ipatella

I've been hearing this noise coming from the front of my TSX (both sides, but notice it way more on the drivers side) and it's driving me absolutely insane. The noise I hear only happens on those poorly maintained chicago side streets (Example: Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet), railroad crossings, stone driveways, alleys. Basically whenever theres a lot of rapid up and down movement from the suspension.

My tsx has 98k miles on it
-I hit a massive pot hole on the passenger side and got a flat tire at 37k miles. (Don't know if this is relevant)
-Started hearing the noise around 75k.

I've been to quite a few mechanics,
The first mechanic told me it was my rack that needs to be replaced. Pulled up the cost of a new one and it was well over $1k for the rack itself.
I wanted to get a second opinion because well over a thousand dollars is expensive to me. So I went to another mechanic, he didn't really hear the noise (it only happens particular bumps), he visually inspected the suspension, said everything was tight and said it was probably the strut because it's leaking a little. Gave me an $800 quote on new kyb struts and strut mounts. Said the rack looks fine.
Went to another mechanic, I wanted two mechanics to agree on what's wrong before I shelled out a ton of money. This one said nothing is wrong with the rack and it's this rubber thing that goes on my caliper. (Example: Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet).

I'm out $100 (paying people to look at my car) trying to figure out what this issue is and I was wondering if you guys had any ideas.

Can you help me out?

BROlando

Wait...what year is your car? When you PM'd me, I assumed you had a 1G.

2G's have a ball joint noise TSB which seems like a common issue.

is the noise more prevalent in warm weather?

Does the noise go away for a while after the car is jacked up off the ground?

ipatella

It's a 2010.
I couldn't say one way or the other if the noise is more common in the summer.
I'd say yes the noise does go away when it's jacked. I only say this because no mechanic has seemed to recreate the issue when the car is jacked in the air. Plus, I feel like it almost fixes the issue temporarily.

Do you know or trust any good mechanics in the greater Chicago area? I've tried using yelp as a good indicator but no one I visited has mentioned ball joints to me once, even with a TSB out.

BROlando

Yes, I know a very good shop in Elk Grove. PM me.

They can inspect it...and it wouldn't hurt for you to tell them about the ball joint TSB.

They also have a dealer connection, so they can get genuine Acura parts at your request. They'll likely tell you the same thing, but you definitely want Acura genuine ball joints. I believe they have been re-designed at Acura to fix the issue.

Their labour rates are also more than reasonable. I've also known the owner and employees for like 16 years lol.

Terdbath

I blew a front drivers strut pretty early on in my 2010 TSX. I could tell because I would go over a manhole cover on my way to work and it would be a super loud thunk. If I drove my passenger tire over that same manhole cover it was all quiet like normal. Visual inspection verified it was a blown strut. (leaking fluid covering the strut) After trying Koni yellows and then Megan EZ street coilovers I went back to stock struts on Tein S-techs and that has been my favorite set up. Good combo of handling and comfort. By the way 2 new front struts were only $240 from Delray Acura in Florida and easy to install yourself. Heck I've done my fronts like 5 times now.

Here is my original walkthrough under my old user name

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tsx-...ch-cu2-809439/

BROlando

According to OP, his shock isn't leaking. I'm surprised you went from Konis to stock. They're usually an improvement in ride and durability as compared to stock...unless they're set on their lowest perch setting or just set too low in general.

What did you dislike about the Konis?

Terdbath

OP got a second opinion from another mechanic "it was probably the strut because it's leaking a little"

First installed on the lower perch and it was super bouncy and much lower that the stock strut. Took off within a week so I could move up to the upper perch and that did make it better but still a little bouncy.

Maybe Koni Yellows pair better with the stock springs?

BROlando

Bouncy likely means they were set to full stiff? Or close?

I can't imagine them being floaty like they were under damped. Unless, of course, they were set with the ride height too low and at full soft? Even then....under damped (floaty) konis are rare.

Koni yellows take a huge range of springs. I don't know what the min/max recommendations are on the TSX application.

Most lowering springs (whether you're using stock shocks or Konis) apply the technique of low and soft...so they use the bumpstops as helper springs. So...it was likely just a matter of setting the damping more advantageously.

I think that if you felt that the stock shocks were LESS bouncy, you probably had the Konis set too stiff. They're built with a ton of damping force when the valve is closed. So...fully closing the valve (full stiff) makes them ridiculously difficult to expand. They only adjust rebound damping...so the upward stroke (hitting a bump) is not adjusted at all via the dial. They DO NOT adjust for bump damping, in other words. The dial only controls how much resistance the damper has to EXPANDING after you hit the bump.

Konis are set incorrectly all the time, for those reasons.

ipatella

Hey guys thanks for your help. I got the new ball joints, didn't really help with the noise.

I reached my hand under the wheel and took some pics and a video

This album should have 10 images in it: Tsx Suspension - Album on Imgur

This video I shot of all the components I could think of: https://streamable.com/51vwk

This is video of the noise, hard to capture on camera, but you can hear it towards the end of the video when I pass the crv: https://streamable.com/00hhl

ipatella

This is what the shock looks like under the boot https://i.imgur.com/ibv2BUc.jpg

I need new shocks don't I?

tecono1

Watched/listened to your video - is it that sort of lower-end rumble/rattle? If so, I have the same thing; I hear it when driving the last mile home on my unpaved road in Maine. Local Honda dealer (no Acura dealers in Maine!) didn't hear it themselves but when describing it said it sounded like struts as everything else was tight on the front end.

Did you ever find a solution?

Terdbath

That does look like a blown shock. Hopefully OP will respond if that was the cause of the noise or not.

BROlando

The shocks were not the culprit. I don't believe they were blown.

OP replaced them with brand new OEM units...and the noise persisted.

I believe he narrowed it down to an inner tie rod.