My '96 Acura 3.2 TL with 221K miles has developed a bad vibration problem felt through the steering wheel and the floor boards. The condition only occurs during acceleration or steady speed operation above 40 MPH while the drive train is loaded. If I take my foot off the gas, the vibration reduces significantly.

I've had the tires replaced and balanced - no help.
I've rotated all of the rims front to back - no help.
I've replaced the differential fluid - no help.
I've shifted from 4th to 3rd gear at speed - the RPMs rev-ed up, but the vibration was unchanged.
I've applied the brakes at high speed to dampen out the vibration - no change
There is no sound - only mechanical vibration.

A local repair shop couldn't find a failed component and didn't want to start guessing on what to replace.

Are there other things I should try to understand what's going on?
If you had to guess - what should I replace first?
What would a dealer do?

 

Mounts? My mid mounts are shot as is my tranny mount but I don't have that problem...

~Cheers~

 

I'd put my money on motor mounts also. if not, it could be the axles.

 

I'm thinking it is the motor mount as well.

Does it occur when the car is idling? Or does it only occur when the car is accelerating? If it is only occurring when you are accelerating, then it may be your front axles.

 

I have almost the exact same problem.
96 3.2TL 156000 km
Car vibrates starting at at 50 km/h. its a circular rotation. Changing the tire doesn't solve the problem.

similar to your case, it ONLY vibrates when the drive train is loaded. putting AT in N and flooring it doesnt make any vibration. lifting foot off the gas pedal also alleviate the vibration.

I had this problem couple months back and the mechanic changed the left front drive shaft and it helped reduce the vibration problem to a tolerable level

but now its back with a vengeance in that it sometimes happen and sometimes not and i'm afraid to drive on the highway because when it happens its a really violent circular rotation. I just drive it city now hoping it wont happen.

If something is broken mechanically it should always be broken.. but I cant reproduce it 100% of the time. what could be the cause of this intermittent problem?

 

bad axle

 

I had the exact same problem as listed by op. I figured it was some major mechanical problem with the trans. I have a 3.2 premium as well.
Only steady vibration upon acceleration and would get slightly worse over 60 kmh. As soon as I let my foot off the gas pedal it would go away almost immediately.
I figured it had to be a rotational problem so I started with the rims/tires. I had all 4 tires rebalanced and still didnt fix the problem. While the car was on the lift I visually inspected the cv axles, which looked ok.. To my surprise I found that they moved around very sloppily at each cv joint.More so than they should move..no resistance whatsoever.. Inside and outside cv. I guess they were original to the car.
I replaced both drivers side and passenger side with oem Acura axles and the problem has since gone away completely
Hope this helps

 

NoShine - You are my hero! Do you know the part numbers for the OEM Acura axles? Did you do the work yourself? What tools were required? How much did it cost?

 

Y7WU- do you know the part numbers you replaced? It sounds like the same ones that NOSHINE replaced with success. Do you think his is going to come back with a vengeance?

 

The part number for left and right axle is
06443-SW5-507RM.
06444-SW5-507RM

I'm almost certain its the axles acting up.

I'm thinking about buying EMPI W0133-1612984 for my right axle.
its cheaper but not sure about quality

hope this helps

 

This forum is great! The problem was with the drive shaft. I had both the left and right side replaced by a dealer - see part numbers below.
06443-SZ3-507RM DRIVESHAFT SET, R. (RMD)
06444-SZ3-507RM DRIVESHAFT SET, R. (RMD)

Total cost was $625 (~$400 for re-manufactured parts). New parts would have been over $800. I tried Car-X first to save some money, but they didn't want to touch it because they weren't sure the drive shafts were the problem.

Thanks to all on this forum for helping me diagnose the problem!