Bought a '04 TL with about 160k miles on it. At first drove great. At higher speeds (70+ mph) the steering wheel tends to wobble making it feel a bit squirley. It's not a vibration, but a wobble like someone has ahold of the steering wheel and is giving it small tugs at about 1-2 cycles per second. I also notice it at lower speeds if I go around a long curve at appx 40 mph it feels similar. I haven't done anything to the car since i bought it beyond having it looked over by a trusted mechanic during an oil change. He informed me that I need to front bushings and motor mounts. I imagine the bad bushings may be playing a role. Was thinking I'd start with an alignment / wheel balance, but wanted to check in with you TL experts and see what your thoughts were. Thanks in advance.

 

Compliance bushings are most likely shot!

 

Are those the bushings in the control arms?

 

Item 10

https://www.acuraoemparts.com/auto-p...lower-arm-scat

 

Thank you. So the concensus is replacing these bushings would fix the problem?

 

Has been for others that stated their car tracked one way or the other on uneven surfaces. One way to find out is actually inspect the bushings and look for cracks. At 160k I am willing to bet they are needing replacement. That just my

 

Thank you BreezyTL. My trusted mechanic of many years confirmed that the bushings were definitely shot. I just want to make sure I'm replacing things that will help resolve this particular problem of the wheel wobble. In doing some searches, I've come across other posts where people were attributing the sam issue to bad wheel bearings, alignment, bad tries, bent rims....many theories. I'm just trying to narrow it down to the most likely problem that would be causing it versus going down the path of trying a bunch of unnecessary "fixes". Reality is I don't plan on having this car all that long as I want to ultimately get a TSX Wagon and don't want to spend a lot of money chasing this issue, but until then, I'd like to correct this wobble issue. Thanks again.

 

Thank you BreezyTL. My trusted mechanic of many years confirmed that the bushings were definitely shot. I just want to make sure I'm replacing things that will help resolve this particular problem of the wheel wobble. In doing some searches, I've come across other posts where people were attributing the sam issue to bad wheel bearings, alignment, bad tries, bent rims....many theories. I'm just trying to narrow it down to the most likely problem that would be causing it versus going down the path of trying a bunch of unnecessary "fixes". Reality is I don't plan on having this car all that long as I want to get a TSX Wagon and don't want to spend a lot of money chasing this issue, but until then, I'd like to correct this wobble issue. Thanks again.

 

Rather be safe than sorry. I am sure your family would miss you if something were to happen because you chose the cheaper route with that mentality. Make it safe now, and when the time comes to sell it will help with resale!

 

Yes, there are many many things that can go wrong, but if it's confirmed that these are already shot, you're going to have to replace them one way or another. If you don't do it now, then something else down the line WILL go if it hasn't already. You have to understand, that with the age of these cars and the miles put on them, maintenance costs start to rise. Other common things that usually go out are the engine mounts, and perhaps the transmission mounts. I've had my axles start to show symptoms at 115k miles, and for peace of mind I just got them replaced. I'd rather pay a little more to fix and do preventative maintenance, than for a part to fail and potentially put me in a dangerous situation later on.

 

I have also had pretty much all of the issues jimmyfu highlighted, all right past the 100k mile, 10 year sweet spot.

Front and side engine mounts were replaced by Acura dealer before I purchased the car.

Struts went bad right after I bought the car. Replaced with Tein Street Advance Z coilovers.

Compliance bushings were bad when I bought the car. Had them replaced. Things got worse.

Figured out my upper transmission mount was bad. Replaced, things got worse still.

Checked the lower mounts, rear lower mount was torn in half. Replaced that. Still having issues.

Sub-frame mount on drivers side was also bad, I replaced that, but it did not make any noticeable change. It was in bad shape though.

My axles are just completely toast. The inner joints have crazy play. If I raise the car and rotate the wheel back and forth, you can hear them clunking when you switch directions. This also results in clunking and lag when moving from a stop. I ordered Raxles yesterday and they should be here tomorrow.

Do you have any shaking or shuddering during acceleration? With axles, there are several symptoms. If you are hearing clicking while turning, then it is most likely a bad outer joint on the axle. Shuddering on acceleration is typically a result of a bad inner join. I know I wasn't getting the clicking, only clunking and shuddering. I don't believe my outer joints are bad, only the inners.

Troubleshooting from Raxles site: http://www.raxles.com/troubleshooting.aspx


Your steering rack could be going bad, that would be my only other thought. They seem to be a common issue on the TL's along with everything above. I forget if you mentioned it, but wheel balance may be potential cause as well. Alignment usually won't result in shaking in the wheel.

You can try dropping the car into neutral when at speeds where it is shaking and see if it goes away. If it goes away, then it is most likely a static part of the car, like a tranny or engine mount. If the problem persists, it's likely a moving part, such as the wheels or axles.