7eighteen

Hey guys i think we need to step up an write a letter or make a few calls to honda motor company about this passenger side noises ive been hearing u guys talk about...i dont have my tsx yet....its coming jul 15-20, but, shit, if i have noises im gonna be PISSED.......lets do something..any ideas?????

gregor

How can I write a letter describing noises I don't have?

bowersan

You'll see once you get the car that the noise isnt bad AT ALL. Its not a rattle that rumbles in your ear constantly.. It comes only when low base is being played on your music.... and even then, its completely bareable.. Only because we demand perfection here we complain, because it is one of the few things on the car that we are unhappy with.
When you get the car, perhaps it will be significant enough to get it changed... Of course, I am looking into getting it fixed, however, if they report back that there is nothing they can do.. I will just have to survive with it.
Some things must be changed or fixed (broken headlight, or something to that effect) but this rattle is just nit picking on the finest of details.

Just my opinon, BTW.

J.

ilsmithnc

Yeah, I agree with ya bowersan. The noise isn't really that bad. The problem is that the car is so damn quiet and solid, that the little rattles just stand out more. Except for these little rattles, my car is perfect.

TWong1200

Fortunately, I do not have any rattles but just keep one thing in mind, these cars are mass produced and there will always be imperfections. Not only with TSX's but with all cars mass produced. If you haven't already, give the dealership a chance to fix it before escalating it to American Honda. Now if the dealership can't and refuses to fix it, then you make some phone calls.

This is an awesome car. I know that rattles are a nuisance. But don't let something this small ruin your driving experience. All my past cars had rattles and I just tried my best to not let them bother me. They grow on you and you get used to them.

My $.02

Cheers!

zero

Ive got the rattles in my car too, and granted they are not to annoying and they mainly happen on CDS that I burn low quality MP3's.....

However I did call mylocal Acura here in Palm Beach and spoke to the service guys. They wanted me to immediatly bring in my Acura to check it out (basically said they wanted to rip the doors apart and investigate) and provide me with another TSX (managers demo car, has about 5000k miles and has no rattles) while its in the shop. I opted not to do this seeing as its not the big a deal, rarely happens, and dont want my doors opened unless they know the exact prob. Mangaer did agree with me in that after I told him how many people have complained about this, that eventually Acura will send out a bulletin to the dealerships on how to fix this bug, he also claimed that he has seen little quirks like this before in other Acuras occassionaly and has eventually always come up with a conclusion on fixing. That let me breath a sigh of relief.

On another note, while detailing the car last night, I noted while wiping the door locks, that there is still a lot of plastic still hanging from the panel. Everytime my window pops up theres a little piece of that protective plastic that pops up (its just so hard to grip with my fingers) and im wondering if that could be the culrpit, because to me thats what my rattles sound like....plastic wrap rattling. You guys should check it out.

swami

The first TSX I drove was before I'd heard about the dreaded pass. door rattle. The car I drove still had the plastic door covers hanging and when I heard the rattle, I figured that was what it was, plastic against the speaker. That's what it sounded like. If your talking about plastic thats inside the door, if thats the problem then the doors gonna have to come apart anyway. I don't have a problem with that, a rattle I have a problem with. I'm buying an Acura because there usually perfect cars even if somewhat uninspiring. Honda will step up to the plate on these complaints and address the issues. Thats why I'm still waitin for one...Did I mention I'm gettin tired of waiting.

Count Blah

Is there a place where we can access bulletins like these as they come available?

vasu

www.alldata.com should have it. They're a repository for recall and technical service bulltens (tsb).

-vasu

7eighteen

thanks for all the responses guys, i guess the problem is less serious than I thought it was.....sets my mind at ease

sauceman

Uh... no.

The rattles I have as I repeated a number of times are present even without the radio, they are loud, and they are driving me nuts. Note that I am pretty deaf too, so I wouldn't want someone with good ears to have to drive for hours in my TSX.

It is a problem that would be worth reporting massively, just in case something could be done.

Count Blah

Ok. They were the first site that came up when I did a search, but they don't have a category for 2004 vehicles yet.

http://www.alldata.com/recalls/index.html

moda_way

I believe a user at the "other" site was planning a TSB board somewhere. His name was hondacuraworld, but I haven't heard from him in a while.

Gebbeth

I experienced vibration/rattling noises from both passenger and driver's side front door almost as soon as I picked up the car. The noises came mostly in the morning, on the freeway commute to work and in the evening, on the freeway commute back home. The radio sets it off too. I sent the car to the dealer once to correct the problem, and they came back with "cannot duplicate" and advice to lower the boom on the bass and/or lower the volume (yeah, some solution...I wonder if BMW dealers tell their owners to lower their radio volume?????)

I was at my wits end, until I noticed something. When I roll up the windows, all the way up, the glass squeezes so tight up against the top of the door frame that the door panel deforms slightly. Usually, when there is such a tight fit, that's a good thing because it means the car is sealed tight against the elements and is a well-designed car. But when it seals that tightly and deforms the door panel, it creates a slight space between the glass and the rubber seal at the bottom of the widow, where the glass enters the door. The door panel plastic and rubber is of such a high quality (very stiff and solid), that when the car goes over freeway/tollway bumps, the seams on the pavement, or if there is a lot of bass in the music or radio, the rubber and/or plastic vibrates (it literally humms like when you blow into the mouthpiece of a trumpet). The vibrations get transmitted very efficiently and with little power loss from the speaker/air, through the door to the rubber seal between the door and window. The rubber seal and other plastic elements that may be in the door then begins to vibrate.

This is why the vibration is temperature sensative. When the car is sitting in the sun in the afternoon, the car heats up, the rubber and plastic soften and isn't rigid enough to vibrate, or at least vibrate with as much energy (also, the gap that is created when the window seals up tight is probably minimized because the heat would expand the rubber and plastic, closing the gap enough so that the vibration will cease).

Anyway, the solution is simple. Roll up the window all the way until it can't go up anymore and seals tight against the top of the door frame. Then tap the window control down for an instant, just enough so that the window does not seal so tightly. This should decrease the pressure on the window and door, preventing the deformity in the door panel, sealing the gap between the window and rubber seal and preventing the vibration.

Since all cars have slight variations in production, the level of deformity will be different when the windows are rolled tightly up. That is why some have vibration problems and some do not. Conversely, my solution may not be a solution for all, because the gap may exist even with the windows slightly unsealed. But the root cause may be the same. In the case where the gap is too large to undo with a slight rolldown of the windows, you're going to have to find some kind of seal to close that gap while still allowing the window to move up and down through the door (like radio soundproofing material).

Anyway, I hope everyone with this problem has the chance to try the solution out and provide some feedback. Going to the dealer is a pain and is a waste of time sometimes. I hope Honda/Acura notices this problem and provides a more suitable built-in solution (but word to the wise, my Acura dealer said that Honda does not look at forums like this at all...they only respond to customer complaints and even then, they take a long time....i.e., auto-transmission breakdowns on the old Accord and TL/CL).

sauceman

Thanks for the post, Gebbeth, very interesting. I will try this tomorrow and provide you with feedback.

sauceman

Gebbeth, you are absolutely right!! I have had rattles appear today, as always, so I did what you said, made sure the windows were at their tightest, then just slightly released the pressure on them, and the rattles instantly disappeared.

I will keep an eye on this, but for the first time since I have had the car, I can listen to my CDs full blast without being plagued with rattles.

You get my vote for post of the month. Thank you very much!

It would be a good thing if you start a thread about this since so many of us have been compaining about this problem.

Also, people, note that when you release the pressure on the windows by just slightly bringing them down, it should not be to the point where you hear wind noises. If you do it right, it will not cause that, or open a gap in the window sill; Just stop the rattles.

fdl

Holy Sh*T it works! I dont think it got rid of the rattles 100% if i play some real bass pounding music but this solved the problem like 95%. Amazing.

So what does this tell us? Do we have to drive around with our windows not tight or do you think there will be a perm work around.

Thanks for the info!

Gebbeth

You're welcome. Pass it along!

You know if any Honda engineers are listening, it should be a simple fix. Make the window motors stop just shy of absolutely freeking tight. It shouldn't be that hard, unless their production line is the area causing the problem.

James

simple solution to it all: bump your stereo up! (no car's perfect.)

sauceman

Uh-huh...

dom

How about instead of writing a letter about rattles we write a letter about the damn grinding driver's seat. I think mine is the most severe I've heard of so far. Its like my seat it skipping over rocks when it goes back and forth. I'm bringing it in to "have it looked at" next week eventhough they've already lubed the track to no avail.

Do you think its a good idea that I call Acura ahead of time and say listen, "you guys already lubed the track and it did'nt help. Honda's put out a recall on Accord power seat motors, can't you just change mine so I don't have to bring it in twice?"

lshenretty

More important than that, although this looks like a wonderful resource site, if you click on 2003, then on Acura, then on the only car listed, the 3.2 CL, then on the engine, you get this pop-up screen:


IMPORTANT NOTICE

The American Honda Motor Company, Inc. has requested ALLDATA restrict access to Acura and Honda repair information by individual consumers. You will unfortunately not be able to register for access to Acura or Honda vehicle repair information, technical service bulletins or recalls.

We kindly request that all comments should be directed to:
American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
P. O. Box 2206
700 Van Ness Ave.
Torrance, CA 90501

Honda: 800-999-1009
Acura: 800-382-2238

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you.



How do we like them apples?

Does anyone think we oughta start a thread about this? Or a calling campaign?

moda_way

Well I learned that it isn't a problem with whether Honda posts the TSBs or not, it is a problem with relations between ALLDATA and Honda. Who knows, but hondacuraworld was planning on creating a site somewhere that will post TSBs. Don't know if Tim ever did it or not.

Crazytree

got my damn passenger door rattles now too.

FOOOOOOOOOok.

mjohnson68

I too have rattles in my doors. I hope Aucra is going to come up with some type of solution to our problem. I also have a rattle coming from the engine at idle (i.e. sitting in gear at a traffic light). If you touch the gas a little then the rattle goes away, I am taking my car in for this to see what it might be. I will be posting anything I find out about other rattles.