Hi everyone,


This is my first post, so go easy on me I have a strange knocking sound coming from my 08 TL Type S which has been present for a few months now. The knocking sounds like its coming from the driver side front end, it's pretty easy to hear from inside the car, however difficult to hear when outside (if I roll my windows down while driving). The knocking sounds like a pool ball is literally stuck between two pieces of metal, and every time the car is in motion (upon acceleration, or braking) I hear the knocking. I am also hearing it now whenever I switch gears.


It's probably good to note that the knocking goes away after about 15 minutes of driving. I also won't hear the knock if I'm in park or neutral and rev the engine. The knocking appears to be upon cold start up. If I go run an errand for a few hours and come back to the car, I won't hear the knocking when I'm driving. It's only present when I leave the car for maybe 5+ hours.


I have roughly 109k miles, with the timing belt replaced at 100k. I have a power steering pump that's leaking (doubt it's the culprit but felt I should note that anyway). I just had OEM brembo pads and rotors replaced, noise was present before I replaced those parts as well as after.


Any information you guys might have would be greatly appreciated! I can try and post a video later today if that helps.


Again, the knocking sounds as if you were to take a pool ball and wiggle it between two pieces of metal. Most of the time it's just one knock, however I have heard 4-5 knocks consecutively (and very rapid) when I accelerate.

 

engine mounts perhaps

https://www.google.com/search?q=site...sm=93&ie=UTF-8

do a search and read through all the threads to see which one matches yours.


also how many miles are on your car

 

Thanks, I'll read that through. I have about 109k miles.

 

+1 on inspecting the engine and transmission mounts.

I would do a thorough inspection of the suspension components to rule these out: Look for worn/faulty LCA bushings, ball joints, tie-rods, sway bar bushings and end-links. I recently had a bad popping noise on the driver's side and found the LH sway bar end-link loose. I was able to reproduce the noise by bouncing the front of the car.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Wouldn't the mounts cause a consistent noise, meaning all the time while I'm driving? The noise goes away after about 15 minutes of driving.

 

+1 on the endlinks. Make sure they are tight

 

check end links (front and rear), sway bar bushings, compliance bushings and all of your mounts. FWD cars with powerful engines have a tendency to eat mounts... If you are easy on the car they typically last about 100-120K miles

 

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll be taking the car into my mechanic next week, I'll be sure to let you all know what the outcome is.

 

So here's the update, in case anyone is interested Both front engine mounts were bad, pretty obvious to see when my mechanic put the car in reverse, stepped on the break, then gave some decent acceleration. repeated the same process with the car in drive. The engine was moving pretty drastically up and down, easy to tell something was "wrong". My mechanic called me 2 hours later and said the engine mount next to the power steering pump was shot, and so was the mount near the radiator. I ordered both mounts from Acura Parts Source via Amazon. They are an authorized Acura dealer and I wanted to get OEM mounts rather than aftermarket.


Front engine mount near the radiator is part # 50830-SEP-A04: $120 on Amazon ($157.95 if I were to purchase from my local Acura dealership.


Front engine mount near power steering pump is part # 50820-SEP-A03: $65 ($84.90 if ordered at local dealership).


Once the parts are shipped and installed, I'll post another update on whether the knocking has subsided. I'm assuming it will. I've also noticed a lot of vibration now at idle, definitely due to the bad mounts. My assumption is this will go away as well.


Thanks everyone for your posts, helped me a great deal in explaining to my mechanic what the possible issues could be.


FYI to AMTMJ, Marc and Yeu, all suspension components are fine after thorough inspection by my mechanic.

 

Thanks for the update. I just replaced my side mount. Was about halfway ripped.
Front end noises can be tough. I recently had a squeak on the right front side of the car. Was driving me nuts trying to find it. Looks like it was one of my upper control arm bolts somehow was not quite tight enough. I re torqued them and the squeak so far has gone away.

 

How do you check engine mount condition on an MT? Just look at them, pull them and replace?

 

yeah, you'll have to at least pull the cover off, the side mount will be the easiest to check to see if broken.

if side is broken, front is likely toast as well.
my rear was still in good condition