bshuba

I drive a 2004 TSX A/T with 122,000 miles on it. Great car, very reliable and fun to drive. Just recently it started making a noise that is tied to speed. The noise is like a low roar, really barely audible. It comes on around 30 mph and peaks at 40. After that the general road noise seems to drown it out. No noise when revving and parked. The noise does not change when I shift thru the gears in manumatic mode if I maintain speed. So I'm pretty sure the noise is not coming from the engine or transmission. The tires have 50K miles so I am suspicious of them. Any other ideas?

TexasHonda

Tires are most likely, but an early wheel bearing is not impossible.

good luck

darowa

I agree with the tire diagnosis - it seems like maybe you're on your second set? - and they are several years old? Tires get noisier as they age for several reasons. As the tread wears it gets noisier. There can be unusual wear patterns that create noise (due to alignment problems). The rubber gets harder and tends to be noisier. I am amazed at the number of (late model) cars that drive by my house which make a lot of tire-to-pavement noise - and the drivers seem to be oblivious to the noise.

bshuba

Thanks for the replies. The tires are 3 year old Bridgestone Pole Positions. I love the sticky handling these tires gave over the stock Michelins which had bad wet/snow behavior. I may be guilty of trying to squeeze more miles out of these than I should. Was hoping for one more season.

dumdukus

U might have bend a rim , on TSXes they bent quiet easily , and when they bend its really a B#$%C to spot it , happened to me twice in 112k miles. take it to regular shop , give them 20$ (on a slow day) and they will check . acura dealer will charge with crap load of money.

nj2pa2nc

When was the last time you had the tire thread measured. When I replaced the original michelin tires at 74,000 all the tires were at 4/32. We were going on a cross country roadtrip and decided to get new tires. The Yokohama avid 4vs tires now on the car have 54,000 miles and recently were measured at 5/32. Road noise can also be from what type pavement you are driving on. Many of the roads I have been traveling on are in the process of getting resurfaced. I love newly repaved roads-a lot less road noise.

mrgold35

Every Honda/Acura I've owned in the last +20 years and they all have one common characteristic which is above average road noise. I had the Bridgestone 960 Pole Positions and they are soooo much quieter and provide better grip compared to the OEM Michelins. I’ve notice on certain types of pavement, especially older asphalt, road noise can roar in the cabin. The older Bridgestone did make more noise as time went on; but, they were 5X better than the Michelins with the same mileage.

So far, I’ve been happy with my Conti DWS as far as grip, ride, noise, and wet handling. Only 10,000 miles on the tires, so no increase in road noise yet.

bshuba

I pulled a tire that recently been resealed at the rim by the tire dealer and tried the spare in its place. Noise was gone. Reinstalled the "noisy" tire and the noise is much reduced. I think the tire dealer may have had the wheel cocked.

Mrgold35. I was thinking about replacing the Bridgestone Pole Positions with the Continental DWS. Sounds like you are happy with yours. What was the better tire, Conti or Bridge PP?

Tsx6363

could be a wheel balancing issue. Worth a try, only 10 bucks.

mrgold35

I also have the A-spec suspension, progress RSB and lighter weight aftermarket rims on my TSX. The main reasons I went with the Conti DWS was price, treadlife and better wet/slush/snow handling. If I had more space in my garage, I would use the Bridgestone 960 as my summer tire and the Conti as my winter wheels. I sometimes hate wasting the snow capabilities of the Conti when it is 100 degrees in the summer.

Bridgestone 960AS Pole Position:
Pros:
- Quiet
- Lots of dry grip, little to no squeal when you push really hard in the corners
- Feels very good when the road is wet or hit standing water
- Cool tread design, easy to keep clean, tire shine last for a while
- looks good on the TSX
- Rubber lip to protect your rim against curbs
- no effect on mpgs

Cons:
- Tread life is less than the Conti DWS (400 compared to 540)
- About $50-$60 per tire more expensive
- Really a 3 season tire, just ok for light snow
- Heavier tire at about 25-26lbs each
- Directional tire, only rotate front to back
- Can get a flat spot if the tires sit for a few days, smoothes out after a few hwy miles

Conti DWS:
Pros:
- Equally as quiet as Bridgestones (only 10,000 miles on tires so far)
- Cool tread design
- Longer treadlife of 540
- About a touch smoother ride
- Lighter tire, 5lbs lighter per tire, 21lbs total
- Feels about the same dry grip as Bridgestones
- Much better wet and light snow handling compared to Michelins and Bridgestones
- Just as good or better as Bridgestones with mpgs
- Non directional, can rotate left/right and front/back to increase tire life

Cons:
- Softer side wall, wife hit a curb and ripped a ¾ inch hole in the side wall where it meets the tread
- Hard to keep tire shine on the tire
- Smaller rubber lip to protect your rims against curbs
- Show more abuse on the tread if you hit the corners pretty hard compared to the Bridgestones
- Just a touch more squeal in the corners compared to the Bridgestones
- Can get a flat spot if the tires sit for a few days, smoothes out after a few hwy miles

burijon

Take off one of your rear tires. Is the inside tread worn unevenly? The tread will have one part higher than the next one across the inside edge of the tire.

It's most likely your rear upper control arms. Both of my Acura's I've replaced with the adjustable kind to bring the camber in spec. Problem solved till you get new tires which should wear evenly longer with the adjustable control arms.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=2967198

$43 each.

Yes I'll agree that Honda's generally are more noisier in the cabin especially with bad tires.

bshuba

mrgold38 - Thanks for the feedback on the tires. I like my Pole Positions but will take a hard look at the Conti's. I did scab a large piece of sidewall off my Poles while parking. That thick sidewall saves teh rim but leaves a gash in the tire.

bshuba

burijon - my right rear tire does have more wear on the inside than the outside. Does the fixed control arm not allow adjustment during alignment such that this uneven wear can be avoided? Is the control arm install a DIY or leave it to the Dealer?

EGbeater

What you appear to be describing (more wear on the inside edge of a tire than across the the entire tread surface) can be caused by two discrete alignment issues—toe and camber.

It would be unlikely for your car's alignment to be significantly out of wack, unless you've changed the ride height of the car with lowering springs, or you've at some time had a minor accident where you slid into a curb, or drove over a curb.

It is possible to see uneven tread wear with perfect alignment—if you drove a lot with passengers in the back seat or a lot of weight in the trunk, for example.

The OEM control arm on the TSX doesn't allow for camber adjustment because it's not typically necessary on a passenger car (the suspension of a more performance-oriented vehicle like a Lotus Elise or a Mitsubishi Evo provides adjustment for camber from the factory; this allows owners to finetune the handling of the car to their tastes).

Replacing a control arm—if you do determine that one is bent—is a pretty straightforward and easy job for the average DIY mechanic. The fact that you're asking may indicate that you'd be better off having a stealership or independent shop do the job for you, but all it really takes is a floor jack, some basic hand tools, and time.

You'll have to get the car properly aligned after replacing the bent control arm regardless of whether you do it yourself or have a shop do it.

burijon

EgBeater I totally agree it could be either or on the camber/caster. However I feel that the upper control arms sagging/drooping is a common problem with Honda's. I have anecdotal evidence via the other MDX forum from a Honda Technician that he wishes Honda would put on adjustables from the factory. Sure you could just get new ones or even just replace the bushings assuming they are not bent. For $90 for the pair and 2 hours of your time it's a cheap permanent fix.

http://www.mdxers.org/forums/73-2001...alignment.html

bshuba, I'll get some work instructions together for the TSX. I just did mine yesterday.

You can check the link above and see the pics I posted for my MDX. The idea is the same. It's very easy to do assuming you have a pickle fork or a crow bar to pop the knuckle(I think it's called a knuckle) out. The TSX required me to remove some brake routing brackets because I didn't have the proper sized socket wrench, but that's my own fault. Otherwise I would have been done in less than an hour for both sides.

EGbeater

Thanks for sharing your experience burijon. I haven't seen deterioration of an UCA bushing cause alignment issues (disintegration of OEM bushings before 100k miles is something that happens on Euros, not Hondas!) but my experience is all with lighter vehicles (e.g., Civics, Accords, Integras). With these vehicles, the only bushings that commonly fail/tear around 100k miles or so are rear trailing arm bushings, and lower engine/transmission mounts.

And I can definitely see buying the adjustable aftermarket parts over probably the same cost or more for the non-adjustable OEM units.

calisoulsurfer

I'd say its most likely tires as well.

I had a 96 Integra with 165K, and now an 04 TSX with 161K. Both had the exact same noise coming from the rear. A low roar. The noise gets louder/quitter with speed. Doing 60 in neutral or in gear doesn't change the noise.

Possibly a bearing, but considering two entirely separate models from nearly 10 years apart having the exact same problem? Seems like something Acura would fix if it was a known problem.

I believe its the tires for you and me. Why? My tires on both vehicles were pretty low in tread, and I started noticing the sound as the tires got down in tread. I'm at roughly 4/32 tread. We'll see when I change the tires in a month or so.