GLowrdr

OK.. so I'm stumped. It has been pretty cold here lately (below zero) and just within the last couple of days I have noticed a strange noise when I turn.

This noise happens when the car is cold (anything under about 15 minutes of driving). I do not let my car warm up, but I do take it easy until it gets up to temp - not that I really have a choice with traffic around here anyways.

So the noise is kind of hard to explain. It's not a metal on metal sound, or a grinding noise that makes me poop (you know that sound that makes you say "Oh shit - somethings wrong".

This in a way almost sounds like the scraping noise I hear when I catch the front under-lip on a driveway (the black piece under the car, not the front bumper lip). Hopefully that explains it enough that someone may have heard this too.

Well anyways - the noise does not happen when I'm going straight. It only happens when I turn, and it only happens when I'm accelerating (i.e. turning from a stop sign or light). During my "feeling" phase last night, I turned a corner at like 2 mph and did not hear it. Halfway through the corner I got on it a little bit - nothing crazy, but enough so it was a normal speed turn. I heard the noise as soon as I got on the gas.

I do not see anything loose on the vehicle that is scraping (like a wheel well that is falling into the tire or something). I almost tend to lean toward one of two things and want some opinions.

1) Could this be something to do with the differential, and maybe it's so cold the lube isn't getting to where it needs to go?

2) I've got fairly new (6 month old) continental extremes on the car. I haven't noticed this before, but are the sidewalls stiff enough when it's that cold that I am actually hearing the tires slip (not spin) and it just sounds funny since it is probably not the tread as much as the sidewall "tread" making noise?

I'd bring it to the dealer but I want to know a little ahead of time, especially since the issue does go away after driving the car. Also - should I let the car fully warm up to operating temp and try it? I would guess this probably wouldn't do much though since motor warm does not equal tranny warm. I have an '04 auto if that matters.

OK.... so what do you all think? Sorry about the length, but I've seen too many threads that are "My car makes noises. Why?"

GLowrdr

Just to throw something else out there (since it sounds like a lot of people have mentioned this problem, but I haven't heard of a definate fix yet) - I'm no mechanic, but this does not seem to sound like a power steering "whine". Unless Acura has a mean-ass power steering pump that growls at people rather than whine.

A few people mentioned things like bad axles. I had a bad axle on an S-10 once, and it made a clicking noise - this does not seem to be it either.

Also people have mentioned CV joints. I have no idea what that would sound like, so this is a good time for someone to chime up.

I see all you people looking at my thread... no responses though

avs007

On my other car, I had almost the same symptoms. In that case, it was a failed transmission mount, which was causing the tranny to hang lower than normal, which is what was causing the noise when I turned and accelerated at the same time.

In my case, it was also putting excessive pressure on the main bearings in the tranny, which caused it to catasrophically fail. (I didn't get it diagnosed in time. The tranny basically self destructed, and when I took it in, this is what they said they found)

On our 2G Tl, I had a problem, where if I turned, I heard a loud "popping" sort of noise. That time it turned out the steering rack was loose. Apparently from the factory, all but one of the bolts was loose on that particular car.

Tripnbeats

power steering pump go to acura for a replacement...theres a TSB that dropped this month or last for an Oring that sucks in air into the steering system when its cold.

bmeyer

iTrader: (3)

I've got the same exact problem. Let me know what you find out!
BTW, I only notice mine when I'm turning about 3/4 lock to the left and accelerating.
Is your car an auto or manual? (6-spd here.)

It really doesn't sound like a P/S pump to me. It sounds more like a metal on metal rubbing. Not necessarily a grinding...

bmeyer

iTrader: (3)

Almost forgot... I think the noise is coming from the right front side.

BlkonBlkAc

Sounds like it may be a bad drive axle (or a bad cv joint on the axle). I brought my car to Acura an hour and a half away and told them... I think I have a bad cv joint because when I turn going slow while accelerating it would make a horrible grinding/clicking noise and it did it mainly when it was cold out.

I left the TL w/ Acura for 2 days and their "diagnoses" was: bad front rotors...because there was a service bulletin for the rotors and they said that was the cause. They also said my problem was fixed but they told me they could not even reproduce the "grinding/clicking" noise. Unfortunately, the car was at Acura the 2 days we had 65 degree weather in upstate NY and it only made the noise in cold weather at the time. I knew they didn't solve my problem so I drove home pissed off that they can never get shit right. The next cold day which was the next day, I drove my car away in the am and what do ya know? It made the horrible noise.

I ended going to my garage and jacking it up so I could check the axles myself. Turned out, my left axle was fine, but the right axle has a shit load of play in it = bad axle or one of cv joints on the axle was bad.

I called the dealer and bitched to them, Although I brought my car in and told you it may be a bad axle, you did not even check the damn axles....

I am still waiting to bring it back to the dealer so I called ahead of time to see if they had axles in stock and they said "no, the TL 6speed drive axles are actually on national back order.." So i am pretty much F'd when i bring the car back in if my diagnoses was correct...

bmeyer

iTrader: (3)

Definitely no clicking noise on mine.

GLowrdr

I'm leaving for a cruise on Sunday and will be gone for a full 7 days. I have an appointment on the 11th to get it in and checked out.

I've got an auto by the way. And I'm with you - it doesn't sound to me like a power steering pump "whine", its more of a low growl, but not a metal on metal "somethings getting chewed up" kind of sound. Just like a dragging sound.

GLowrdr

This is what I'm worried about too. It was 10-15 below zero and I can make the noise giving the car 25% acceleration. Yesterday it was 20 outside, and I had to romp on her a little bit to make the noise. So I'm worried they aren't gonna find squat, and then find some lame excuse to charge me the diag fees.

Here's to getting lucky

01tl4tl

tell them to keep it while you are gone and make sure its perfect before they give it back

bmeyer

iTrader: (3)

Any updates on this? I was going to bring mine in, but it's getting warmer out and it won't make the noise anymore and was afraid they would just charge me the diagnostic fee and send me on my way.

GLowrdr

Unfortunately - no update. I had the same second thought as you and chickened out at bringing it in. It was pretty cold yesterday, but I could not get the noise to come back, and did not want to get charged the diag fee if they couldnt find a problem.

I figure I have another 3 years / 40,xxx until my extended warranty is up. I'll just drive it until it gets worse or I can duplicate it more frequently.

Since I've had the car for 2 years and only heard it 2 days back-to-back, I'm not worried quite yet

dacauser

I am having this same symptom in my TL when turning and accelerating in cold weather. Has anyone had this fixed at the dealership yet? What is the cause of the problem? I would like to take care of it while it is still somewhat cold down here in Texas. Otherwise, the dealer will not be able to reproduce the problem.

Mike1450

I hear this clicking noise when its below zero and im turning from a stop. Only when its freezing though.

aSPECtL06

I have been hearing a noise too, occassionally. But I realized that it is the wheel well falling into the tire.

mr_clean

Hey guys..

I'm having a problem with mine too.. it's currently at the dealership getting looked at.. been there since thursday of last week.. just got a call today from the service rep. and he said that it might be the differential.. but they aren't sure yet.. mine doesn't sound like a grinding or scraping.. but more like a whining type of noise.. I have an 06 6speed.. it only happens when it's cold and while i'm accelerating from a stop with the steering wheel turned.. if anyone else has a 6sp that is also doing this.. let me know... thanks!

mAC4rmthebACkoftheAC

its either the cv joints and or axles. i replace mine bout a week ago, clicking noise went away.

freeone

I'm having the same exact problem. 6speed here. Mine makes a clicking sound. I brought it in to the dealer last tuesday. It was in for a week and was told that my tranny cradle might be loose. They said they loosened it, retorqued it and sound went away. I went to pick it up and dummy me, didn't test it out in their parking lot.

It was fine until the next morning while driving to work. First turn and click, click, click. Although not as loud as before, it's definitely still clicking. Called the dealership again and the lady customer rep was being anal when I asked for a loaner. She said that this only requires an hour of work and if it's below 2 hours of work then they don't give loaners.

I told the lady that I just picked up my car yesterday and was told the problem was fixed and obviously it's not. I also told her that my car was in for a whole week, so I don't think this is going to be an hour job. It only happens when the car is cold. It's going to take at least that long for my car to get cold once I drive it there.

Told the witch to schedule me the loaner anyways cause I know it's going to be there for a few days.

redondored

I heard it today again, the clicking, it kind of sounds like when the vsa kicks in to stop wheel spin because I accelerated after I turned and it was the same type of sound when the wheels slipped. Oh and it only happens to me when I turn right not left. I have had this sound since the car had about 50000miles and now it has 89000. I never had the dealer check it because I hate them they never find anything and the noise is always gone when I get there anyways. Hoping someone finds out before my warranty is expired. Since its gone when its warm and in the summer, how can it be the cv joint thing? wouldn't it always make a noise then? maybe the car just needs to warm up?

rbf351

i have the same type of situation, car make a strange click/grinding sound after i turn left or right after a few seconds of driving when it's cold out. after 2-4 turns the noise goes away. from what i can see i have a cracked bushing (51394-SEP-A01) in the front lower arm on the passenger side. Car goes to Acura on Tuesday, hopefully this fixes the issue.

freeone

I had the same clicking sound coming from both sides of the wheel too when turning during the first 5-10 minutes of operation. The dealer replaced both my left and right drive shafts and it has not come back since.

freeone

Update:

The weather last week dipped down to around -15 F and the clicking sound came back. This time it was only coming from the right side. I took it in Friday 1/16/09. When I got to the dealer, the car was still cold enough that it was still making the clicking noise. The service guy hopped in the car and I drove it around the parking lot and reproduced it for him. (I was afraid they were going to call me later and feed me some bs about not being able to reproduce it).

I do get a call later saying that they were able to reproduce it, but since they only have about 15 mins. before the clicking stops that they would need to hold the car until today (1/20/09).

Today they call and said they drove it and wasn't able to reproduce the clicking noise anymore. That maybe it's just something that happens when it's super cold outside. I told them, even though it only happens when it's really cold outside, it's not suppose to be doing that. He told me that there's nothing further they can do until they can reproduce it again.

I told them what about when my warranty runs out, which is good for only another 2,000 miles. He told me that it's documented and that it'll be taken care of if and when the problem comes back. Anyone ever expericenced this and if it's true that they'll honor it even though the warranty expires?

I'm going to pick up my car at the dealership now. If the clicking is there again, I'm going to be pissed!

freeone

Just got back from the dealership. I took a spin around their parking lot and still heard the clicking noise. I drove it around a few more times but couldn't reproduce it so I didn't drive back into the garage. Maybe because it's 30 degrees right now. So I called Corporate Acura and complained. I'm being assigned a case manager and have to schedule to bring my car back to the same dealership.

The lady told me it's best to bring the vehicle back to the same dealership so they know what's going on. Said that their systems are not linked together.

What leads me to believe that this dealership is feeding me a load of BS is the crappy service they gave me. This is the 4th time trying to fix this problem.

1st time, they tighten the tranny cradle or something like that. The clicking noise was as noticable as when as when I dropped it off.

2nd time, they only changed out the left axle and said noise was gone. Picked it up and the right side was still making clicking noise. Since the car was in the shop, I told them to check my auto-dim on my rear view mirror cause it wasn't working. Said they couldn't reproduce it. I drove back the next day, told them to show me how they try to diagnose it. They took a flash light and shined it at the light motion sensor. Sure enough, it did not dim so they replaced it. I had to waste my time to bring it back when they should have done it the first time.

3rd time, they changed the right axle. Problem went away for a while until the subzero weather came back and it started clicking again.

4th time, they claimed to not be able to reproduce it, even though the morning I took it in, the service guy rode in the passenger and I reproduced it for him. Got a call later saying they were able to reproduce it but only had a limited amount of time to diagnose it before noise went away. Told me they had to hold it over the weekend until Monday. Monday comes and they tell me they can't reproduce it anymore and there's nothing they could do until the noise comes back.

My driver side door also doesn't shut all the way when the weather was subzero out. Of course they couldn't reproduce that either! I'm so pissed. I'm never buying an Acura again.


On a side note. When I still had my turbocharge 2001 Integra GSR, I took it in to the same dealership to diagnose why it was overheating. Said everything was fine, test drove it for an hour and no overheating issues. My car was overheating withing 30 minutes of driving btw. I knew they were lying because if they drove it that much, why didn't I lose any gas at all in my tank. After another careful inspection by myself, I found out that one of my fans was pushing instead of pulling. Dumb mechanics! I did have to pay for this diagnostic cause the Integra was out of warranty and had been heavily modified.

Esfinest28

Im having the same problem too i have an Acura Tl 2005 6-speed and whenever im turning and accelerating it makes a clicking noise..If you guys find a solution please let me know.. Im taking it to the Shop soon but i wanna have an idea on what it might before taking it in

ross7778

Same issue here. 2005 Auto

04WDPSeDaN

iTrader: (1)

For those with noise when turning, or moving from a stand (click noise)

-Axles for automatics
-Axle nuts for 6MT.

You may have a bad axle, either way with new axles new nuts get installed.

For the OP issuse, I am sure your Power steering fluid may be low causing a more pronounced noise and you may also have the 0-ring issuse due to the fact it clears up after driving.

ross7778

How much would that cost to repair? Sucks because I only have 51K miles on my car and it only does it when it's below freezing.

04WDPSeDaN

iTrader: (1)

Cold or hot axle noise is always there.. you may have a strut noise, usually they get more noticable when colder.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

cost for new axles depends on the route you go.

OEM and dealer labor- close to $750 minimum (for Lt. and Rt.)

aftermarket and indy- i've seen $3-400.

aftermarket and DIY- $200

keep in mind the quality of parts particularly axles.

i had < 50K on my car, had the classic CV click on turns and steering wheel vibration on acceleration and hwy speeds. dealer diagnosed (though i already knew about the click and the subtle shutter in my steering wheel). replaced axles....no more click or vibration. do a thread search for the click and vibration issues...others have posted on similar issues. good luck.

to the OP...either steering or axles. i'd lean with everyone else....steering.

I hate cars

A clicking while accelerating in a turn is 99% for sure the CV joints. Seems like manuals are more prone to this since there's a little more shock in the drivetrain on a daily basis.

madenz

Every Honda that I have owned I've heard the same noise from them, just now my 3G TL is developing the (60%Rattle 40%Grinding noise 10% Click). It only happens on: 1) Cold Days, 2) Turning and releasing turn 4) Before the car temp is at 40%. 5) (Not 100% sure) Accelerating (will test that tomorrow since it will be freezing

BTW that "Rubbing the black plastic piece below the bumper on asphalt" is a pretty close sound to the actual sound

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

cv joints/axles^^^

had it happen to me already.

Abe_Froman

iTrader: (5)

Had this problem for the past two winters. I guess I should just stop worrying about the ticking noise?

jungy4

I have the same problem. 06 6MT. When the car is cold and I accelerate during turning, it makes a fast, constant clicking noise. It also kinda feels like VSA is kicking in, cutting power to the wheels. When the car is warm, it goes away. I am trying to get this fixed under warranty but the only warranty I have left on this car is the powertrain warranty, which should cover CV/Axle according to the booklet.

ez12a

seems like this is a fairly common problem with 6MTs in particular. Maybe the added strain of a directly connected engine is to blame (vs. behind a torque converter), along with not so smooth starts from newbies.

i have yet to fix mine.

arn809

hi had the same problem a week ago it was too cold and suddenly the strange noise started. i was making a U TURN to the left and the noise started from the front passenger side... the noise was coming from the right side axle... it only happen when temperature is too cold.

jungy4

So based on all of the posts, I am pretty sure I need new axles/CV joints. Currently I am dealing with my dealer to fix this problem. Mind you that this is the only Acura dealer in the state of Iowa so this is the only one I have to work with.

I called them last week and just randomly asked if CV joints/axles are covered under Acura powertrain warranty. The advisor said no. So I just hung up.

I went to my glovebox and found the Acura 2006 Warranty booklet and it stated that it it covered.

So I called the dealer today to set up an appointment. He asked me how I know that is the problem and if the problem isn't something that is covered by warranty, I would have to pay the $125 diagnostic fee.

So for now, my name is down for a loaner car on 2/1. My dealer is 35 mintues away so by the time I get there, the axles will be warm and the noise won't be heard. So I am leaving the car there overnight and driving back there the next morning to have them hear the damn noise.

I really need a solution to this before the powertrain warranty runs out this summer.

jungy4

Update:

After a couple tries, I finally got the dealer to replace both CV joints. I picked the cold day and set up an appointment and left the car there overnight. I told them to drive it first thing in the morning and told them to turn the steering wheel all the way to either left or right and accerate to reproduce the noise.

I just got a call saying both of the boots were cracked causing the CV joints to go bad. I am not paying a penny because it's covered under Acura CPO certified powertrain warranty.

TLtrigirl

iTrader: (1)

jungy-good job on being persistent. and yes...those axles are suppose to be covered by warranty if the mileage is fairly low. glad it worked out.