Hello,

I am a first time Acura owner and am mostly satisfied with my new TL. However, there are some issues I am having and was curious if anybody else has the same problems?

First, the car is an automatic with 18" wheels (the dark-finished ones). The ride is nice and smooth, although on some concrete highways it tends to be a bit noisy. I'm guessing that's normal because of the LP design.

The first problem is when I change directions in the car. Every time I take the car out, I back out of the garage. When I place it in drive and accelerate, it sounds like there's a scraping sound that only lasts less than a second. At first I thought it was the tires hitting the body work, but the origin feels like the drivetrain. I wasn't able to reproduce the problem yet by simply changing directions -- it only is noticeable after the car is first started and when changing directions.

The second problem is with the back wheels bottoming out. The other day I hit a trivial dip in the road, and it sounded like the back tires bottomed-out against the body work -- WTF? Anybody else have that problem?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

Mike
2004 Acura TL w/ Navi, 18" wheels

 

Welcome to the forum.

Were U talking about "flap", "thump", "clank"-like sound? Is it usually happening in the morning when you first drive?


Or you talked about the noise from the transmission when shifting between R and other gears?

 

Thanks.

Yes, the sound is more like a flapping or clank. So far, it only happens when going from R to D. It happens in the morning all the time, but it also happened one day when I parked the car for 1/2 hour -- started, went into R, then D and then the clank/flap sound.

Also, there's some noise when shifting from D to R without moving the car. I had my wife continously shift between D and R while I listened under the hood. If you were to shift a manual trans without the engine running, that's what it sounds like.

Thanks.

 

Forgot to mention that the car also has:

-- Underbody spoiler
-- Body side molding

 

does that noice only happen once u start the engine, but after that u don't hear any noice.
once u shut off the engine and restart again, that sound comes back.
if that's the problem, wait.
i am going to see my dealer this wen. hopefully they will give me the answer of that.
and i will let u know what's going on with our car.

 

The topic of a clunking/thumping noise when the car is first driven after being parked for a while- like first drive of the day, when going from R to D then going about 5-10MPH has been covered here extensively (try a search).

We have learned it is the ASB or anti-skid brake system setting up and doing a self test. It is a common experience although I have not noticed it on my 5AT in the first 1,000 miles.

It sounds like this is what you are describing. If so, it is normal.

XP

 

Ibelieve what you are hearing is the anti-lock brakes. Every time I back out of my garage and then proceed forward, I get to a certain speed and I hear that noise. My 03 CL TypeS did the same thing but it was a different sound.

 

Yes, the sound appears under the following conditions:

-- car is started
-- drive in R
-- switch to D, within a few seconds there's a thud/flapping sound

Thanks.

 

Seems to be the ABS self-test.
Happens to My CL too.

 

Thanks everyone for your contribution to my problem. So sorry for the redundant post...

Any feedback or direction on the wheel bottoming-out problem would be greatly appreciated.

 

Concerning the back wheel bottoming out, anything heavy in the trunk or backseat when it happens?

 

It really shouldn't be "bottoming out" with the 18" wheels any easier than with the 17" stockers. the outside diameter is nearly the same regardless of the diameter of the wheel itself.

 

Looks like I might have found the problem. There's rub marks on the rear underbody spoiler behind the rear wheels. I'll have the dealer look at this.

Anybody having similar problems with 245/40/ZR18s, check for rub marks directly behind the wheels.

Thanks.

 

I'd get that checked out ASAP... as someone who just installed the underbody kit two days ago myself, there should be about an inch of clearance between the spoiler and the tire at the closest point.

 

No, there's nothing heavy in the trunk or backseat.

The dealer put the underbody kit on, so they'll have to fix it.

Thanks.

 

The noise you are hearing is the ABS self test and is perfectly normal..and after a while, you won't even notice it......as for the scrape marks....that just shouldn't be.....have someone check the car before you damage the tires then the warranty might not apply on the tires.
Enjoy your car, it's a great machine.

 

Besides ABS check noise in first driven after being parked for a while, you seem to mention another clank sound by shifting gears between R and others.

IMO, these two are different. One is "flap, thump, clank"-like noise and happens around 10 MPH in first driven after being parked for a while, which is caused by ABS system.

Another (clank noise) is kind of normal, too, which is often happening in all FWD vehicle. FWD transmission is used to generate that sound when shifting between R and other gears.

 

AcuraTL2004,

Please try to take pictures or describe better the rub marks you see. So we can, one, all check for them and two, better help figure out your problem. Tnx

 

Just got the TL back tonight. Happy to say all my problems got resolved, but at another cost. Dealer scraped up my rims changing the tires and scraped the plastic molding by the rear door taking the seat out. Another dealer from hell ...

 

LOL! He's right. I searched typing in "Clunk" and found articles pertaining to this. At first I was thinking, kinda vague there but it worked. That was cool of you to address it in your post Xpditor, as I've seen other people go off on newbies, criticizing them for not searching, when in fact they may have but still couldn't find what they were looking for.

Glad to hear your problems were resolved too AcuraTL2004!

Nick

 

This has never happened for me. I have about 2,400 miles and purchased end of June. I wash every week (but it's not garaged kept , but I don't have a choice right now).

 

So happy to hear that issue with the "Clunk," is normal. I just ignored it cause of my warranty. But now I know it is normal. FAntastic. I want to put 18"s on my ride, but I load the back up with all my gear, wonderining if I should just leave the 17"s on?