Just bought a 04 TL 3 Weeks ago. I took it to the dealer today because I really noticed steering wheel vibration at around 45-60 MPH. They check it all out and said it is caused by the Torque converter and Honda is aware of this in the TL but they will let me know if they make a fix (new tranny or converter)..hmm. Can anybody else out there confirm or deny if these guys are blowing smoke up my ....





Besides that love the car.

04 TL Anthracite AT/NAV

 

Fiirst, welcome to the forum and to the Acura family!

There have been many reports of a vibration around that speed but, in the past, it has been blamed on the old EL42 Bridgestone Turenzas.

A few people wondered if it didn't have to do with low RPMs in top gear at that speed.

This is the first time that I have heard that it might be a torque converter issue.

I have had my TL since April and have not experienced it yet. My serial number is 42,xxx.
What is yours?

XP

 

Hope it's the tires as I was hoping it threw a weight or had a tire out of round or seperating. Car has 500 miles on it believe the Vin ends in the 53,xxx range.

 

The torque convertor has been mentioned in the past as well as the tires, and your dealer is providing confirmation of this issue. As xpditor says, the vibration has been associated with an engine speed of 1500 rpm in 4th/5th gears at 45-60 mph. Thought it had been taken care of in later builds. Consider the tires first, however (balancing, etc.)

 

Oh yeah....Thanks for the Welcome. Community is already helpful

 

That's what I was hoping. But they didn't even spin balance the tire to factor it out. But if I am replacing the rims and tires anyways I am already sleeping better.

Thanks guys.

 

IMO, as others mentioned above, this is quite normal issue so far, and Acura is still under investigation now. Yet I'm not sure if it's been taken care of in later builds 'cause I could sense the similar but slight vibration in my coworker's and friend's 04TLs, 57xxx and 53xxx, I do feel it. Well, it's not as significant as my early build 04TL (with PVC EL42s).

MDX has similar issue at 2k RPM.

Besides Torque Converter, we also talked about Tires, Tranny, Engine, and Resonance of Exhaust. The most possible reasons could be Resonance of Exhaust and early/easy engagment of Torque Converter. We guess the more damper or new design of Exhaust hanger plus better ECU program would help eliminate this issue.


I also find out my 04TL (5AT) has the best MPG around this vibration zone. When cruising on highway, I enjoy 34 MPG at this particular zone.




Welcome to the forum.

 

I recently spoke with someone at Acura Client Services and he mentioned a torque converter issue when I mentioned the vibration that I feel around 55 mph. He said that Acura engineers are still working on the problem.

 

Thanks for the Feedback. The more the better I feel..... Guess this will expedite getting either 18 or 19 inch rims with tires. Have another posting out there making sure I don't get something that won't fit right on the car.

Continous Thanks......

Keep it coming.

 

rvmeush... I guess I can't say the engineers are asleep at the wheel as in this case it might wake them up.


Still overall great car.....

 

it's either the el42 tires or the exhaust harmonic problem. is the rpm at around 1500 when this happens?

 

Wasn't looking at the RPMs at the time. Will let you know. I am banking on the Tires. Here in Vegas they are getting their 110+ degree test runs during the previous week. Was hoping the tire was seperating internally, out of round or a weight came off. However as I have been browsing the community I have seen that vibration has been reported alot. So was planning on getting rid of the Rims and Tires anyways. This provides the excuse.

 

the flat spotting for the tires usually occur more often in cold weather. when it is really hot outside the rubber thens to get softer and not retain shape. the flatspotting goes away when the tires are nice and warmed up from driving. my bet is its the harmonic issue, it mostly happens on 5AT because the rpms hover at around 1500 when cruising at 55mph. there is really no fix for that as of now but maybe acura might issue some sort of fix.