I did my research and still cannot come to the conclusion as to whether this is "normal" or not.
Seems quite a few have had this issue. Basically the car steering shakes as does the front area of the car and floorpan when the AC is ON, whether in park or drive it doesnt really matter.
With AC off the vibrations are somewhat reduced but still evident. It doesn't go away when warmed up either.
Acura checked the engine mounts and said they were fine I believe. The reason I say believe is that its not noted on the service work order but was verbally informed. I had the car in a couple of weeks for other work inc the steering recall.
I am thinking if I flush the power steering things might improve? The fluid is rather dark. I do not notice any shaking above 5mph. Just shakes a lot when trying to park or idle. Turning the wheel also makes the rpm jump up and down, not sure if this matters.

 

with your symptom describe . .you have an AC problem. I had this issue too .. but not that bad to the point where it vibrates that badly. I had the eratic RPM while AC was on. Have them do a pressure test on your AC system. If the needle of the Low side (I believe it's the low side) is jumping up and down like crazy .. something is cloggin the system.

I replaced the dryer/condensor and issue resolved. The dryer bag, which is built in the condensor, not sure if you can purchase just the bag alone. The bag acts as a filter and removes moisture in the system. The bag on one end is pitch black and the rest is white. So it's pretty clogged.

Have them check your compressor assembly too if you're still under warranty. There's a lot of issues reported, check ac gone bad etc. threads, bout the ac compressor shittin itself into the system. IMO .. your symptom is an early sign.

System clogged, causing more pressure, ac compressor coming on and due to too much pressure system shuts itself off causing eratic RPM, and excessive wear on the ac compressor clutch. Keeps happening .. and the clutch will sheer itself off the ac. then it gets really expensive.

 

you can check if the motor mount is bad .. just look on the left side mount which has a rubber boot over it. check around it to see if there's any leak , like oil leaking out of your shocks, as that mount is hydraulic. the one by the radiator fan down at the bottom is hydraulic as well .. but harder to check. the rear one is a regular type mount.

 

and definately do the steering fluid flush.

here's the DIY link .. https://acurazine.com/forums/1g-tsx-2004-2008-124/diy-power-steering-fluid-flush-resevoir-replacement-792985/

 

Thanks for your response, pretty scarey stuff. I have my AC on most of the time. It seems to work ok. The RPMS only jump if I turn the steering wheel, else its solid even with AC on. I guess Im not too worried about the RPM jumping when IDLE but the shaking of the steering wheel and front end is perhaps starting to worry me. More so, that my bumper to bumper has around 2k miles left or til end of December.

 

oh .. then i miss understood you. if your RPM only jump when you turn the steering wheel while idle .. its normal. Power steering pump is driven by the serpentine belt. once you turn the steering wheel .. it puts a load on the pump which would slow the engine down. due to having an idle control keeping the engine running at 700-800 rpm .. it auto revs the engine to compensate the extra load.

 

I second checking motor mounts. These are the likely culprits.

 

I will check, so basically I need to view for oil seepage around the mounts?

Also, can someone be kind enough to let me know how I can check these. I did see the two which are located near the front wheels. But thats all I can see. I am unsure of the other 2?

 

just look on the left side mount which has a rubber boot over it. check around it to see if there's any leak , like oil leaking out of your shocks, as that mount is hydraulic. the one by the radiator fan down at the bottom, in the middle is hydraulic as well .. but harder to check. the rear one is a regular type mount (not sure of exact location), check for tears. there's one more down by the tranny, you can easily see it if you remove the driver front wheel.

If you're looking infront of the car, there's a left, front, back, and right. Left and front are hydraulic while back and right are regular.

 

For the front one do I have to remove all the undertray, is it near the jack point?

Also for the rear tranny one, where abouts, is it infront of the tranny?

Thanks for your help.

 

Checked all mounts 5 correct?

No faults found. So , in essence placing load on my car causes it shake when idling in D .

 

Update. Well there is a slight shake present even with no major electrical load on the car. I guess when the AC is turned on etc etc then it makes the shaking stronger.

 

hmm .. when was the last time spark plugs were changed?

Even though manual says 110k mi then replace .. i replaced mines at around 70k. Had the car for 5 years. Had the shaking problem you have too. I dont know if it made the shaking less as I dont remember an instant reduction in vibration. But i can tell you this .. after replacing spark plug and ac condensor .. car doesnt vibrate like it did before.

Spark plugs are fairly easy to do. Cost about 55 bucks for 4.

 

I changed the sparks to Bosch platinum a few days ago over the weekend. Didnt really make much of a change.
Perhaps I am being too fussy and perhaps my symptoms are relatively normal. Hard to say really when I cant compare.
Just to sumarize, slight vibration primarily felt through the steering wheel when moving it slightly left or right, the vibrations increase when a load is added like AC. Once load is added then the floor pan area also slightly vibrate, more when you turn the wheel at idle.
I did some research and something similar occurs on the Accords, which have a TSB to reduce this sensation. No TSB for the TSX however.

 

Did some more research and noticed a few TL owners had this issue also.
Someone mentioned something interesting. They stated to untorque the engine and tranny mounts slight then to re-torque after they have stabalized ( drive a little around or power brake it ).

Is it simple to untorque the engine mounts on the TSX? Meaning access wise.

 

not sure specific model of bosch platinum .. but its possible you might have picked up the wrong plugs. OEM is Denso Iridium. most people opt to buy NGKs .. but they need to be iridium though.

Untorqueing the mount is farily easy. All you do is loosen the bolt but not to where you can just pull it out. Then tighten back down. There's a total of 5 mount .. 3 motor 2 tranny. See below:

 

had to rumage through buncha adobe file to find this. will be looking at these on the next oil change.

 

To find what?

So the bolt for the engine mounts are accessible from under the car?

Has anyone done this before? Meaning loosen their engine mounts then hand tighten. Drive a little then re-torque? Anything to be aware off before I do this? Thanks

 

The Bosch are compatible with the TSX, so thats what Bosch stated.

 

rummage to find that picture.

base on picture .. side engine mount bolt very easy to get to .. they're located next to the power steering resevoir.

front mount bit harder to get to as there's less space. might have to remove the radiator fan to get easier access.

tranny mount .. through the driver front wheel

the rear .. not sure .. maybe through engine bay or under car.

just jack up your car and rev it up. then turn off and retighten. i did that with the side mount.

 

When you performed this task, did it help reduce shake?
I am just concerned about loosening only some of the mounts and then revving the car, reason - wouldnt that stress the mounts that I have not loosened?
Thanks for you help btw.

 

well when i did this .. my shaking was already gone. i did it to recheck the jerky feeling i'm gettin when i let go and step lightly on the gas. I don't know if it's the by product of drive by wire ( think on off switch, no gradual movement like throttle cable) or it's due to bad mount.

I looked into the mounts location via online ... the tranny has two .. one upper and one lower. lower one is accessible through the driver front wheel .. and i assume the upper tranny is through engine bay and maybe driver front wheel.

I'll find out for sure by saturday as i'm planning to do an oil change on saturday and checking for a poping noise.

the mounts that you dont loose will be stressed for sure. but again . you're only losening a little not alot.

 

so rear motor mount is accessible both under the car and through engine bay .. but i think it's easier through the bottom.