RzRKNiF

I just bought my 2003 Acura TL Type-S a week ago. It has 114k and says 'fixed' on the Acura site for the transmission recall. But anyway, the past 3 days, on my way to work, while driving at a steady speed of around 35 MPH, RPM very low around 1k-1.5k and in 4th gear, I would hear a humming noise, similar to the ABS self test when I start driving, but a much lower pitch, and also feel vibration under my feet. This is my first Acura, so I don't know if this is common or not, but I'd really like to know what is causing this. Other than that, everything else seems fine! Not sure if this matters or not, but the day after I brought it home, there was tranny fluid leaking under the car so I checked the level, and there was way too much in it, so I had to siphon some out to bring it back to the full level, and it hasn't had a single drop leak since. Also had to siphon out some oil but I don't think that's relevant. Thanks!

01tl4tl

fixed on recall only means it has the oil jet kit installed

how did you ck the atf ?
correct method is- from cold, drive 15 minutes on freeway at easy cruise
get off= park on level ground- engine off, in park- wipe and insert-remove
BETWEEN the 2 dots is desired range
upper is max level and there is variation in reading based on fluid temp

what was the engine oil level at cold?
most of use throw in 5 qts even though its spec is 4.6 or 4.7,,a little over is ok

ATF leaks dont belong on the TL
If it was overfilled because someone drained 3.4 qts atf and added 4 qts
that may cause excess from the vent
do you see atf on the underbody of the car?

if they used some off brand or especially dextron3, thats really bad for our trans

whats the atf look and smell like?

For anyone needing to change or adjust level like the OP, there are drain bolts on the bottem of the engine and trans for their fluids

on your noise- ckd motor mounts yet? it broken they allow movement which strains driveline and may cause noises and problems

the front (behind radiator) mount is well known for its failure around 60kmiles
then the passenger side mount fails,,then the rear if you leave the first 2 long enough

front and rear are vacuum boosted and fluid filled!! look for traces of oil and ck vac abilty--front looks compressed when its broken,,many pics on here

01tl4tl

when everything is right- it should run like a 200 hp sewing machine,,smoooooth

you are likely due for some maitenance thats NOT in the books- egr port and passge cleaning being the key one

your ABS self test is 2 quick noises at 5 and 15 mph

03tl-s04mdx

This sounds a lot to me like the transmission judder/rumble strip problem that is prevalent on 1st gen MDXes. Check out this thread for more info:

http://www.mdxers.org/forums/58-tran...re-thread.html

You can try driving in D4 when under 45mph to see if that alleviates the problem, otherwise you may need a new torque converter.

RzRKNiF

I checked the tranny fluid as recommended, after the highway drive it's between 1/2 to 2/3 between the dots. Driving around town and checking it, it's around the full dot. Before taking some out, it was about double the amount it should have been (as if there was a third dot there.)
There is still a little stain of tranny fluid under the car, but most of it burned off I guess.
The fluid looks and smells brand new, yet I've only driven it about 200 miles since I got it.
The engine oil was about 1 1/2 to 2 quarts over when cold.

I will look up more about the engine mounts in a little while, right now I'm gonna go to an Acura dealership to get some tranny fluid. I think I'm gonna add a little bit to it. I don't know what kind they used, but I'll look into get it flushed, or maybe do it myself sometime very soon, just in case.

I'll also try driving in D4 when I go to work tomorrow. That problem does sound very similar. It seems to happen only when I'm at the lowest possible speed for 4th gear, slightly over 1k RPM, and when I'm lightly pressing on the gas pedal.

Thanks for your help!

RzRKNiF

Well, after reading more into the link you posted above. I'm pretty sure that's what it is. I didn't get the problem in D4. I should see if it happens in SportShift, or would that not be a good idea? I also grabbed 1 quart of ATF fluid, which is the DW-1, since the Z-1 was discontinued. I'm considering doing a tranny fluid flush instead of adding a little of this to whatever is in there. I have an extended warranty, but it's for breakdowns only. If the TC fails, I can get it fixed then, but I don't have the money to do it out of pocket right now. I still should check out the engine mounts since those are also covered, if they're broken.
How much would an egr port and passage cleaning go for?

Thanks again.