chaiwala

I have had this vibration that happens when I am driving slowly and at around 1600-1800 RPM's and goes away as I accelerate. With the vibration it also feels like there is a grinding noise associated with it. This doesn't happen if I drive in the "S" mode. Anybody else have this? What could it be? Motor mounts? drive shaft? u-joints? bearing? Since its RPM related I don't believe it is a tranny or gear whine related?

Any help would be appreciated!!

normallywho

I also have a sort of vibration that I especially feel in the acceleration pedal and generally in the floor on the driver side (for example, where my left foot sits). It is most pronounced at 1500 and especially at 2500 RPM. I don't think it has to do with the speed I'm traveling, though I do have to be moving. I can't just put it in neutral and stomp on the gas.

In my case, I believe this started when I ran over some road debris (the tread off a tractor trailer tire), but I have been unable to convince the bodyshop that did the repairs that there is an issue.

Can you think of any point when this vibration first started or was it always there? It's quite likely our issues aren't related, but it'd still be good to get some more information or at least something to try and look at.

chaiwala

I don't exactly know when my problem started, but I think it is unrelated. Mine is a buzzing and droning sound around 1600-1800 RPM's and only happens when I am on a city road doing around 35-45mph. I can feel it through the accelerator pedal and the floor board and thru my seat. As soon as the RPM's climb over 1900-2000 the buzzing is gone. If I drive aggresively I can bypass the vibration/buzzing completely or it only happens for a quick second since I bypass the 1600-1800 rpm's quite quickly.

From my research this seems to be a common problem in Acura's. People with last generation TL(2004-2008MY) has the same problems and some say it is the heat shield vibrating to the exaust shield and others that I mentioned in my OP.

neilman

I have the vibration as well, since day one...I believe it is the transmission settings...it running in 3rd gear at a speed that is too low...causing the vehicle to vibrate. As I accelerate to a higher speed it goes away. Just bad transmission settings in my opinion.

Mr Marco

Exactly! High torque and tight bushings and low RPM's cause this.

tman

I too notice the vibration going 25-30 mph on light throttle on level road. But I have not noticed this when I first took possession (4/09). Since Im getting my rear diff fluid changed next week, I also will be addressing this with the dealer. Feels like it is lugging. Just under 15K mileage.
09 TL AWD

Acura2010

I've had the same issue since day one. I think it's just the nature of the beast. It almost feels like the car is confused as to what gear it should be in. It's in a higer gear, when it should be in the lower gear. I guess it's a normal problem with the 4th Gen

Kingmeow

My car does the same. I think it's normal.

sgfitzs

I have a 2010 TSX V6 TECH and mine does exactly the same thing. I'm glad I cruise the other forums once in a while. I planned on mentioning it to the dealer during the first oil change due in a few months. I just give it a little more gas and the vibration goes away. I like reasons to give it more gas. This car loves to go fast.

ChuckyD

Mine is at the dealer right now for this. Problem is I can reproduce when the Acura Tech is NOT with me, but as soon as he goes for a ride, i cant get it to do it... lol my luck. he said he will call Acura tech line anyway to see what they say. Ill let you all know what happens...

Umalum1990

My '09 TL SH-AWD is in the shop with this exact problem. The service adviser said they heard the noise this AM when the car was at a cold start vs. when I first brought it in, and that they now have it on a lift with a "stethoscope" trying to isolate, but they believe it is possibly the drive shaft bearings. I have about 27k miles on my car, so they have not seen many SH-AWD with that many miles yet at my dealer (relatively new dealer in town). Anyhow, I will update post when I get any more information.

ChuckyD

I wasnt able to replicate my noise and he was not able to find out anything either

Umalum1990, I hope you find the culprit cause I would love to fix it!

Umalum1990

I noticed the noise, at first, when my car was started cold. But after about a month I started hearing it through the day when I was in my car. Sometimes able to replicate and other times not. However, It ALWAYS happened from the cold start. You need to leave the car at dealer overnight, and tell them to drive ard in the AM, first thing. I noticed that the noise almost routinely occurs when I am in the 1500 - 2000 RPM range and the gas pedal was depressed slightly.. when in traffic or rounding a corner. Once the car revs high, it disappears. Regardless, my dealer was able to replicate it from cold start. I have not yet heard back from dealer today, but I will keep all posted.

Umalum1990

By the way, has anyone heard a "whining noise" at 74mph to about 80 mph. it is annoying as hell!

tman

I feel the vibration at same rpm all the time warm or cold. I asked about this when I had the rear diff fluid changed a couple days ago and Im told its normal.

Umalum1990

tman, it isn't normal. My Acura dealer has replicated the noise a few times, but still cannot isolate it. They have had my car since Monday and still cannot figure it our. They thought it was the propellor shaft (I had mentioned drive shaft earlier, not sure if that is the same thing) but have ruled that out. They have been on with Acura "tech support,"who acknowledges hearing of this problem from a few other dealers, but they still do not know the cause. They have asked to keep my vehicle over the weekend (gave me a ZDX to drive so I least I have a car). Regardless, they are trying everything they can to isolate the problem and my service adviser has been very up front with me and accommodating. I will keep you all informed once they resolve this issue or I get any updates.

tman

Im sort of convinced that is normal based on other owner response. Felt the same with my 05 TL. There is no grinding, just a vibration, like driving a manual trans in 5th gear when only going 25-30 mph. I was told the computer is doing the shifting. The only thing in my opinion, computer should not let it go that high of a gear when going slow speed. Its trying to get best economy, but I don't like it. If I put it in "S" gear, I don't get the vibration at all. Just have to get use to it, AGAIN. You would figure the engineers would get it right. Umalum1990, if your dealer figures something out , do tell please....

Sapere

I have the same vibration problem. My theory is that, like tman said, the computer is trying to upshift too early at low speed. You can actually replicate the problem with your shift paddles in "S" mode. Try to shift to 4th at around 40 km/h, let it drop a bit to 35 km/h but still stay in 4th, then accelerate. You'll hear the grinding/virbration. There is no vibration or whatever if you hold the gear at 1st or 2nd. Sometimes there is vibration at 3rd but not always.

Umalum1990

OK, My dealer has had the car for a week. The tech there feels he found the problem with the timing belt tensioner (what turns the timing belt), not the propeller shaft as they first thought. They were replacing the tensioner yesterday, and were going to test drive it this AM. Acura's corporate technical support does not have a fix for this yet, as they have not seen too many issues, however they have gotten some calls. If this is the fix, then I will confirm it when I hear it. In the end, my service adviser told me it is not a normal sound that they heard and his tech concurred, so do NOT be mislead. I didn't think it was a transmission issue either, as the vibration would have been felt in the gear shifter (although I drive an automatic, I tend to have my hand on the shifter a lot, and never noticed a vibration there... always to the front of the vehicle is where I heard the sound). If this is the fix, then I will post a confirmation.

Umalum1990

CHECK OUT THIS LINK REGARDING TIMING BELT TENSIONERS.. IT STARTS TO DESCRIBE THE SOUND ALMOST TO THE "T "
http://www.ehow.com/how_4809431_tell...ioner-bad.html

Umalum1990

Dealer called and told me to finally pick up my car, problem seems to be fixed. After replacing the timing belt tensioner and doing a few test drives in the AM, the noise is gone (dealer was able to replicate the noise each day they test drove car prior to replacing this part), so the problem appears to be fixed. Of course, I will be listening closely over then next few days to see if the noise comes back. I will re-post after a few days of driving and let you all know what happens.

tman

Good they found the problem. Seems like your noise is different from what Im experiencing. Definitely premature failure of the tensioner.

Umalum1990

Unfortunately tman, we still seem to have the same noise situation!! Last night when I picked up car, all was fine.. this AM, I took my first corner and Grrrrrrrrrrind,it was back. Called dealer, but not taking it back in just yet. I am starting to wonder if it is the computer thinking about what gear it wants to be in like you had mentioned, but this noise didn't start up until 24,000 - 25,000 miles, so if that was the case, it should have been happening a lot sooner. S.... the mystery continues.

tman

Read Sapere's posting on how they replicate the vibration. I have only 15000 mi and started to feel the vibration more about 5 mos ago. It is a 1.5 yrs old. Could be that heat shields are loosening up and transmit the vibration more then when it was new. Im not too concerned about it. It just proves that "cyberdyne systems" computer is not as good as the old manual shift.

Sapere

Yeah, I think so long as you keep yourself away from going at low speed with high gears, you should be fine. That's the one of the reasons why I'm using paddles to control the gears mostly....plus, its more fun

Umalum1990

I brought the same thing up to my service adviser. They had checked the tranny before anything, but didn't find anything, but he agreed that the computer shifting could be it.. anything is possible. I guess it is something we will need to live with. Regardless, next time you take your car in, have them check the timing belt tensioner, they did find a leak in mine and it is something that needs to be fixed. Happy Holidays guys.

donny0391

You guys should check this thread out i think this is the solution i just didnt get time to do it yet =/ ...i pretty sure this is it tho hope it helps
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/please-help-engine-metal-grind-2000rpm-801425/

Kingmeow

Would they rust out THAT fast given that the 4G TL model is not that old?

hkchiu

Brought my 09 SH-AWD into Bill Vince Bridgewater Acura, NJ this morning, it's the 2nd time I brought up this very same vibration issue. The first time they said they cannot reproduce the issue. But this time they just simply said it's NORMAL, since their tech has the same car and it does the same thing. I'm extremely unhappy about that service adviser, he tends to give me the same reason/solution for almost all issues - claiming they checked on other 09 TLs and all of them act the same way therefore it's normal. What a crock of sh..t, plus they simply didn't pursue on what's causing it, like other owners here have said about the driveshaft, timing belt tensioner, or even communications with Acura engineer to see what's the culprit. Should I bring it to a different dealer? Or simply bring it to Acura corporate devision?

Umalum1990

I had posted a month or two ago about having this problem. It jsut seems to be worse. As a matter of fact, it is happening nmore frequently and at various speeds and RPM's now. I had just not had the time to call my service advisor.

tman

You could be right, but I think its normal. I think its happening more because Im more sensitive to noticing it. I talked to my old transmission friend about this. He says it is basically the lock up torque converter engaging at low speeds, so it feels like its lugging (similar to a manual trans). It is programming that controls when it locks up or slip. It is for fuel economy. Whether its good for the trans to be doing this who knows. Talk to the advisor or maybe a transmission shop on how it behaves. I really don't like feeling that vibration either.

Umalum1990

thanks for the info tman. It just sounds like the car is frigging going to breakdown. Not what I expected on a $44,000 car. Make me wonder if i wil be getting into another Acura after this. The grinding, along with an annoying whistle noise ard 40 to 45mph and again ard 75mph, is really changing my mind about this Acura experience.

Umalum1990

DROPPED MY CAR OFF AT DEALER FOR A SECOND GO WITH THIS PROBLEM. They have isolated teh noise at the A-Pipe, clse to the engine (part of exhaust system/ heat shield) They have ordered the part per Acura and I should get the car back tomorrow or Friday 3/18. The verdict is still out.

Umalum1990

Problem fixed!!! The dealer replaced the A-Pipe section of the exhaust system (a U- shaped pipe near the engine) as well as the mesh heat shield attached to it. No more grinding noise!!! My dealer is Acura of Pembroke Pine (FL). Service adviser is Jordan. They exhausted all possibilities in looking for this problem and fixing it. NO HASSLES, NO EXCUSES.. They did what they needed to do!

tman

Nice to hear that the problem is solved. Im wondering if you mean the J pipe? Do have the description and part number that is listed on your invoice? Curious what they said if you can quote what the technician wrote down. They usually quote what you say as a customer and then what the tech did to solve it. Congrats.

tman

Oops, guess they do call it the A pipe. Do quote what the tech said.

SarasotaTL

as umalum 1990 said..
I noticed the noise, at first, when my car was started cold. But after about a month I started hearing it through the day when I was in my car. Sometimes able to replicate and other times not. However, It ALWAYS happened from the cold start. You need to leave the car at dealer overnight, and tell them to drive ard in the AM, first thing. I noticed that the noise almost routinely occurs when I am in the 1500 - 2000 RPM range and the gas pedal was depressed slightly.. when in traffic or rounding a corner. Once the car revs high, it disappears. Regardless, my dealer was able to replicate it from cold start.

I had the exact same issue ...showed dealer the post about the J pipe ...
they let is sit overnight and sure enough they heard it but not in the pipe..they used some sort of noise finder attached to the bottom of car and isolated it to the torque converter...they are replacing the torque converter next week ...Ill let you know how it goes...this is my 5th acura and the worst ...first Hard drive went so had to replace then turn signal switch ...assorted rattles and now this ....losing faith in product ..hope dealer is correct..I wont be keeping this lemon past 45K anyway cant imagine having this nightmare after warranty is up ...its a 2010 SH_AWD tech package

tman

Is umalum problem still solved?
I have a feeling it is the torque converter, because it occurs when the torque converter locks up during low speed, high gear which is causing the "lugging" feel just as you would with a manual shift. Just a guess though. If you drive it in "S" gear, you don't get it because it locks out 5th gear. Just my guess......

SarasotaTL

Dealer replaced torque converter and the car runs so much better. Shifts much smoother, and the noise and vibration are gone. Dealer took 5 days with car and said they wanted to get it right.....looks like they did

parni_valjak77

Hi everybody,
I had same grinding vibrating noise at low speeds and low rpm's when I bought my 09 awd. I brought it to my dealer to check it, and at same time perform the oil change. Within 30min. they replaced oil and diagnose the problem. They told me it was torque converter, and they ordered a part. I brought the car following week, and they replaced the torque converter, and the problem with grinding and vibration went away. I have been driving it for about 4 days, and the grinding and vibration noise went away. I still have noise when at low speeds but it definitely feels different. I think that the car shifts in higher gear too soon causing it to struggle from 1100-1600 rpm's. I will bring it back to my dealer and talk to them about it, and will not accept the answer that ‘it is normal’. If they tell you 'it is normal', ask them to explain it to you what is exactly happening on that moment, so you can understand it and 'accept' it as normal.