hankd

I'm in the market for a 1st gen 3.2TL and I drove my first one tonight. It was really nice, except for a few door dings and light scratches. It drove good, except when I accelerated from a stop while pulling out into traffic there was a "shimmy" from side to side. Not a shimmy like you get when the brake rotors are warped...it was not quite as rapid as in that case. Shimmy probably isn't the best word for it, but I think you get the idea. I didn't get to drive it too much. It also felt like there was a slight shimmy while driving at 60 mph...just barely noticeable.

Also, is $8k a good deal for a 97 3.2TL with 91k, new tires, tune-up, battery, and a few other small things? I can probably get it for $7700 or so.

Also, great site!!

Thanks in advance...

Hank

TLBaller

what does "shimmy" exactly mean? are you saying the car slightly shakes side to side when accelerating? If so, that is not normal. the car prob got into a major accident. or maybe its just the steering wheel that shakes? if so, thats not normal either. if the steering wheel shakes...the car DEFINATELY was in a major wreck

praxiis

if it's just a pull to one side, check the tire pressure... also - get the vin and do a carfax.

hankd

The steering wheel and car move side to side. I know it shouldn't do that (it wasn't torque steer), but thought it might be a common thing on these cars, or on FWD cars in general. I'm pretty new to FWD so I wasn't sure...

I'll get the VIN and carfax it for sure...I meant to get the VIN yesterday but forgot until it was too late.

I'm not ready to buy until my truck sells anyway. I mainly just wanted to get out and drive a few TL's since I just started to look at them along with Maximas...

Thanks!

Cornflake

Could be anything from a bad tire to a warped rim to something serious resulting from an accident. Having had 2 Maximas and one TL in my family I can definateky say that I would much rather drive my '97 3.2 TL than my brother's 96 maxima SE. His car is nice, but nowhere near as refined as the TL.

zmweaver

I just purchased a 98 3.2TL with 73K and have a similar problem. The side-to-side shimmy is mild but very irritating. For me it happens almost exclusively between 1300rpm to 1500rpm. It is barely noticable under normal acceleration, but when I press the gas very slightly (just enough to maintain speed at 50-60 mph), it shimmys sometimes. It also shimmys every time I come to a stop and the rpms fall through the 1500-1300 range. It almost feels like the motor wants to stall, but it happens very quickly and then idles smooth. If I put the transmission in park or neutral and rev the engine very carefully, I can reproduce the shimmy between 1300-1500rpm. I have read every post I can find, and while many people have a similar problem, very few have a solution. I am going to make this reply into a new thread, so look for it.

ljmushock

TORQUE STEER, or misalligned/flat tires

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

u mean the car sort of shutters??

Ken1997TL

The differential might need its fluid changed. Our cars have one due to the unique engine setups

meazz1

bad motor mounts ?

zmweaver

Unfortunately the problem described by hankd is well known to Acura and not fixable. Acura designed the 3.2L motor without a counter rotating balance shaft in the engine. From everything I have read, the vibration resulting from this design decision does not impact engine performance or life expectancy. However, this mild "shimmy" must reduce the life of every component that must absorb the additional strain (like motor mounts). A 97' 3.2TL owner responded to the thread I created and confirmed my conclusions. He said, "Since my car was new it has always had a small vibration at 1450 rpm.... Today, the car has 135k miles on it and nothing has happened to engine."

Ken1997TL

I have that vibration as well and my engine works perfectly.

The C35 (a stroked version of the C32 in our cars) in the 1st generation RL DOES have a balance shaft and it is SMOOTH

binky

Check the rubber bushings on the ball joints,tie rods.steering system,etc.Maybe worn out...also check the alignment...toe-in/toe-out amd camber.It will do that,rarely but,if the rear end of the car is heavier than the front or the rear sits lower in the rear.It has happened to my other hondas...maybe thats why hondas are built with the rear end higher than the front.Has anyone realized that?

Ken1997TL

The main reason is for safety standards.. especially with a truck rear-ending you.

wackjum

It is more noticeable than other vehicles you may have driven because the C block has pistons set at 90°. Most V6's have 60° angles between the banks. 90° is great for V8s where they are more balanced, but not so great for a V6. (The J-series is 60)

Still, the vibration is VERY minor. Anything truly noticeable would lead me to suspect a bad motor or tranny mount.

zmweaver

The vibration I am experiencing is VERY minor. Neither my brother or father noticed it when they drove it, until I pointed it out to them. The guy I bought it from detailed the car every week and serviced it religiously and he had never noticed it (or claimed he didn't). I have a heavy foot, so I barely notice it when accelerating from a standstill, but the last two weekends I took the backroads home. Driving through soft-rolling hills at 50-55mph triggers the mild vibration about once every 60 seconds. It is annoying.

Because I purchased it used, it is impossible to know if the vibration is any worse than when the car was new. I believe the motor mounts are hydraulic, are tranny mounts hydraulic? Has anyone had a motor or tranny mount go bad? Did it fail gradually or more like an over-night deal?

When I rev the motor to 1400rpm in park or neutral, the vibration is still there but it is more faint than while driving. Does the fact that the vibration is a little more pronounced when the transmission is engaged suggest anything?

Ken1997TL

It could be the transmission mount. In the Acura Legend, which had an identical engine to the 3.2 TL, the mounts wear out gradually.

I've noticed a similar vibration at part throttle around 55 to 60 mph. Accelerating to 65 or 70 mph makes it go away. Perhaps its some sort of harmonic vibration that occurs at that RPM or speed.

I'm puzzled.

Nicholas426

[QUOTE=zmweaver]The vibration I am experiencing is VERY minor. Neither my brother or father noticed it when they drove it, until I pointed it out to them. The guy I bought it from detailed the car every week and serviced it religiously and he had never noticed it (or claimed he didn't). I have a heavy foot, so I barely notice it when accelerating from a standstill, but the last two weekends I took the backroads home. Driving through soft-rolling hills at 50-55mph triggers the mild vibration about once every 60 seconds. It is annoying.

While driving the car at a steady speed of around 40 mph, the rpm are around 1450, is the only time I notice the vibration.

At 55-60 mph the rpm are around 2200, I don't have any vibration around there. Maybe you have a different problem.

Do you live near Washington DC?

zmweaver

You are correct about being at 2200rpm at approx. 55mph. I am pretty sure I have a problem other than the 1400rpm vibration. I was in stop-and-go traffic on the highway and experienced something new. When coming to a stop the rpms dropped quickly and the headlights got dim for a split second. I thought I had just blinked until it happened again. It feels similar to driving a manual trans. and forgetting to push in the clutch while coming to a stop; only milder and the car never stalls. The rpm needle dips below idle a couple times before stabilizing.

When I experience the problem at 50-55mph, the motor doesn't want to respond, like the engine is misfiring, or getting too much or too little fuel. I believe this problem is somehow related to the engine stall and dimming lights while coming to a stop. In both cases the engine is not firing properly, creating a shimmy. I think I was confusing these shimmys with the 1400rpm vibration because they feel very similar.

By the way, I live in Chapel Hill, NC.

AcidFury

Yeah that shimmy shit sux, I have a UA3 Saber, It pulls to the left hard out and shimmys from time to time under slight and max accel between 70km - 100km can't quite figure out what it is I but here's a few ideas for you to kick around the relif vaulve on your power steering maybe a bit shot decreasing preassure to your rack causing slack creating bump steer and pull to left and right also worn shocks causing wheel skip, worn tie rods and/or inner rack bushes, shotty wheel beerings, split engine mounts, even spark plugs make the car feel a bit vibraty.
These are all of the gay things I am contending with my car. I've taken it to a few mechanics and they can't find anything wrong with it. Because the bastards only drive it round the block for five minutes making only left hand turns with a max speed of 60km! So I'm down to 1 option, loan from the bank and rebuild.

good luck with your cars.

By the way I live in New Zealand which should explain km's.
When are you guys gonna start drivin on the correct side of the road? Ha Ha!

Ken1997TL

When you Kiwi's learn that you ALWAYS joust on the RIGHT hand side

AcidFury

Joust.... well if you fancy touchin yoself behind the wheel, I won't stop you. But a dirty old poolice man might!

Ha jokes

zmweaver

I took my car to the dealership and lucked out. I drove and rode with the shop foreman for about 30 minutes. This mechanic was trained by Acura before Acura's hit the showroom floor in 1986. He and two other guys in the service department had been together with Acura since 1986.

Well it turned out my rear tranny mount was broken and my tranny fluid was an "unusual" color. After replacing the mount and flushing the fluid, the car drives great. However, I can still feel a very, very, very slight vibration. This very slight vibration was likely the reason why the mount failed. Now, the new mount absorbs the vast majority of the vibration energy. The mechanic said that the inner CV axles are known to fail between 80K-110K miles. At 74K miles, the mechanic thinks my car may be in the very early stages of inner axle failure, but cannot be sure until the problem gets worse.

I am more than happy with the 99% improvement.

Nicholas426

Thank you for keeping us posted.

After reading your post you reminded me of my friend's '93 Legend which had a random vibration at freeway speeds similar to yours. It turns out that he had a bad transmission mount as well. Once he replaced it the vibration was decreased but still there. He took it back to the dealer and they diagnosed it to be a cv-joint. He had that fixed and now has no vibration at all.

Incidentally, his car has the subtle vibration at 1500 rpms when in neutral too. The second generation Legends have the same engine (3.2) as ours.

So, it sounds like you were experiencing two vibrations. One from the transmission mount and or cv-joint. And two, from the design flaw of the engine that can be felt when the car is in neutral at 1500 rpms.

The second one surprisies me, I can't believe that Acura let that design flaw go for so long. I mean, they were making these same engines from 1990 to 1998.

Originally, I had thought that my car was the only one with this vibration until I read your post recently. I bet you all the 3.2's have this problem, just nobody notices it except for a select few.

Ken1997TL

Its not so much as a flaw as a characteristic. Its a 90 degree V6, so its not naturally balanced. In the 1996 - 2004 RL, it had a balance shaft that made it much smoother (and robbed a bit of power)

The J series being a 60 degree V6 is MUCH smoother.

zmweaver

PROBLEMS PERSIST....

My TL momentarily stalls while coming to a stop, my headlights to dim, and my engine jerks in the process. Just recently, I noticed my headlights can go dim instantaneously with the car cruising along just fine. I think the stall is related to the instantaneous power loss somehow, but not sure. Because the lights have now gone dim with the engine running smoothly, it seems more likely the loss of power is causing the engine to stall (again, not sure).

I am most concerned about the engine jerking to a stop. I am not sure if it is related to the transmission cycling down, but the events are similar. While braking in an automatic, the rpm needle drops down and stops momentarily at a few intervals before finally resting at idle. While braking to a stop, at about 1500rpm, the rpm needle falls quickly and the motor dies/starts-up (not sure which) at 1000rpm with a jerk. I have a feeling this also contributed to the tranny mount failure.

Any ideas or experience with this problem out there?

zmweaver

When the Acura mechanic said the inner cv axles are "known to fail..." I did not properly qualify the statement. The mechanic was speaking from repair experience, with respect to my problem symptoms, and did not insinuate this problem affected all first gen. TLs. Just an FYI.

binky

I lowered my car the other day and now my car shimmy/shakes side to side on acceleration from dead stop... Must have something to do with the CV joints/axles

zmweaver

Research has led me to believe my ignition switch may be bad. Evidently there were several recalls for bad ignition switches but not for the 1998 TL. Has anyone had an ignition switch go out?

If the problem is not the ignition switch, I think it is somehow related to the ignition system. Are there any other systems that could cause my TL to momentarily lose all power?