Hey Acurazine!
I have a 2004 Acura TL AT with 153300 miles.
This has occurred since March and I have been trying to check in the engine Bay Area, the heat shield, everywhere under my car to check if anything is lose but the verdict turns out unclear.
When the car is at idle it makes the sound as if you tied a soda can to a string and dragged it on the ground, and when I let go and acceleration from a traffic light it’s that but even faster and the duration is usually .5-2 seconds. It’s completely embarrassing to drive my car.
I have bad knowledge about working on cars I was only gifted this vehicle.
Transmission oil has been drained and topped off with 4 quarts on November I believe and oil chance was on December and now I’m at 40% oil life.

Ideas? Tips? Answers?!

It’s one of your catalysers. Trust me. They’re shot and the stuff inside is now clunking

I have not tried taking it to a mechanic, the heatshield is tight, all three one in front of the engine behind and the last one underneath. None are loose, also to mention I think they are radiator fans or the two fans in front? When I leave my engine running and it’s in park, there are some times when they just stop spinning.

doesnt occur in park or neutral when I rev the car.

I’m sorry? If this is the case how can I diagnose to see if this is true?

the noise is more towards the front, I have a custom tanabe exhaust and I don’t think it’s because of that is it?

this is me holding the brakes in drive

Got it. Here you go.. but you can barely hear it

Last but not least.
this is at light acceleration

bumpity

You ignored 2 advice telling you to lift your car up and bang on all cats underneath.

ya missed me saying that I’ve done that. When I checked the heatshield I checked for any possibilities of something else being loose.

banging on the cats and mufflers is not the same as checking for external loose parts such as heatshield. Im insisting because your description of the soda cans tied to a string matches exactly to what I heard when I bought my other car. The sound goes away when speeding up at a certain RPM.

i see I’ll give it a shot

nope just the whine down of my exhaust like an exhaust fart lol

This is worse than I thought. It’s my transmission giving out, it’s on its last couple of days now. I’m sad to say I am leaving the Acura family..

you give up way too easily. Try 1- Transmission Fluid drain and refill 2- change transmission filter 3- change pressure switches. All those will cost $150-$200 in parts from dealership.

Ive heard success stories of doing the above and the tranny going at least 50,000 miles +

and you’re welcome. My diagnosis was correct. I also have something for you that may help you with the stalling issue. Since there’s less back pressure because of removed catalytic converters, your ECU might need to re-learn all the Air/fuel ratio stuff. Now this might not apply for exhaust air, but it wouldn’t hurt to Disconnect the battery for 30 mins and reconnect, then start car and idle for about 15-20 mins. Then take it for a nice cruise around town driving like a grandma would.

Now watch how the shifting characteristics will change, because the ECU also re-learned your shifting habits.

Take note to really have a feel of before/after. So that after all it will not feel like a placeb effect. Keep us updated.

ive heard of this method and tried it once but couldn’t get any feedback that the command “executed” So I did the disconnect battery method.