Just wanted to take a quick poll of the owners on this board....I just picked up an anthracite TL with auto last week, after putting about 700 miles on it, the car seems to run smoothly at varying speeds up to 80 mph. Is the infamous driveline vibration something that is common with this car? does it occur after the car puts on some mileage? I have experienced some of the rattles that others complain about, but overall I'm fairly happy.

 

You must be a very, very lucky person.

 

Lots of ppl have no such "characteristic" vibration on their cars.

Many ppl are unable to describe/feel/identify this tricky vibration.

Others are having the bad luck (some have slight vibration; others have serious vibration).



Bonus thread: http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90614





Edit: I added up that poll for golfingguru. If u don't like it, please blame me.

 

Mine was pretty bad, not only did it shake the whole car, but it made a dronning sound too.

Right at 1500rpms.

This was in addition to the tire flatspotting issue, and the never ballancing tires and wheels.

And yes, mine was made on a Friday

 

Like everyone else, I have it at 1500 rpms. It's definitely a resonance type of deal in my case. I know from the mild resonance when I've hit 35mph and 50mph every single time! I've not noticed it so much lately because I've either acclimated to it or just vary my speed a whole lot.

dsc888

 

They replaced my tires and 98% of the vibration went away

 

i don't know if this is the same as what you refer to as driveline vibration but just a few nights ago (about 300 miles on the car) i started feeling a little vibration. the best i can describe is the feeling of driving a manual transmission, taking off on first gear with too much gas over clutch (if that makes any sense). you manual drivers probably don't know this feeling cause you've been driving it and have mastered it already. but for a newbie like me, my friend let me learn stick on his leased car and he said i was releasing the clutch to fast and too much acceleration. so the outcome was a little vibration which is the same i'm feeling with my auto TL.

another thing that happened that same night, i was braking, half way down on the brake pedal and the whole car vibrated while stopping, noticably on the pedal. dry road, cool night so i don't really know what could have caused it or if it's related to the "driveline vibration".

 

Minor vibration right at 1400 rpm (50mph +-) It really does resemble a driveline harmonic issue (feels like it's just the bad spot in the powerband)

Alextclam - If it was hard braking you may have triggered the anti-lock brakes ... it'll feel like you're braking on gravel. Mine kicked in one morning and I thought it was a bit premature but oh well, better safe then sorry.

 

i thought i was the only one! I get that droning noise/vibration and low RPMs (1400-1500ish) at higher gears

 

I have now had two TL's...first one was wrecked.

Car with 45XXX VIN had the vibration around 50-55 mph and the 65XXX car has it too...maybe even a bit worse.

At this point they should have the better tires on them.

If it is related to the drivetrain, it should be noticable at multiples of the slowest speed too. So if it vibrates at 55mph, it should also vibrate at 110mph...but because it is faster, the amplitude will be less...harder to notice.

Not that I recommend driving at those speeds

 

VIN is 56XXX...with 3000+ miles, no vibration all the way up to 100mph.

 

I Have Vibration And My Car Is @ The Dealer For A 2nd Set Of Tires.

I Have A Question. Does Anybody Else Passenger Seat Shimmey When There's No One In The Seat. I Can See If Im Going Over A Bump But When Im Driving On A Regular Highway The Seat Is Going Off. It Drives Me Crazy.

 

What you meant "seat shimmy"? You're sure it's not B-pillar or seatbelt but the passenger chair itself. Acura didn't tighten it well?

 

Actually, it depends on what vibration you have, if it is only the tires and wheels, then the worse harmonic is around 50-60mph so most feel it there.

If it is the harmonic resonance issue, then it is at 1500rpms, and yes, it does do it everytime the car hits 1500rpms (such as at 30-35mph in 4th gear, 50-60 in 5th gear, and I can not remember the speed in 2nd, but you usually pass it too quick), this is for the 5AT (not 6MT).

Biggest problem is that people have a hard time identifying the cause (either tires or the driveline issue). There have been many write ups of how to reproduce the 1500rpm vibration in the past.

 

No, you are not the only one, this has been complained about since late October, many have it I am sorry to say.

Acura calls it a harmonic resonance, and supposedly is caused at 1400 - 1500 rpms in the exhaust system, though some have said it is the torque converter (but some who had it replaced said there was no difference).

Good luck!

 

I recently took my 5AT back in for the 3rd time to J. Eagle in Houston...Like many the vibration would happen only @ 70mph .....and yes Bridgestones were replaced months ago with Yokohomas at no charge...Anyway this time the balance seemed to work....There is absolutely zero vibration now...I think many should look at this issue more than the drivetrain....

bm

 

I have the 1500 rpm vibration (especially in 5th gear) and have tried hard to figure it out. My latest theory is that the 5 speed automatic has some sort of "overdrive" setting that locks in the transmission and causes the vibration at 1500 rpm. I say this because I can "blip" the throttle a little bit the vibration goes away... as the rpm settles down to 1500 rpm it says "vibration-free" for a few seconds then seems to lock in and start vibrating again.

Is this possible?? All the "spec" sheets simply say "5 speed automatic" and don't mention any type of overdrive system.... so maybe this is a stupid thought.

 

My TL just started having this vibration problem. It starts at 65mph and up. Vibration is hell on wheels at 80mph plus. It is not getting any better. I will have to return to the dealer to have it checked. In case you are wondering, I have Acura Chrome wheels with HPT's.

 

Mine is more of a vibration "sound" than a feeling, if that makes any sense. For me, it is more velocity dependent than RPM dependent. I get it at about 45-65 MPH, and it seems like it's coming from the driver's side front tire. I've been planning to replace the tires (with Michelins) to see if that helps.

 

For those who complain the noise at this particular speed/RPM/gear, TOV ever tried to quantify the noise level by SPL meter with A-weighted readings.

• At 5th gear/1500 RPM, it's consistently 72 dBA.
  
  
• At 4th gear/1500 RPM, it's about 66~67 dBA.

The car used for this test had no significant "driveline vibration", but the droning noise. This is just annoying.

 

Mine has improved slightly with Pilot Sport A/S tires (and the software update as I mentioned a couple months ago), but it's still there.

I rarely drive 50-55 in 5th (highway driving is all 70+; local road driving is in 4th when possible), and I would argue that in a year (9000 miles) my transmission has "mapped around" the 55/5th combination.

 

I had it at 75mph. Tires were rebalanced and found to be in specs but two were ever so slightly out. After they were redone, I haven't any more issues with that.

 

I must admit, I took the new car out on a small few hundred mile trip and I did notice vibrations above say 80. Have other people experience this? Any recommendations?

DJBNYC

 

Does anybody know if this has been fixed in the '05s?

 

I have noticed the vibration in my 04 with about 300 miles on it. It is not that bad an I only notice it when I am lugging the engine....1500rpm in 5th gear. All ATM have a torque converter that locks in when the car is in its' top gear. To me that is what my vibration sounds and feels like. If I blip the gas the converter jumps out and all is good.

Some should try and put the car into the self shifting mode and see if putting the car in 3rd or 4th gear at speeds of 35-50 takes the vibration away. If so maybe there can be something done with the transmitions shift points by Acura.

 

See my post above. Dealer did work FOC.

 

Soo, how are the 05's doing in this area??

 

I had the same problem after 4K miles. I took the car for service and this is what I found out about this issue,

"FROM TECH LINE ON ANOTHER TL WITH SAME PROBLEM THEY HAD ME NEUTALIZE THE ENGINE MOUNTS. TECH LINE THINKS THAT AT THIS SPEED THE DRIVER IS FEELING PULSE THROUGH THE MOUNTS. LOADED ENGINE FROWARD AND BACKWARD THEN RETIGHTENED MOUNTS."

The vibration is gone at 55mph (didn't have vibration at 80-90mph).

I hope this help.

 

Lroche - tell us about your car - year, etc.

Thanks,

David

 

04 TL 5AT
Made 2/04
Vin # 32XXX

 

lroche: Welcome to the Acura family and to our forum.

I am very interested in the information you posted. No doubt so are lots of other ppl.

Is that notation what the service writer put on your work order?

Have you had any re-occurance?

Perhaps members with the vibration problem should print your post and take it with them to the Acura Service Dept.

Points for you to get you started.

 

That is the notation the service writer put on the work order. The car seems to be running fine, no vibration problems in the past 5 days.

 

Im receiving my vibration from 50 to 65. Its not everytime i drive the car. It seems to happen more often if the car has sat for a day or more.

 

12000 kms and NO vibration at all. I originally had the 17" Turanzas, now I am driving the 18" Yokos

Demetrius

 

I'm driving my second '04 TL (don't ask where the first one ended up) and I'm totally exhausted by the vibration/shimmy/thumping noises that it makes. The first TL (purchased early Oct., '03) lasted <1,000 miles, but it rode smooth at all speeds. The replacement (purchased in late November) has most of the symptoms other owners have noted.
My dealer has been working with me.... he put re-formulated EL 42's on the car but it shook WORSE... I took it back and he had to rebalance all four wheels. Ironically one of the tires was out of round. (Thanks Bridgestone... that boosted my confidence). The vibration went back to it's original level. Then he put on another set of EL 42's (don't ask me why) and it still vibrated/shimmied. He had the district manager drive the car and he said it was because the car had more "road-feel" than I was use to..(please, that was pretty insulting). Then my dealer got 4 Michelin Pilot XGT Z4's (at his cost) and mounted them.... oh yeah, before this they took four wheels of a TL that was just delivered and it still vibrated.... 55mph is the most frequent, but depending on road surface/temperature, etc., it can start as early as 45 and usually decreases as I go over 60mph. I've shifted gears on the 5 speed automatic and it doesn't change things, so I don't think that its RPM related. I think it is a speed/rotation issue. My dealer is pulling his hair out and I'm reading all of these postings.
Some people have had torque convertors replaced, some have gotten better alignments, and some have gotten Michelin Pilot Sport A4's... oh yeah, back to my XGT Z4's... The car still shimmies at those speeds. These tires are noisier than the EL 42's (especially on concrete and going over cracks/tar-strips). They handle nice and are really good in the rain, but I still have that stupid shimmy.
I hate to do the Lemon Law thing, but I'm running out of patience.
Anybody know if Acura is going to announce anything??? Hey, how did Consumer Reports rate this as the best ever in it's class... Jeez, what ever happened to Japanese reliability???
HELP???

 

I still have the 50 mph issue but only when the car is cold. After warming up it goes away for the most part. It does go away if you use SS and don't lug the engine. I think it has to do with either the torque converter locking up or the motor mounts as indicated above.

Iroche - let us know if your fix is permanent..........works for more than a few weeks.

Thanks for the info.

 

I am new to the Acura. (driving too). Wut is "lugging the and blip"? thanks

 

It is not your tires or wheels. You have a harmonic vibration that they can not correct. Acura should replace your car. I know of many others that they are buying back for this problem.

 

i feel little vibration around 50mph and i havnt got used to it yet and its been like 4 months

 

I had this problem of vibration in the 80km/h 4th gear (not in 5th), and had acura replace the BS with Pilot Sport A/S. Vibration was less and I generally skip over the 80-90km/hour speed. However I can tell you I drove my wife's 02 Odyssey (Honda) and noticed the same kind of resonance type of vibration around the same speed. I believe the trannys are made by the same company and are similar enough to be both recalled for the same issue this year, it seems to me a tranny issue. Also I recall when the tire vibration issue was brought up when the car came out, someone attributed their problem to "exhaust" resonance. My 0.02.