Had to replace my Transmission, Nav Unit, Driver Door Handle, Exhaust Tips @ 37,000! Finally convinced Svc Mgr that I was not on drugs when I heard a loud whine between 63 and 77 mph, that my nav screen goes blank at temps below 40 degrees, that my driver door handle only works half the time, that my rear bumper is getting blacker than it should be. Any way I guess the bill for all this would be about $9,000, but I still have 13k left on my warrenty. I guess they called Acura tech line and they agreed with my observation. Whew.


I still love my RL none the less.

 

transmission eh? That's a first in the second gen RLs...

 

Wow.

Glad you're back in business!


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Not true - Acura replaced the transmission (and the transfer case) in my 2005 RL back in November due to the same whining noise between 65 and 75 mph. It didn't solve it either.

 

I'm sorry to hear that even the RL's tranny is imperfect. Was kind of hoping to escape that kind of worry. At least the J35 engines are still bulletproof!

 

Did all those things happen at one time? I had the exhaust tip replaced seven months ago.

 

Hence, one would conclude that there was never anything wrong with the transmission or transfer case. Hopefully, they are bulletproof like the engine.

 

Just got off the phone with Acura of Spokane and they replaced the tranny and the noise was still their. They even replaced the shift cable etc. Just on a hunch, they took the drive shaft out of a 07 and replaced it and the noise went away, go figure. I guess the drive shaft is $1,900. So if any of you have a whine in your car, ask them to change out the drive shaft. The svc mgr said they spent x hours on the phone with Acura Tech line.

I hope this helps my felow RL brothers.

Beam

 

Got about 36k on my 05 Opulent Blue Pearl RL and since its gotten cold in Alabama my Navi-system has tanked. Even whe it was still warm, I got periodic error messages indicating that it was "Unable read the DVD media - Consult your Acura dealer". The messages became more frequent and at times, even when it could read the DVD drive, the Nav screen was blank. Eventually the error messages appeared every day and it took the system about 30 minutes to start operating properly. Fortunately on the day I took the car in to the dealer it displayed the aforementioned error message and the dealer is now ordering me a new nav system. (hopefully from a different manufacturer)

To sumarize, it started sporadically and went totally bonkers when it got real cold outside.

Hope my transmission doesn't go next - Anyone hear rumors about discontinuing the RL?

 

Thanks again for the head's up on your car. I thankfully don't hear any whining from my tranny yet, but will know what direction to point the service staff if it does happen.

So when do you get it back?

PS--I deleted the thread you started with this topic as your post here is more appropriate.

 

Thanks for NeuronBob!

I don't know when I will get my car back, as the nav unit is on B/O(1 week now). The Svc Mgr said he was going to call Acura National to get to to bottom of why the long wait for parts etc. But I can't complain too much as they gave me a 07 RDX and when I get my car back it should be in pretty good shape what with the new...drive shaft, exhaust tips, transfer case, nav unit, driver door handle, shift cable, new fluids etc. I think The Svc Mgr said that my warrenty work so far is close to $10K. He hopes the drive shaft comes in on Monday along with the Nav unit.

I so love this site as I have learned much from other owners. You do an excellent Job!!!! Thanks

 

I had my wife's MDX in for service this morning and mentioned this to the service advisor, as I've had the transmission and transfer case replaced in ym RL and still have the whining noise. He mentioned that they have 2 RL's in the shop right now for drive shaft replacements with right around the same mileage as mine. (20-25k) He gave me an appointment for Wed morning to check it out. I hope this is the fix that finally gets rid of this annoyance - I like driving sometimes with the radio off and it can be really distracting.

 

The drive shaft & nav unit are still on B/O! I'd like to know if changing your drive shaft took
care of your noise problem.

Beam

 

My super Acura NSX tech told me he replaced 2 drive shafts on the RL, the noise comes from the center bearing gone bad on the drive shaft, the whole shaft has to be replaced to get the new bearing.

 

Wow, I wonder what the cost is due to the fact that it's made of carbon fiber.

 

$1800 plus labor.

 

Went for a road test with the tech this morning to demonstrate the whining/whistling noise. He said it was similar to but not exactly the same as the 2 RL's in which he's replaced the drive shaft, so he was hesitant to just order a new one today since it's a $1900 part. I have to bring it back next week (since they had no loaners left) and leave it so he can remove the rear portion of the drive shaft and drive the car as FWD only to see if the noise persists. Apparently the carbon fiber drive shaft is in two 3 foot sections with a bearing in the center. When the bearing loses lubrication it whistles, and there is no way to fix it - they need to replace the whole thing. They also suspected some noise was coming from the fuel pump. I just want to be able to drive the car in relative quiet.

 

middle bearing has been a problem.

 

wow..i'm wondering if all RLs have to change its driveshaft sometime later because of the noise...

about how many miles did you guys have on the odometer before the driveshaft started making noises?

 

Just had my tranny, nav unit, drive shaft, driver door handle replaced. The whinning noise is gone, my door handle works the 1st time, nav unit comes on first thing even in the cold (dim at first). The svc mgr said that the 2 week delay in getting parts (drive shaft & nav unit) is probably due to high demand at the parts depot. The nav unit resides in the trunk area and only took about 10 minutes to put in. Everything seems to be working just fine.

 

That's probably close to $10,000 in parts alone. I had my transmission and transfer case replaced back in December and am bringing it back Thursday so they can evaluate whether the drive shaft needs replacing. Glad your car is running well.

 

I first started to notice around 30k. No TSB were issued or acknowledged as far as I know. But after reading posts on this site, I'm sure it is fast becoming a problem. The svc Mgr said all the replaced parts where 07 parts which tells him that the other parts had a problems.

Hope this helps ...

 

darn...i have to watch out for that. thanks

 

Update: Brought the car in this morning and they've diagnosed the drive shaft as the problem. The part is currently on national backorder so it will be replaced when the part arrives. I hope this is the fix that gets rid of the whining forever...or at least until this driveshaft goes bad.

 

Update: The service manager has the drive shaft in hand and gave me an appointment for Monday to install it. The interesting part is that he's received "5 or 6" calls from other dealers around the country who want the part from him to replace in other RL's since they can see it in his parts inventory. I wonder how many of those RL owners are members here...