joerockt

Ok, I've done the searches and didnt find anything about this. So, let me try to explian what happens and everyone can let me know if they experince the same. When im driving, and this is at any speed, and I start to coast (still in gear), every time when I lightly get back on the throttle, there is a foward "jerk" to the car. Its not a violent jerk, but enough to notice it if I mentioned it to a passenger. Now, I would think this would happen if I was high up in the revs I would expect this. But this is just normal, everyday crusing with the rpms between 2.5 - 3K

I thought this might be just related to the elect throttle. Never owned a car with one before so I thought this might be normal. But after 2K miles, its starting to bug me.

So basically, I need to know if anyone else with 6MT's gets the same feeling. I'll take it in if thats not the case...Thanks...

provench

It's the snap of the neck torque that the TSX has

I think you are most likely feeling the DBW not being as smooth as it could. I noticed this on my car and a post a while ago confirmed that most folks thought it was DBW as well.

So my guess is ... start getting used to it I am afraid.

joerockt

Great, not what I wanted to hear. Like I said its getting quite annoying. Has anyone taken their car in for this? If not, I'll be happy to be the first...I guess... :sqnteek:

ClutchPerformer

There won't be anything they can do. DBW sucks.

joerockt

That great, but has this been verified by a dealer? Did anyone go to a dealer and they said "sorry, but your going to have to deal with this, just like clutchperformer said"?

xizor

, traffic crawling can be hard w/ DBW.

iamhomin

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with your car. I feel a light jerk when I step on the gas while cruising as well.

joerockt

Comedy, I've gone through the 2 or 3 threads that address this and it dosent look like anyone has taken it in for an official response. Just all the armchair techs saying its normal.

Throttle by cable would never do this. I owned a Tacoma for 6 years prior to this and never felt that jerking. So its not the tranny thats doing it, like some people are guessing in the other threads...

I'll take it in tomorrow to get an offical word.

provench

tell them you want a free replacement with a cable controlled throttle

Good luck with the dealer ... and thanks for taking one for the armchair tech team.

xizor

hey, if you're so smart, go for it. its the DBW IMO till someone can explain otherwise

joerockt

What the fuck is that suppost to mean? It has nothing to do with being "smart", I just asked if anyone actually took it to the dealer to confirm this, thats all. Everyone is speculating that it's normal.

How do you know its something they cant work on and put out a TSB for it??

Im on the phone with the dealer right now. He said he hasnt heard of that problem, but to bring it in and a tech will ride along. I'll let you know what happens...

euroStyle

My last car was also dbw, but it wasnt as bad as the tsx. is it because its new for acura?

Stokeless_TSX

possibly ....

berksean

I get this behavior also. I'm able to avoid it if I ease on the gas like a 70 year old granny.

ClutchPerformer

That's how we know it's the DBW. Think of it as an educated guess. Just because you're sitting in an armchair doesn't mean you don't know anything.

taewlee

what the heck is DBW and yes, I occasionally jerk my car too..... i think it's the torque + short gearing = jerkiness

taewlee

drive by wire.... w000000000t w000000000t...

joerockt

Clutch, I wasnt arguing that its the DBW. Im arguing the fact that no one has confirmed if this is a problem or not. Sorry if I didnt make that clear enough.

ClutchPerformer

Oh.

Let us know what the dealer says.

taewlee

i dont think it's a problem cause obviously you and i and some other peeps are all having the same jerkiness maybe it's DBW + torque + short gearing = one jerky tsx

omelette

I have the same issue in lower gears but it doesn't seem to happen when in 6th at cruising speeds on the highway.
I've always assumed it's just a side-effect of the DBW and its inherent electronic delay.

taewlee

by the way, my jerkiness only happens from 1 - 2

joerockt

Again, thats speculation.

calgary_tsx

perhaps it has something to do with the dbw blipping the throttle. I read on another thread that the sentivity of the amount of throttle changes with speed. i.e. need to press down more on the gas in the parking lot vs on the freeway for the same response.

And another question, i apologise if its already in another thread, but i swear the dbw blips the throttle between shifts, because the RPMs on my car never seem to fall on a clutch in unless i hold it down for at least a second

joerockt

Well, I was really testing it out yesterday on the way home from work. One thing I noticed is that if I coast for more then a few seconds before lightly getting back on the throttle, I get the jerk. If I come off the throttle and lightly get right back on it, no jerk. I've also noticed that if I have it in 6th and doing about 45, it hardly does it at all. Thats with the rpm's around 2K.

joerockt

Ok, just got back from the dealer. First, let me say that the service at Norm Reeves Acura is TOP NOTCH. The svc mgr there got me the "best tech" and we took it for a spin. I was able to reproduce the jerking several times, then he took the wheel and was able to produce it as well. He pretty much recognized right away what the issue was.

Now, all the "armchair techs" can rejoyce in the fact that he thinks its the DBW HOWEVER, he also thinks there may be other indirect factors that might cause this.

Apparently, the i-Vtec engine, when coasting with no throttle input, turns off the fuel injectors. So, he thinks it might have something to do with that. Things like a surge of gas or gas entering a chamber at an akward firing order might cause the jerking.

So, bottom line, the tech didnt really think it was a problem, but he said that Acura would address this if other people would start bringing in their cars complaining about the same problem. He thinks that something could be changed, but for anything to happen, it would have to come direct from Acura. The service centers cant just do it themselves. Understandable.

So, if this is something everyone would like fixed, take your TSX's in and let them know about it!

And yes, I know Im going to get a few "I told you so's" but I wanted an offical word. So unless you wear a shirt that has your name on one side and Acura other, stfu!

provench

Well - interesting indeed. I had heard about the injectors being cut when coasting, but didn't relate that to the DBW aspect. So in fact it might be more the fuel management through the injectors that is a bit too binary vs. the DBW or a combo?

In either case ... your trip was well worth it

joerockt

Yea, it was worth the lunch hour. I should also note we did drive another 6MT and had the same problem. He had mentioned before that it MIGHT be from the engine mounts, but since we drove the other car and had the same issue, he though it was unlikely.

ClutchPerformer

Who was it that didn't believe me about this? I forgot. To the search function!

joerockt

Yup, he showed it to me in the service manual.

ClutchPerformer

AHA! Here it is. On page 2. :P

joerockt

Interesting. Well, according to the Acura tech and according to the Acura service manual, the injectors shut off EVERYTIME you take your foot off the gas!

Clutchperformer 1 - Uninformed Bitches 0

Johns

Unless Acura has done some strange programing for their DBW, my vote is the injectors. My wife's car jerks a lot at low speeds. My car (Merc C230K) has DBW and is smooth as glass in the same situations. I will say that I owned a 2000 Passat 1.8 and it had a slight jerking/bucking in low speed situations.

ClutchPerformer

Damn right. I'm not just sitting in this armchair. I'm thinking/reading/talking about engines all day!

ClutchPerformer

It's the programming that's the problem. DBW in general is not a bad thing and can't cause jerking just because it's not mechanical. It's what the manufacturer chooses to make the throttle do under certain conditions (quick load changes in our case) that can cause funny results.

JR_VETTE

EXACTLY what I was thinking.

I also have a complaint that when shifting, it takes up to a second for the throttle to wake up that I am no longer on the gas. So, when I go to shift, I either have to shift very slowly, OR hold the clutch in for a little longer than normal before letting out of the clutch. If a don't, it either jerks, or slides the clutch longer than it should.

The jerkyness in my opinion is because the car doesn't rev back down between shifts. Especially if you are driving a little more spirited.

I would be willing to be a new ECM flash will be available from Honda at some point. Either that, or the computer is damn slow to respond to the gas peddle input.

I've had my TSX now for 10K miles. This and the rattles are my only complaints.

provench

These are all very good points ... I might even go to my dealer at some point and see what I can get them to do. At a minimum logging the complaints will let Acura know something is up. The coast and then on the gas thing as well as the different/tougher throttle control on shifts I would both agree are abnormal with the latter being at least someting as you said can be overcome (but perhaps at the cost of some clutch life).

joerockt

Yea, please guys take your cars in for this. Just realize there isnt anything the dealers can do at this point, but the more people log complaints about this, the better chance Acura will deal with it.

Hey Prov, any chance of a sticky on this?

ClutchPerformer

This is a separate issue (also controlled by the DBW) that has to do with emissions performance. There's no way you're gonna get around that one unless your ECU is changed.

I'm not sure this is exactly the problem because the jerking happens most violently when you're still in a gear and back off/get on the gas. Try revving to ~3500 in first and then letting the gas pedal go. Jerk city! It happens again if you get back on it.

provench

joerockt - I would sticky it, but not sure how long would make sense? I think this is just a big one all of use 6MT's have to keep in the back of our mind. Next time that I go to Acura (soon for oil change) will ask them about this. Also have to have them look at the driver's side door lock rattle and another speaker buzz.