woonyvillan401

Had same issue at 45,000 miles. Dealer replaced under warranty. 2012 tl awd.

ReneC

My TL is only at 35000 km (~20k miles).

I picked up on the high pitched whistling at highway speed. It would appear after about 15 minutes of driving fast, then it would persist as the car slowed down and disappear eventually.

I took it into the dealer and described the issue and the service rep agreed that it may be the propeller shaft. So I scheduled an appointment to bring the car in hot and reproduce the noise.

When they got my car up on the lift, they discovered that one of my rear wheels was bent from a pothole, which threw off the rotation.

I paid for a new wheel and alignment and they changed out the prop shaft under warranty at the same time.

With that one data point, I think with this car it's important to keep tabs on your rear wheels since I would suspect that my problem was related to vibration in the drivetrain due to the off balance wheel.

mid9pitstop

Greetings All,

My 2010 has been doing exactly the same noise, but I m 5000 miles out of warrantee. I m wondering how hard it is to have the propeller shaft installed myself.

Cheers.

Buffa

If you're only 5,000 miles out, I bet they will work with you. Since it's a known, and somewhat common issue (I had mine replaced twice!), I'm betting they internally will extend the mileage for this issue. Doing it yourself would probably be a huge ordeal, but that of course depends on individual experience with car repair. Good luck!

Cooldude01

You had it replace twice??
Was it at the same dealer?
Did they actually replace them twice or they just mickey mouse it first then replace it the second time??

mid9pitstop

Buffa,


That's what I'm hoping for, but will see. I'm scheduled to have it in next week.


Cheers

Buffa

Yeah, I know, it's hard to believe, and I actually like the dealer I go to. Had it replaced, sound went away for 5,000 miles, then started up again. They were shocked because Acura claimed the replacement parts wouldn't be prone to the problem. My only guess is the first replacement was old stock or something. Not sure. I've gone 7,000 miles on this one with no issues, woo hoo! LOL.

I would have suspected they were just messing around with the original but after the first replacement, I even looked under the car and I could tell the part was new....well only because it was cleaner. They claimed the dealers can't service them at all, only replace them. They said I was the first to have it replaced twice. Maybe I'm just unlucky, my 2001 CL-S had the transmission replaced twice too! Of course, I took her to 160,000 miles over 10 years.

hurleyman123

Just had mine done under 70k powertrain warranty. Nice and quiet now

Mine was doing the same exact thing. They confirmed it within about 1-2 hours time. Part was in within 2 days while I drive a new TLX advanced. ( ...Meh... )

Now if I could only get some Acura Care help with my clutch master cylinder....

Anyone know I there is a thread on this yet? (Sorry, being lazy...)

woonyvillan401

Propeller shaft. Dealer gave no hassle.

mid9pitstop

Just a follow up...


After half of an hour, the dealer claimed that the propeller shaft and the right half shaft were the root causes of the high pitch, metal grinding, and humming noises respectively. The first one was quoted for $1,500.00 and the 2nd one for $650.00.


While waiting to hear from Acura Care (as my warrantee ran out 5k miles ago), I decided to take care of the half shaft myself - only paid $150.00 online and about 2 hours to complete the work. The new half shaft didn't get rid of the humming noise, but swapping the tires from the front to the rear fixed that problem (I swapped the tire a month ago after I finished the timing belt job).

About the propeller shaft, I'm wondering if there's any safety related concerns that I should take immediate corrective action?


Any thoughts?


Cheers!

hurleyman123

Correct me if I'm wrong...

Propeller Shaft = Drive Shaft ?

This is what the SA told me, but it made sense.

(This might me obvious to most, but no SH-AWD no drive shaft )

mid9pitstop

Drive shaft
DRIVESHAFT - HALF SHAFT for 2010 Acura TL

Propeller shaft
PROPELLER SHAFT for 2010 Acura TL

Cheers

mid9pitstop

Buffa,

You were right. I decided to call Acura Client Relations after the local dealer refused to offer any kind of assistance. A few days later I got a call from Acura Client Relations and was told that it will pay half of the costs for the propeller replacement.

I m happy.

Cheers!

Maxie10252

Consider yourself lucky if you don't have this noise, it drove me crazy for 3 weeks before I brought it back to the dealer.
I've got a 2012 SH-AWD TL with 38K. I bought it about a month ago after it came back from a lease. Having never owned a full time AWD vehicle before I just figured the few extra noises and sounds were just quirks of the extra drive gears and I thought the noise was normal. After my wife and a few different passengers commented "Is that a jet engine warming up" or "are we being chased by a bunch of angry bees?" every time I accelerated past 20 MPH, I knew it was time to do something. I checked the tire pressure, made sure there were no deer whistles connected to the front bumper, checked that all the windows closed tight and made sure there were no sticks/twigs/wires stuck into the engine or by the wheels without any changes, I decided to record the noise. I found a quiet street, rolled down the windows, fired up the iPhone and accelerated to 40 MPH then back to zero, recording the speedometer and tach the whole time. It actually came out quite audible. I performed the same thing with the windows up. Then I went to the dealer and test drove another 2012 TL AWD just to make sure, and that car was quiet as a church at midnight. Since the car is Certified, and I bought another TL from the same dealership 10 years ago, they scheduled an appointment and gave me a loaner. Turns out they had to replace 2191A8 Propeller Shaft (part# 40100-TK5-A03) AND my drivers side front wheel bearings and hub. They covered it because it was certified and it was done in about 6 hours (big thumbs up for Rizza in Orland Park, IL) so the quiet has returned! My only question now is, if they did a 180 point certified inspection of the vehicle before it was put up for sale, how'd they miss this?

leobeau

I had the exact same issue with everyone else in this thread on my 12' TL with 45k miles on it. Took the car to dealer, test drove the car with technician. They said it's the propeller shaft bearing. Dealer ended up replacing the entire shaft for me.

BC2012TLSHAWD

Hello, I recently purchased a used 2012 TL SHAWD with 71,000 miles on it. I bought the extended warranty from the dealer. 33 days later experiencing a annoying whistling sound above 20MPH. Took it to the local dealer Fair Field CA and told them what I thought it might be. They told me it was the axle. They called back later gave no explanation and gave me a price to replace the Propeller shaft. When I asked them why they originally said it was an axle, he gave me some story about similar terminology confusion in the service dept. He further stated that he had never heard of this being an issue (propeller shaft) Extended warranty I purchased covers all to the parts and labor if I use a Propeller shaft from the warranty company, it will only cover $898.00 of the $1150 dealer OEM Dealer part and I would have to pay the rest. Labor is covered either way. The dealer told me the warranty part is only covered for 12 months and the OEM is covered for three years and he said the warranty part is likely a "refurbished" not new. Feeling a bit skeptical, that I'm not getting the complete straight scoop from the dealer, I opted for the Warranty part. I'll advise how that goes.

HondaOwnerForLife

Dumb question, but here goes: is it obvious this whistling noise? I mean, one would not be able to miss it?

SkN012

SkN012

The whistling sound occurs when the prop shaft bearing heats up. In summer it gets really obvious but this time of year it need to be warmed up to be able to actually hear it properly.

S power

Ive had these problems with my past bmw 3series rwd and x5 awd. It would drive me nuts, but it was something i had to live with as bmw describe it as being "normal" .
It the bearing that holds the center part of the drive shaft to the car. On the 3 series , after i swap out a new one, i would cover it with a piece of aluminum to keep the heat from the exhaust out. 20k miles later with no noise. It's the heat that is drying up these bearings, probably different bearings that are made for engine to tolerate heat.
My tl now is old and its got all kinds of noises that i couldn't tell them apart from transmission noise to road noise, valve ticking , interior rattles and what not.

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

Is there a grease fitting to regularly lube up those bearings ?

HondaOwnerForLife

Thanks. Maybe I am lucky in that I don't hear anything that sounds like a "whistle" or a "tea kettle" reaching it's boiling point. It seems that IF I had this problem, the "noise" would be evident to me. Not so lucky with the oil consumption issue, but getting the new short block this week. Just took it to the dealer this morning. Hope to have it back by Friday.

SkN012

Means that your prop shaft is in check or else it would kettle
T
he sound is subtle practically inaudible when the car hasn't reached highway speeds for proper bearing heating. The first time I went to the dealer, the tech and I only went on city roads, it didn't manifest. Red a few threads on the zine and knew exacly I wasn't crazy. Found the proper way to recreate the problem. Went back to my local dealer and this time BAM we could hear it. Of coarse the warmer it is outside to more likely the sound will take no time to be heard. Same thing goes concerning driving habits

SkN012

I dunno

614erich

I had same issue with my 4G TL AWD 3.7L. I took it to a dealer 3x and they could not find the issue. I told them what it was from the beginning and they wanted to argue with me about it. Even had a regional rep drive with me. Replaced rear diff and did not solve problem. I took it to another Acura dealer and they fixed propeller shaft = drive shaft and problem gone. The sound came on driving for about 10 min above 40mph. Push in clutch still made sound. Turned wheel did not affect sound. Breaking changed pitch but not volume. Driving between 40 to 50 and 70 changed pitch but not volume. The car came with a faulty bearing TK03. They since updated the part with TK05. I am not aware of any TSB but the RL is known for having same issue. Hope this helps out someone. If your having this issue you may want to bring in this thread for proof.

Dejan

Does anyone know whether it's safe to ignore this problem if the sound doesn't bother me? My TL is well beyond warranty both in age and mileage and I don't want to pay $1000+ to get this fixed. My car just started making this noise recently, at first I thought it was wind blowing thru the vents but then I foudn this thread.

jek18

If it is in fact a bushing, I'd say that it in fact should be done. You'd hate to have a breakdown.

87LtdT

In Sept '16 we took a 5,000 mile journey out west interrupted by a mule deer strike that destroyed windshield and drivers side door. We had to leave the car in UT for repair...5 weeks later I flew out and drove it home. Never noticed the whistling sound during the journey. Almost immediately after getting back we noticed the whistling sound and then went to FL for 4 months. Couldn't do any repair while in FL because the insurance Co didn't do business in FL. Sound drove me nuts...nearly all driving was done at 40-50mph...right in the sweet spot of the noise level. The pass side windshield trim strip was loose from the UT repair and I thought that once fixed the noise would go away. Got home and got the trim piece fixed but noise still there....then thought it was an air leak in a poorly installed windshield. Took it to a local glass place...he couldn't find it. Yesterday took it to a more auto related glass place and they couldn't find it either...in fact they did not think it was wind noise...really??? I was very close to the Acura Dealer so took it by there just for the heck of it and while I was telling this long story....he asked if it might be coming from propeller shaft!!! A comment like that meant he knew!! So I take it back to them today to have it R&R'd.

The propeller shaft is included in the 6 year/70,000 mile power train warranty. My '12 SH-AWD TL was delivered in Feb '12 and has 69,100....means I am covered!!

In retrospect I wish I had searched here for "whistle" or similar...I probably would have if the noise just started but the windshield replacement preoccupied my thoughts.

Thanks, Bob

Richard Chang

I’ve been having a similar issue... I know this thread is old but hoping someone can help me..

Is the propellor shaft in the front of the car? My tea kettle whistle is coming from the front. My mechanic thinks it’s the front passenger drive shaft. Is there anyway I can fix this without paying the $1000 to replace the whole drive shaft?

Richard Chang

Is the propellor shaft in the front of the car? Is this the drive shaft? My mechanic is saying it’s the front passenger drive shaft that feels loose and is making the noise. Can you please confirm?

Richard Chang

Hi, Im experiencing the same issue. My mechanic is saying it is the front passenger side drive shaft. Which side drive shaft did you have replaced? In your case it wasn’t the propellor shaft was it?

SlyAccord

You shouldn't be having this many issues diagnosing this. Its VERY common and widely known to those who work on Acuras. I believe someone posted the TSB already that explains the problem and how to fix it. If you're guy is confused, I'd say go to an import shop. You could also go to a Acura dealership, do an oil change and explain the problem. Let them tell you whats wrong and hopefully because you did the oil change they won't charge you a diag fee, mainly because SO many TL's had this issue.

Status of my car? I sold it 3 years ago.