IdahoDave

I posted earlier about increasing mechanical noise in my 2000 TL. 134k miles. The noise has gradually been increasing since about 125k miles.

Most folks seemed to think it was rear bearings. I was advised to pull the tires, spin the wheels and listen for bearing noise with a mechanics stethoscope. No sign of noise whatsoever. So I'm inclined to think its not the rear bearings. I could be wrong, though.

When I pulled the front tires and spun the wheels, I noticed about 1/8" play when reversing directions. And there was a mechanical sound (a bit of a klunk) from the joint between the axel (half shaft?) and tranny. Could that be the source of my noise? Or is that normal play and normal noise?

I owned a Subaru for many years, and its noise was generally CV joints. REquired replacing the half shafts. Does the Acura have the same issue? Could it be CV joints, or whatever is located at the junction of tranny and shaft, that is causing my noise?

Here is a full list of symptoms.

-Mechanical noise that is speed-related, not RPM related.
-Seems louder when I brake, softer when I accelerate.
-When braking, I get a bit of judder in the steering wheel as the brakes come on. (Ball joints?) Then it stabilizes. Hard braking is stable.

What are your thoughts? Any other symptoms I should check?

01tl4tl

with a friend in the back seat to listen for noises:
swerve back and forth so the rear bearings are loaded and unloaded with force
that may reveal more than just spinning them
Have you pulled the wheels and done any visual ck of bearings?
rocked the rear wheels to ck for looseness?

cv axles go out on the TL- NAPA auto parts has complete new assembly for under 100

you need to have a real mechanic diagnose for you at this point- better to spend a few bucks to learn the right parts ,,or replace everything --and that should fix it~

totaledTL

When trying to pinpoint noise sources like that (especially by yourself) I've found it can be helpful to drive next to a wall of some type with window down. The sound bounces off the wall so it's obviously louder & easier to hear. Long warehouse walls (such as in industrial parks) are good places with lots of room and little or no traffic if you go during off hours.

IdahoDave

Good suggestions. Thanks, guys.

New CV Axle assembly's for $100 sounds great! Is there a DIY on that?

01tl4tl

DIYs are usually found in the DIY section
when you get to main gen2 thread page as you log in, look down master list lines and there it is
Official DIY thread list
here is the link- please save to your favorites https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tl-1999-2003-98/new-official-2nd-gen-tl-diy-thread-706083/
its 2 post by fsttyms 1- as he added more- see 2nd post for all of them

01tl4tl

ck NAPA auto parts for the new CV assembly at great price--they were 75, so I'm giving an inflation adjusted guesstimate price,,let us know

IdahoDave

I checked the DIY section and used the search, but could not find a DIY on CV joints. Anyone know of one I missed?