OK, now I know other people have experienced this problem and would like to know what others are hearing from their dealers, or have taken their TL in to the dealer and what is the official diagnosis?

I noticed it again this morning after a few days sitting in the garage. I think it happens only on cold starts and as you accelerate, you will start to notice the vibration in the car and the steering wheel around 50mph.

 

Does the problem eventually go away after you drive for a while and the car now warms up?

 

I think that the consensus is that the semi performance tires on the TL are "out of round" when cold. It goes away as soon as they warm up for me.

 

I noticed this with my Yokohama AVS db Ultra High Performance tires. They tend to be slightly flat spotted after being parked for 8 hours or so. The vibration works itself out after about 10 minutes of driving.

 

My BMW did this all the time, although I haven't experienced it on the TL (but its only been 100 miles).

The 540i had this problem, along with most of the other 5 series, and the problem felt like it was a cold tire pressure related issue. People on the BMW forums insisted there are specific tolerances for both alignment, tire pressure, and lug nut torque that would cause this problem at certain speeds if the above 3 vairables weren't matched up correctly.

I'm betting that it is either: Your cold tires having a "flat edge" for a minute, or your cold tire PSI is causing it until the tires warm up, or your lug nuts are over/under tightened, or your tires were not balanced correctly, or lastly an alignment issue.

Ryan

 

lamster.....as others have stated above, this vibration problem will go away after a few miles of driving, which seems to point to an 'out of round' cold tire phenomenon. this is the first car/tire combo where i've noticed this issue. i'm gonna take it in this week to have them check the balance and lug nut torque....will post back if any improvement.

 

Yep. The same here. I noticed the vibration when I first took delivery of the car, and then noticed it a few times during the following few days.

When I started to pay close attention to it, I noticed that:
1. The vibration it only noticeable if I get on the freeway immediately after leaving my garage, speed up to 50 miles an hour and hold that speed for a while. Then I notice some slight vibration for what appears to be 3-4 seconds and then it disappears.
2. If I drive city streets for at least 10 minutes before getting on the freeway (which I normally do anyway), then the vibration does not even appear.

And when I say "vibration", it actually feels more like a slightly rough pavement than any kind of serious vibration.

Either way, it only appears after the car sat in the garage for a day or two and is gone after 10 minutes of driving. So I decided not to worry about it for now. It does indeed sound like an issue with the tires more than anything else.

Just my 2 cents
/tallrussian

 

I had my 50-55 mph vibration checked today. The dealer found both front tires out of balance, but still a small vibration. He's further diagnosed a wheel out of round and has ordered a new one.

Mike

 

I haven't hhad any vibrations but GOOD VIBRATIONS!

-Another Mike

 

no vibratons.

 

Try this guys. I have the same vibration problem at around 50mph.

If you have an automatic, switch from fully automatic to manual and down shift to 4th gear when the vibration starts at around 50 mph. The vibration seems to go away under manual mode if you down shift.

I not an expert in transmission, but seems to be that in auto mode, the car shifts too early into 5th, making the egine vibrate abit. Any experts out there that can shed some light???

Also, at around 50-60mph, when in manual mode in 4th gear, gun the gas pedal. The car does not rev normally. No power. Does nothing.:wow:

Man, I hope the vibration problem, etc is not a tranny issue

I'm still loving the car, but the honeymoon is OVER

 

i think the vibration is coming from the engine and the transmissions....it happens when the torque convertor is locked up with the engine @ a pretty low rpm range (5 gear)
that's y when u swtich to 4 gear the vibration kinda goes aaway...cuz it doens't lock up anymore...
it happens to my honda odyssey too....

bty, do u guys notice any vibration from the floor?? cuz there's high frequence vibration coming from the floor....AT ANY SPEED....and i just picked the car up ...soo...any thought about mine??

 

My other car is an Odyssey as well and it does not vibrate like my TL even loafing along at 45mph in 5th; the Ody is like butter.

It makes sense that you'd feel the vibration less when the torque converter isn't locked up; the torque converter itself will absorb some of the vibrations coming in on the half shafts. This would also explain why accelerating causes the apparent vibration to be reduced.

I'll start to get really concerned if I get the new wheel and still have the problem then.

No clue on your vibration; mine does nothing of the sort.

Mike

 

Does this happen only with the Autos?

 

Since my problem appears to be a distorted wheel and bad tire balance from the factory, I'd have to say it wouldn't be auto only.

It certainly isn't all automatics; the demonstrator I test drove did not have the problem.

Mike

 

I just picked up my NBP/Parchment on Tuesday and I have the vibration also. It was so noticable that I drove right back to the dealer after going just 2 miles from the dealer. The service manager checked the tire pressure and found it to be a little to high. I have an appointment set for 11/24/03 to get the balanced checked.

 

After reading all the posts on this I paid careful attention on teh highway for the past couple days.

I get vibration (Automatic) at higher speeds, like 70 mph. It is slight, but at its worst point I can almost see my hand on the wheel shaking just a little.

It feels like a wheel balance issue or something.

Is this what others are experiencing?

On my BMW it actually SHOOK the wheel sometimes, but then the vibration usually went away after the tires warmed up. With the TL is seems to be consistent at speed. It isn't horrbile, but my accord didn't do it, so for twice the money I expcet this car not to either. I guess I'll take it in to the dealer

Ryan

 

I have the vibration issue also. 40-60 mph is when I get the vibration. Just in the morning like other people.

I got it the first night I picked up my car and freaked out. (Going over a bridge and my new car shakes. I was not a happy camper)

Brought it to dealer next morning and by that time wheels were hot and service guy thought I was nuts.

My quesiton is:

Should I demand new tires or have the dealer find out which tires are out of round?

There must be a solution to this. We should not accept this as being acceptable.

 

As per my earlier post...the vibration seems to occur at 50mph when applying gas...when I release the gas pedal, vibration goes away. You guys can try this by reaching 50 - 55 and applying just enough gas to maintain the speed. (and for god sakes...turn down your radio for a minute..you may not notice it)

Also, the vibration goes away when using the manual shift and shifting to 4th gear, but if I shift back to 5th, and maintain speed of 50-55mph while slightly applying the gas, the vibration returns.

Vibration is definitely coming from the engine. It runs rough at 50-55, hence the vibrations. It happens consistently, even when I've been driving for a while. I can't be the only one with this issue??? Can it be???

 

I have the consistent vibrations too, definitely not just during "warmup". I really feels like its coming from my tires though, because acceleration/RPMs have no impact on it, and it varies over certain road conditions.

I think I have a wheel/tire/alignment issue.

Ryan

 

Wow, someone else finally picked up on this, I have complained about the same thing in my 11 day review.

Almost seems like it is in too low a gear for the RPM's and the engine is lugging, causing the vibration.

I had Acura HQ on the phone yesterday (they called me about my off axis steering alignment) and told them all about it, they said they would look into it.

To me, they are just shifting way to early.

Let me know what you find!

 

mine vibrates at about 55mph... even after a 3.5 hour drive to vegas. i should hope the tires are warm after that!

i've also noticed that at speeds above 55 there is still a slight vibration.

 

Supergreen, you have a 6spd, correct? I was thinking it was only the Autos.

 

Well, Supergreen has what seems to be the same problem I have, and I have an AT.

It has nothing to do with RPMs for me.

I bet some of us are seeing engine vibration, while others are seeing tire/wheel/alignment issues. These are probably 2 different problems.

Ryan

 

My sentiments exactly! It's coming from either the engine or the tranny.

I, too, noticed that the vibration occurs only if I keep the throttle steady at 50-55 MPH in fully automatic mode.

Initially I thought that the vibration was from the wheels that were out of balance, but then I noticed that the problem disappears as soon as I either shift the transmission into "drive/manual" mode or simply shift it from "drive" into "neutral" (yes, at 55MPH). Either of those actions instantly make the ride as smooth as butter. The vibration comes back as soon as I shift back into "drive/full auto".

So it is definitely not from the wheels. It is either the engine or the transmission (or both). Somehow those two do not seem to play together well in the "auto" mode at 55 MPH. I'm going to have to ask the dealer's service department look into that at my next (first) visit.

Has anyone else had any fixes applied to that yet (engine/tranny CPU reprogrammed by the dealer, or anything like that?) I wonder if there is a TSB for that yet? Since a little more gas seems to fix the problem, I'm hoping the fix should be quite easy.

/tallrussian

 

mine is an auto.
sorry... forgot to post up my sig.

 

I have the vibration in my 6MT but I'm fairly confident it is the tires. I have a new set coming once installed I will know for sure.

The issue with the AT sounds a lot like the problem I had with the AT in my CL-S. The first tranny died at 30k under light driving conditions and was replaced with the same updated tranny that was in the '03 CL-S. It felt completely different (less torque) and shifted into 5th way too early nearly bogging the car down and causing numerous vibrations. Hope that is not the case with the '04 TL's.

 

I have an appointment on Monday to check the vibration issue. I was going to wait until my first oil change to take care of this and other issues I've had (rattles, etc), but vibration is starting to worry me a little. Definitely, I think the auto is shifting too early into 5th (as need4spd stated earlier).

This can't be an early build issue. Every auto should be effected...shouldn't it be??? Same transmission. The service tech wanted me to come in early in the week...he stated "he wanted enough time to order parts" ...sounded as if he knew or already seen/resolved this issue with others???

I'll post again to update what was done to resolve the vibration.

Oh yeah, for some reason my nav screen froze on me today. It froze on the CD/DVD control display...no buttons responded and the display on middle top dash was blank where the CD# and track# usually displays. When I turned the engine off and re-started, everything worked ok??? DAMN!!! NO MORE...PLEASE...i want to start enjoying this car again. I only have 2400 miles so far.

 

Today I had my car into the dealer for the second time to address the 50-55 mph vibration issue. They had diagnosed both my front wheels out of balance, and an out-of-true rim on one of them and ordered a replacement for it.

Today they put on the replacement rim. When I got there and picked up the car and noticed only 2 more miles on the odometer, I wasn't very hopeful that they'd really taken it for much of a test drive (you'd have to go a lot farther from them than 1 mi out and back to get to a road with a 50mph+ speed limit).

The vibration was much better (in fact, they had made it much worse after the first visit by putting the rebalanced-and-out-of-true rim in the rear), but it's still there. It is purely dependent on speed; shifting down to 4th or 3rd does nothing to abate it.

Tomorrow I will call them for a third appointment to fix this ridiculous problem. Their sister Audi dealership happens to have one of those wonderful balancing machines mentioned in another thread, so I'm going to suggest they either (a) cruise over there and try it, or (b) get 4 new wheel and tire assemblies properly checked by the QC people at the factory.

Mike
'04 Blue/Quartz Naviless

 

Agreed, this is an issue that totaly distracts from the car, I had a tsx at loaner a few weeks back, and even with the 4 banger, it did not do this.

I find it most prevalent when driving like a granny (not often, but traffic controls this sometimes) and just cruzing at 30MPG, I get the vibration from the engine/tranny, if I slap it over to SS, I find it is in 4th already (overdrive gear), drop it to 3rd, and perfect, no vibration.

Second time it happens is just a steady cruse around 45mph, yep, slap the SS over and it is in 5th!, drop it to 4th and gone!

I saw this on October 2nd, my first test drive (they had me test 2 as I picked up on this in the first 10 minutes), one was worse than the other, but both had it, and now mine does two.

My car has both issues (agreed there are two!):

1. Tranny/engine vibration (urgh!!!)
2. Tire/Wheel Vibration (they did rebalance which were slightly off, but it is still there when cold). To me the tires are the issue, I had a 96 maxima that I put 235/45-17 Yoko AVS Sports, I never had this issue! Maybe it is the sidewall that is to soft on the tire.

I did send an e-mail to Bridgstone yesterday about this, no answer yet (I would expect it will be some time, or never that I get a responce from Bridgestone!).

I would recomend others with the cold tire issue write bridgestone also!!!

My car is back at the dealer on monday for this, and other issues (memory seats, alignment, parking brake - I will post this on the sticky early build problem thread, etc!)

Wish me luck!

 

I've been watching this thread for a while now, and I'm starting to agree with the poster that mentioned this might be a simple case of the computer / tranny shifting up to 5th gear too early.

So, now it's time to experiment ....

When folks notice the vibration at 50 MPH are you going at a constant speed, or accelarating? Also, how are you getting to 50 MPH ... quickly by leaning on the accelerator, or smooth and easy?

If this is really the problem, we should be able to figure it out fairly easily by collecting a few more details on how / when folks are see'ing this condition and then MANUALLY trying to make it happen using the SS shifter at the right time / place.

 

When I get the problem I usually go up to 50 mph smooth and easy and at 50 - 55 I'm at constant speed not accelerating?
I have an appointment on Monday November 24th. I'll let you know what they say.

 

Like I said earlier,

I believe these are 2 different issues because my gear or RPM does not have any effect on my vibration at all.

The only people who have gotten an type of "fixes" for this behavior have had wheel balancing/tire pressure/wheel roundness issues that were casuing it.

I have an appt. on 12/2 and will also post my results back, but I'm pretty sure my problem has nothing to do with my transmission or engine.

Ryan

 

My vibration is independent of gear, and dependent solely on speed. It becomes noticable around 50 mph. The frequency of the vibration increases with speed, as does the amplitude.

Mike

 

here is a good question....
is there anyone out there with an auto tranny that DOES NOT have the vibration we're all experiencing?

 

Don't lose sight of the issue, NONE should be doing this, even if all are, what is the point, Acura set the shift points too low on computer program, or all are heaven forbid, defective?

Remember, I tried this on an Auto TSX that I had for two days, no problems like this, and the car has even less torque!

 

i'm just curious.
there seem to be so many that have the issue... are there any that do not?

 

No vibration problems here. But, my car is fairly warm by the time I hit 50.

 

Everyone who is reading this post, please respond either way...whether you are having this problem or not after testing. This will be very helpful. Here is what you should do to test your engine:

Gradually reach 50 mph using auto tran (do not use SS). Once there, keep the accelerator pressed just enough to maintain speed within 50-55 mph. (remember, once speed passes the 55 mph thresehold, vibration seems to gradually dissappear, so try to maintain speed within 50-55) - DO NOT RELEASE THE GAS PEDAL - press just enough to maintain 50-55 mph. (since releasing the gas will stop vibration)

If you have the problem, you should feel vibrations from both the steering wheel and the accelerator.

Many people may not notice this problem because, alot of people may not tread for any length of time in the 50-55 mph range. But if you are forced, i.e. road condition to constantly maintain speed around 50, you will definitely notice the problem.

I don't notice the vibration getting on the highway, since I do not maintain speed in the 50-55 mph range for long...usually go from 30 (merging) to 75 (highway speed) fairly quickly.

By the way, I too have the tire vibrations as many mentioned, but definitely different issue than the engine vibration.

Let us know your personal results. THANKS

 

I have the same vibration problem at around 50 mph (auto, early build around 3000). I also think it is somewhat related to transmission.

I plan to talk to my dealer soon.