Ok folks,

I have about 400 miles on the car now, and I'm trying to do some "scientific" (yeah right) research on where/how the rattles are coming from. I have read the other posts, but my issues seem to be "slightly" different than some other people.

Let me first say that I really have no major problems with the car, although I do get a little vibration at 70-75mph.

I get a solid rattling buzz from what sound like the right front dash even on quiet roads. It is really difficult to tell where its coming from. So, I took all the CDs out of the audio system, took my radar detecter off the dash, turned off the stereo and climate controls, and listened.

It was still there. I opened the glove box and it didn't seem to make much of a difference.

Then, I closed the sunroof "cover", which I usually leave open to get some light in the car.

That seemed to make a HUGE difference, but I'm not convinced, as it only was for a few minutes before I got to work. I opened the cover back up and then I thought I heard a distinctive buzz coming from right above my head, then it seemed to go back to the right front dash area.

I'm going to take everything out of the glove box on the way home tonight, and try it with the roof cover opened and closed.

The problem is you can't really tell where the sound is coming from. All the other ratlles don't bother me as much, and most of them either go away after the car warms up or only occur over real "bumps". But this one is not a rattle, its a fairly consistent vibrating buzz that seems to move around. Is it possible that the sunroof clip people talk about being missing is causing enough vibration to manifest itself in another part of the car?

Is the Dealer responsible for fixing this?? (I know, dumb question).

And I wonder if anyone else has had similar problems with both the rattling in what seems to be the right front dash and with the vibration at higher speeds. Most people only report their vibration at 50mph, and mine seems to be less "violent" than theirs.

My 03 Accord didn't have these problems with rattling or vibration, I don't expect my 2x the price accura to have them.

Thanks.

Ryan

 

I would definitely have the dealer look at your car with you to fix the rattles. Many bad rattles are fixable. Sometimes I have found intermittent ones to be harder to fix.

 

There is a confirmed rattle in the vanity mirrors. See if it is there. My dealer evidently has a fix that the factory is considering implementing on the line.

 

I knew Acura had not done sh*t about fixing rattles... '04 is just like 03,02 TLS.... Its too early to tell, but I bet in 1-2 years it will rattle just like 02-03 TLS. The same build quality.... they just put more useless features.... and all I want is a solid, quiet car.

 

I’m not so sure about that. I've read in a couple of trade papers (living in Detroit and working in the auto industry we read a lot of "insider auto publications."

Acura has worked very hard on the 04 TL to fix, and answer some of the issues they had with the previous TL. Hence the significant time and money spent on the mirror design, and the windshield. The 04 windshield is a new "Acoustic Design" Acura claims, and one trade paper confirmed, that it reduces interior noise buy almost 10db over the 2nd gen TL.

I will say this. Some of the "rattle" complaints regarding the rear deck and the subwoofer I feel are a bit unwarranted. I mean even if you didn't have that stock sub, and put in an after market unit, that rear deck would most likely rattle. (not to mention the rear fender panels and deck lid. Especially if you listen to a lot of hip-hop or like music with the sub cranked all the way up.

It's a cost thing, Acura does not expect a lot of 18-28 year olds to buy this car, (sorry but no matter how much you like the car, and think it's meant, or ideal for you, YOU ARE NOT THE DEMOGRAPHIC they were shooting for) so there is no reason to spend the extra money in heavy dampening, or even Dynamat materials back there. Do you have any idea how much money a few dollars per car in extra stuff would cost an auto company? Over the life cycle it adds up to millions of dollars (i.e. lost profit.) It's not a good business move to add something a small fraction of the buyers are going to notice, enjoy, or make use of.

Most of the stuff I listen to (rock, hard rock, punk, alt punk, Jazz, New Age) have not caused a problem with the sub and the rear deck. But they are mostly tight quick response bass lines. Now when I throw in the Slim Shady, NWA, or Public Enemy. Yes, those synthesized bass lines that are really low, with long resonations, and a reverberation effect to boot. There’s some rattle. But sh!t, that’ll happen in any car unless you really add the materials needed to deaden all those surfaces.

For the subwoofer complaints! Pull up that rear deck cover, and get something between the metal and the cover. If your listening to the Carpenters or Andy Williams and getting rattles, then I would say something is loose.

Now door rattles, and the console, or seats, or dash. While just plain old driving (even with the radio off) that's a different story. That's just not supposed to be in a $35,000+ near luxury sedan.

$0.02

 

I still have a few rattles that are annoying as well. I also have a static-like buzz in mine that comes through the stereo speakers, but only when the engine is on. I posted a note about this a while ago, and it appears it may be some interference with the alternator. Could this be your buzz? I know this is a stretch, but turn the engine off, stereo on (source doesn't matter), and see if you still have the buzz. Anybody else have this going on? It's driving me nuts.

 

It isn't the stereo, I turned it off to hear the rattling better.

I'm thinking it is vibration due to some issue with the runroof sliding cover. Vibration in spot seems to be manifesting itself in another. When the cover is open, is when it seemed to be really loud. I'll do another check on the way home and report back.

I'm actually pretty annoyed by this. I can deal with a couple rattles now and then, but something fairly consisten over quiet roads pisses me off. My BMW had less rattles with 100k miles on it, including the squaking leather.

Is anyone else getting the vibration in the steering at 70-75 mph?

I'll check the vanity mirror to see what's going on there too..

Ryan

 

Perhaps they reduced the wind noise when you are driving on a perfectly smooth highway. Thats fine, but thats not what I was talking about. They should test those very on very bumpy roads and see if any of the interior clicks/rattles/squeaks and etc. They should also do that in a cold weather, that's when it becomes worse. Its too early to judge, when my 2001 CLS was 3-4 month old it was almost quiet... then I started devloping rattles and clicks in plastic interior. It really bothers me, the interior materials seem to be of a very poor quality. Just slightly knock on the plastic interior, its very thin and proned to rattles....
I dont know if Acura is the worst, I heard other cars like that also.... but I remember 10 years ago Japanse cars did not rattle at all... used to be build good... now its cheap and thin plastic all over the place....

My bet is that in few years 04 TL will rattle just as much 02TL..... I highly doubt they reduced rattles... (maybe comfort of the ride on a highway or normal roards.... ) but not rattles.

 

I don't entirely disagree. But this car has a lot less "rattling" out of the box, than my 01 CL-S did.

And as for testing the cars on bumby roads and in different climates. Every manufacturer does that, to a great degree. I mean they all have "proving grounds" in places like Arizona, Texas, New Mexico. Plus they do something called cold trips. Come winter, they'll take a few cars into Minnesota, Northern Michigan (the Upper Pennisula) or up into some of the more severe (cold wise) areas of Canada.

They even spend millions of dollars designing climate chambers. Here in Detroit, the big three each have indoor chambers that'll go to something like -30F or lower, they can even make it snow in these things. Then turn around and run it up to 150F, just to see what happens when the car goes from one extreme to another. Like that scenario would EVER happen.

They run them over all kinds of terrains. Sand, mud, gravel rocks, bested pavement. But it's still impossible to emulate every situation. Someone is going to buy that car, and come across a set of varibles that were not tested. As hard as they may try, it's just not going to happen.

Then there is the supplier. you'd be amazed at how many times a component is designed, fitted, tested and released for production. Only to have the vendor make a slight change here or there to get more profit out of it, and BANG! There's a rattle, leak mismatch in color or texture.

I'm not letting anyone off the hook here. But these things were easier to control when everything was done in house. These days very little is done by the OEM itself. Some companies turn the entire interior design over to a Tier 1 supplier.

 

rybocf,
You're getting very close to the rattle problem. I have it and the dealer demo unit has it to. I don't understand why they all don't have it. The exact cause of your and my rattle is the plastic flap that pops up from the leading edge of the sunroof opening. There is no support along the middle of that flap and, when closed, it vibrates like a tuning fork and makes contact with the opening frame. When you close the cover it rests against the flap and stops the vibration. Until Acura comes up with a proper support I've fixed mine by stuffing a small rag under the flap.

 

Picked my car up today (6MT non-Navi) and it has this vibration Rybo's vibration as well even when the sunroof cover is closed. It is constant, even on smooth roads. Any idea's?

Ryan H.

 

I hope for all you '04 owners' sakes that your '04's don't turn out like my '02 Type S.... rattle CITY!! and two transmission later... etc....

best of luck... let's hope that Acura listened to all of us gripe about the second gen. TL's

 

Hi Folks! I just purchased my '04 TL two days ago and noticed a pretty bad vibration (or rattle). After reading this thread, I took the car out and stuck my hand up into the front of the sunroof opening and found the piece that bluenoser was speaking of. Sure enough, that's it! Thanks for the tip!

Tomorrow I'll try some sticky felt pads or something underneath it...

 

I had my dashboard rattle fixed today. It turned out to be a loose bolt contained in the dash.

No vibration problems here.

 

Gregory28,

How did they find that loose bolt? Seems like a difficult problem to just locate out of the blue.

I'll take a look at my sunroof flap today and see if I can fix it.

Also, my glove box door rattles when closed sometimes. if you hold it closed with a little pressure it stops rattling.

These are minor nitpicks for a great car. AND, I'll take rattles if the major parts of the car hold up reliabily.

Thanks for the help,

Ryan

 

rybocf:

I didn't see them fix it. I guess they took the dashboard off and found the bolt causing the rattle.

BTW, I love the car. This was a minor thing.

 

Interestingly my experience is the opposite. My 01CL-S (~7500 build) had zero interior rattles for the first ~30k miles. When I sold it there were two minor rattles.

My 04TL (~2600 build) had a couple of rattles when new, and now has a couple more at about 1100 miles. Most are minor and don't happen often, but there is one that is annoying, so I'll track it down.

-r

 

I'm about to hit 900 miles on my TL and I have yet to notice any rattles. I have 5000+ VIN. Everything seems to be going well on the car so far with no issues that I've noticed. Rattles annoyed the living crap out of me when my '97 Maxima was new, and they kept moving all over the car as the years went on. I eventually came to the point I could ignore them, but when it was a new car I felt like beating the crap out of the dash with a sledgehammer everytime I heard a rattle coming from there.

 

I had a 96 Maxima, and agree 100%, some from day one never left, my car had more carpting padding on the dash than the floor. New ones kept poping up, I had about 3 when I sold the car last month. Never could seem to find them, but the dealer while under warr - kept putting more foam in