warm outside, the car would be pretty smooth when in Drive at a stoplight. However, now that the weather has gotten colder, sometimes its pretty rough (as in i could feel vibrations in the steering wheel) when at a stoplight.

I've been to two dealers, both say the motor mounts are fine. Which i suppose makes sense because if they were bad it would vibrate always, not only sometimes when it gets cold outside.

So this is a mystery for me. Anyone have any other ideas besides the motor mounts? Seafoam is something that i have not tried, perhaps i should...

Thanks.

With a bad mount, you will see more vibration when it's cold out.

Mine weren't "bad" as in completely torn or showing signs of breakage. But when they were replaced, the car went from vibrating the dash and glovebox to me having to check the tach to make sure it was running.

The only thing I can tell you is to have someone get in the car, apply the e-brake firmly and regular brakes, and powerbrake in drive and reverse. I'm talking about a sharp quick pedal to the floor for a half second. If there's excess movement in one or both directions, you have a bad mount.

LOL. I wish it did. It would make the car sooooo much easier to tune or actually eliminate the need for tuning when modding.

Measuring actual airflow > calculating airflow based on stock parameters.

In my case though, sometimes even when its cold, it doesnt vibrate, and at other times it does. I'll have to do the Brake+Gas pedal test you described to see for myself. You can't trust these dealerships who claim that all is well.

Did you replace all three of your mounts? I hear that the rear is a PITA to replace.

Thanks.

Where are the vacuum lines located to see if they are unplugged? Do you have to put the car on a lift to see or can you look under the hood?

Ihatecars, did you replace yours with oem mounts or aftermarket? I have an 06 with 64k miles and it vibrates like crazy when stopped at a light, but goes completely smooth once i shift it into "N". I am almost positive it's the mounts, but curious if there are better aftermarket options or not. Secondly, are they a fairly easy DIY?

I think I have the same issue as ajs800. I too would like to know!

Yeah, I am also thinking that the bad mounts are compounding the common 1500RPM drone/vibration. I know drone is a known problem with the 3rd gen, but mine seems to have gotten worse during the past year or so.

bump. since hitting a bad pothole after a rough 3-4 day non-stop down pour of rain, im going to the shop tmr to install my new rim that got bent from the pothole and going to have them look at the entire car and see if they can spot the cause of the vibrations. i only get it and its slight when im idle at a stop light and i feel it very little towards the front of the driver seat, and also my center armrest area is feeling some vibration as well.

also i pop my hood open with the car still running, and dont like the sound at all. sounds like one of this ford/chevy or those big 4x4 vans or such that comes up next to you and when they idle they always make that sound and mines sounds like that with the hood poped. dont really hear it at all with the hood closed. so im stumped. hopefully tmr will bring my TL back to the way i bought it. smooth and sexy!

it's one or more of your O2 sensors, had the same issue on my 05 TL about 2 years ago.

okay back from the shop this morning, replaced and installed new oem rim --> got a alignment as well. but when i started to drive again on the freeway, i still noticed the steering wheel vibe...

its not like a very bad shake or vibration like i had before the alignment due to a bent rim...but now after holding the steering wheel through 10-20mph i can feel the slight and i mean slight vibration goign through my driving arm. and also when i take my hands off the steering wheel, theres this feeling of the vibration still being there? and i just got out of my car like 5 mins ago, and posting this i still feel the vibration feeling on my left hand...which is my drving arm.

my TL aint as smooth as it was when i bought it which had 30k right on the dot. car-fax checked out and nothing done to the car at all. after this pothole with my rim issue, i feel like something is messed up and aint right. call me paranoid but its really annoying...anyone got any ideas of what might be the problem. my mechanic said that (while holding onto my steering wheel) said it feels normal. but i mean if you plan on driving the car it should be a good 30 mins or so around or more but in that time you can feel it all over your arm. and he said that the engine light isnt on so its hard to tell where it could be coming from if there was anything.

any input would be great! hopefully i dont have to bring it to the stealership to get them to look at it...

how much did it cost to get it replace and which one was the one replace?

do you guys think a treatment of sea foam would help the vibration issue>? read some threads on sea foam and looks really easy for diy and might just try that to see if it helps. my TL has ~36600 miles on it.

::off topic:: when you guys drive on local streets if you put your hand to your vents do you feel like a warm flow of air coming through?? or is it just getting to my head lol.

bump.

since this is also associated with vibrations here is a new symptom. when i stop at a stop light i can feel my driver seat vibrate and also my center arm rest as well which i've tested on other TLs around where i work and non seem to have this issue. it happens when i go for a long drive before coming to a stop and i would feel like i got a message going on my seat...anyone got any insight? and also feel some slight vibration on my dead foot pedal

Alright, I am aware of the O2 sensors needing to be replaced, but if I get Pre-Cat deletes will this eliminate my problem?

Now I get an even harder vibration and louder vibration in Reverse. Like HoKay said, usually it wouldn't bother me but it gets to the point where you start to sound like one of those Transit system buses that run on diesel or something.

Put the car in neutral, does that stop the vibration when at a stoplight?
If Yes, there can be 2 causes for this: It's a bad motor mount or transmission mount OR the car needs an ldle relearn procedure performed.

If the vibration is still apparent even after shifting into reverse, it may be a variety of things. Mileage, recent maintenance, etc would come into play and you would need to post that.

What is that idle relearn procedure.

And I also haven't really done much except for when I bought the TL I did a tranny flush and oil change, pretty much an inspection to see if everything was fine.

I will insteal RV6 PCDs, so that would eliminate O2 sensor speculation, and the motor mounts I have trouble believing that they could be going bad, it would take a lot of power to ruin a motor mount.

i just replaced my front, side, and rear mounts.it did eliminate most of the harsh vibration but it still feels rough to me. there is still less vibration in neutral. also, when the radiator fan comes on or if the a/c is on, the vibration can still be felt through the cabin. is this normal? is there something else going bad? does yours have some similar vibration after you replaced your mounts? i appreciate your inputs.

i still notice some vibration after replacing the 3 engine mounts. when shifting between D and N, it still feels like there's less vibration in N. when the radiator fan or a/c is on, i feel more vibration. do you think the idle relearn procedure should be done? has anyone been experiencing what i have?

I noticed some vibration while stopped at a light. Sometimes its worse than other times but it can be felt in the steering wheel and sometimes in the seat. It is the same in reverse and a lot less when the car is put in neutral. I tried to see if the engine has "excessive" movement but it's hard to tell. A tech from the dealer went for a drive with me and he said it's normal. I'm not sure what to do now but I would think that an Acura would not vibrate like this.

FYI...I replaced all 3 motor mounts because the same symptoms. The problem didn't go away. I am now in the process of ordering a new coil pack and switching it with coils to see if it makes a difference. Make sure you do have excessive play and/or your mounts have visual damage before you change them out. Are you saying your car still has the vibration at idle when in neutral? Is it softer than when in gear and intermittent (doesn't happen all the time)?

If you think you may be in a similar situation as me here is a link to my thread:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...alling+problem

Just saw your post...I think I am in the same boat as you. I am going to get a new coil pack and switch that out with one that I got a misfire code from. It may be possible that the extra load at idle is making a bad coil show up. Will keep you posted...

The vibration is still there when it's in neutral but you can feel that it is a lot less. It seems like when it's under load it's more noticeable. I don't think I'll change the mounts until it's confirmed by someone that its bad. It will get expensive to just change parts out...those mounts aren't cheap.

thanks Hrod26, i'm looking forward to your update.

UPDATE: I just got a new coil pack and switched it with the old coil packs looking for improvement after each switch. The third coil I replaced seemed to fix the problem. I have been driving it for a day and the shudder at idle is gone. I am still a bit apprehensive to say it's totally fixed...but so far so good. I will give an update in a couple days after I'm sure...hope this helps.

good to hear.

hey hrod, sounds promising. why the apprehension? was the difference noticeable? you mean to say the harsh vibration is gone everytime the a/c is on at idle? i'm definitely looking forward to your update... my vibration at idle especially when the a/c is on or the radiator fan comes on has gotten worse since i made my post. now it really doesn't feel like i have 3 new engine mounts.

I was just apprehensive b/c my shudder at idle was inconsistent...seemed to be worse when the engine was warm...but barely noticeable sometimes on a cold start (this is consistent with behavior of a bad coilpack). It also seemed to be worse when the A/C was on. That last post was after only a day of the idle shudder not showing up. It has now been 4 days and the problem has not shown up. I am pretty sure the coilpack was the fix for me. I will tell you the fix came when I installed the coilpack to cylinder #2 which I had a misfire code from about 3 weeks ago. The weird thing was that I had already played around with the coilpacks by moving the old #2 coilpack to #4. So when I fixed the problem I was actually taking out #4 coilpack...very unexpected and confusing....

PM me if you have any questions...

thanks hrod. i'm confused now. i definitely have the same symptoms as you but i don't see the check engine light come on yet. i guess i need to run diagnostics on the car. i appreciate your feedback...thanks once again.

The check engine light (misfire cylinder #2) was not the original issue. It happened during the time period where I was getting the shudder during idle so it was used as another clue to the solution. Just because you haven't had the CEL or misfire doesn't mean you should rule out the coilpacks. Do you see any patterns with your idle issues other than when the A/C is on (ie. cold start vs hot start)? A problem coilpack may show up at increased engine load (ie. A/C compressor on).

rough vibration during cold starts...i'm also getting the shudder from time to time. lately, i feel more vibration through the steering when the radiator fan or a/c fan comes on. to make matters worse, everytime i roll window up or down, i can feel the vibration come on each time the window switch is pressed... do you think a failing coilpack is causing the issue? thanks again for the inputs...i only have 53k miles on this 05TL and i'm getting more frustrated with this issue for close to a year now.

Many times this exact problem is due to a vacuum leak. I've fixed two cars with this same problem before, although one was a ford.
Any hole/gash in many of the lines can cause this. It can get progressively worse until it stalls when not in neutral/under minimal load.
You can do this yourself or have the dealer check it out.
when the engine is running, pop the hood, listen for a hissing sound, try and locate it and move around the hoses. If you find it, fix or replace the hose. There a re many sites with information about this.
On the ford, I had to raise the idle speed after fixing the leak.
Runs like new.