DelawareCLS

Has anyone had any alignment issues with any of the recent model year CL's? I have an '03 CL-S 6mt which came from the factory out of alignment and with the steering wheel one notch off from center.

Now, it ended up taking approx. 2 months to get all of these issues corrected, among others. They finally re-aligned the 4 wheels about 2 weeks ago (car had a distinct pull to the right once the steering wheel was straightened). For about a week, it seemed ok but the steering was very light when centered, and did not feel natural at all. Over the past week, the alignment has returned to its original pull to the right, which results in overcompensation in the steering wheel to the left.

The alignment issues are not related to torque steer (occurs when under no throttle), ruts in the road (flat surface testing), crown of the road (can reproduce it in all lanes and surfaces), and I have not hit any potholes or curbs since the alignment was done, all of which the dealer has suggested as causes. I compare the alignment to my '01 CL-S, which I traded in 3 months ago and exhibited none of these issues. I also have a loud, metallic clunk from the right rear when I take a hard left turn.

Any thoughts? I'm getting tired of going to the dealer to fix these seemingly minor issues on a brand new vehicle (I've been there 6 times since I bought it 3 months ago).

Thanks.

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

Might be able to lemon law it. Check into it. You should have gotten a lemon law book with the car. You can do it after x amount of times at a dealer for the same problem. I was going to say bad tires, but since you hear a clunk sound it might be a bent strut, or other suspension piece.

gsrblack

My 6MT came from the factory with a slight pull to the right. When I picked up the car, they said it was the crown in the road...they checked it but said it was in spec...but after a few months, it still pulled (very slightly though), so at my 1st oil change, I told the dealer about this. They realigned it since they found it wasn't within spec...but now the car is fine and drives great. I've got 7900 miles on it now.

CBR1100XX

I had the same damn problem, and my local dealer was starting to blow me off, thinking I was demanding too much from my car. Then at 8000 miles I had my tires rotated and balanced. To my surprise it resolved the issue. it seems I had a bad tire on the car. I think the dealer should replace the damn tires. it will be a problem when I have them put back on the front. BTW, this happened to me on my 97 Integra as well. Discount tire gave me two new Yokos, but I think Acura will put up a fight.

DelawareCLS

Interesting, because I do seem to have a bad tire on the left rear (really low on air about once every week or two). Maybe I'll swap them around this weekend and see what that does. I would think that would force me to the left, though.

Still a little concerned about the clunk in the rear though. Any thoughts on what I should look for while it's up this weekend??

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

When we say bad tire we mean the tire is defective.
In most cases rear tires won't make the car pull.
Swap the front 2 tires only. Left to right, right to left. If the pull moves to the other side, you have a bad front tire. If it's the same, or worse, swap them back, & then move them front to back on the same side. If that doesn't do anything, swap the rear 2, if it still isn't correct, then it's not any of the tires. It the cars suspension, or steering. Also if you are lossing air in 1 tire, It might have a nail it it. Or bad valve stem.

Klamalama

How "new" was your car? Perhaps it got into a wreck while the dealer had it? These things sometimes do happen.

DelawareCLS

Car was driven 100 miles on a dealer swap (I wanted silver, my dealer had a black one to swap), but other than that there should not have been any other mileage on it.

paulff3

I Lemon Lawed my first 6speed due to alignment problems. I wrote about my problems in previous posts if interested.

Dealer and the regional rep tried like hell to fix it. Dealer had it five times, replaced all of the tires, aligned it three or four times, bla..bla..bla.

I sent Honda Motor Corp official notice of my intent to proceed with Lemon Law. That's when the region rep got involved. But he couldn't fix it either.

This took 6 months to play out. They offered me a new car so I took it. New one is fine.

Oh, the car with alighment problems had 200 miles on it when I bought it. I'll never do that again. Should have known bettter when the sales guy said "want to go on a really bumpy road"!!

Hope this helps.

DelawareCLS

Sounds eerily familiar. I'll swap the tires up front and see if that helps. If not, then it's back to the dealer again.

drebowl

I've got a 03 CL Type S with Navi...I've had a lot of problems..

It has been to the dealer five times regarding the engine light coming on..each time it has been due to the gas cap and gas spilling? that seems to be resolved now after numerous part replacements...but I'm having problems with the car not wanting to start sometimes...the engine seems to chug and it wants to die. I took it to the dealer and they said nothing is wrong and that I should apply gas when starting? They also said the memory chip in the key sometimes doesn't connect with the engine causing hesitation?

Has anyone experienced this?

Also, the other day my navigations system got stuck..I was driving somewhere trying to get directions and it froze..I had to stop and turn the car on again..Is that normal?

drscoop

Just went over 10,000 miles with my 03 6spd. So far nothing even the pickiest of new car owners could complain about except.....2 speeding tickets in 2 months! This car is simply intoxicating and it takes extraordianry restraint not to take it to redline even around town. No starting problems even here in Denver where the temps have been as low as -5 degrees some mornings. My car tracks straight and true with beautiful brake modulation. I know it is only 10,000 miles, but I will post any and all problems that might develop.

joeandcarol2

my car had 5 miles on it when i picked it up... no alignment problems

joeandcarol2

I've always felt alignment problems are very hard to fix. Most place just make it worse. I know of one very good very expensive body shop that seems to do it right. They also straighten frames. Done this to my wifes car. Always comes out perfect