Hi, I've read on several different forums on this website that rattles/noises/vibrations being a major issue when it comes to the third generation TL and I wanted to add my experience and opinions

You have to take everything with a grain of salt when it comes to interior rattles/vibrations and that over time every car will begin to have some

I previously had a 2006 TL and had the car for two years, had absolutely no problems with it and absolutely no rattles, squeaks, or noises during the time I had it

I liked the car so much and was happy with the improvements Acura made to the car that I then got a 2008 Base TL; after waiting two and half weeks for the 08 TL, when it came to the dealer, it had a green spot on the floor, the ambient cabin lighting didn't work, the rear tail-lights fogged up all the time, and the moonroof shade and moonroof itself made a rattle/vibration while driving the car; I got all the issues addressed by having those parts replaced but had the car in three separate times for the moonroof shade problem and till this day it still hasn't been addressed; comes to be that the only way to address it is too completely rip the roof apart and replace the entire moonroof and shade assembly in order to get rid of the noise, luckily if I put a small removable cushion between the ceiling of the car and the sunshade the noise doesn't happen so when I don't have the shade or moonroof open I just leave that little cushion in and it takes care of it

Now, within the last few months, a terrible vibration/buzzing sound comes intermittantly from either the upper passenger side of the dash or top corner of the passenger front door; it really is noticeable on secondary roads with lots of bumps and irregular road surfaces and almost sounds like a piece of plastic is loose and begins to buzz/rattle when a bump loosen it up; had the glove box replaced to fix a misalignment with the dash but that did not take care of the noise so now I'll have to live with it, argggghhh; only other thing to do, is like the moonroof, would be to rip the entire dash apart or door and replace the parts

Sorry to give such a long story but that is what I've been dealing with on my current TL; I'm so disappointed with Acura becuase I had such a great experience with my 06 TL and am having the complete opposite experience with my 08 TL; but I don't think Acura is a terrible product or blame them completely for this because I just think, especially the way in which I recieved the car at delivery, that this 08 TL of mine was just not put together right at the factory

I had a 2009 TSX loaner car a few weeks ago that had about 12k miles on it, the same amount of miles as my 08 TL and it didn't have one rattle/noise while I had it; the TSX also felt put together better than the TL and I believe that has to do with the fact that the TSX is completely built assembled in Japan while the TL is done in Ohio and the US assembly plants just do not have the same level of quality control and fit/finish capability that the Japan plants do!!

I most likely will get a TSX when my current TL lease is up but it is a shame because I really like my TL and would have loved to keep it but with the amount of rattles/noises and mechanical problems I have had with the car it just isn't meant to be!!!

 

Dang, Sorry to hear!

To have an 06 model of a car and loving it so much to replace it with an 08 model, only to get one built incorrectly

We feel for you, hopefully you can overlook those things with how beautiful the car is

 

Smarty666, check this service news article from Feb 2008 that describes the issue.

I have the same creaking in the top of the driver door frame of my '08 and intent to have the procedure performed at the next dealer service visit.

http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SN/B080200.PDF

 

thanks so much for the technical bulletin, I def will look into the door issue mentioned but the sound doesn't really sound like its coming from the door, I'm about 85% sure it is somewhere in the dash on the passenger side

what inclines me to the dash is that ever since day one, I've had an alignment issue with the glove box and passenger side half of the dash; as time went on there was a gap forming between the glove box and dash and both the dash/glove box where they meet the front chassis; it was really noticeable when the passenger front door was open and you could see the misalignment from the side

I had the glove box replaced two weeks ago and that has helped the alignment some but the noise still remains; I think there is something loose in a dash due to the dash being not properly mounted right on the passenger side by the factory

 

can you give me a link where I can find more of the service news articles? I'd really like to take a look at each months so I can see if one of them might talk about other rattle/vibration noise issues!!!! I'd greatly appreciated it!!

 

Never mind, I found out where all the service news articles are!! thanks again for all your help!!!

 

Next time it is making the noise, check if it goes away by lowering the window just a fraction of an inch and the tension is taken off the door/window. That ought to help narrow it down to test if this is the issue.

 

Hey Smarty,

I had the same rattle/buzzing sound as you described, but mine was coming from the drivers side. I tried many times to troubleshoot and remedy it and it was a very frustrating process. At times I thought about just getting rid of the car.
I persisted in finding the cause of the rattle/buzz which was fixed by wedging carboard between the upper and lower air ducts behind the drivers vent. Even though I should have never have had to shove cardboard into my dash to fix a noise, I have to say that it was quite rewarding as the noise is completely gone and my car is rattle free ( I know, for now) and I am happy with it now.
Good luck solving yours.


JJ

 

I know this rattle (it's happening with my 2004 TL right now). In my car, it's the lock of the glove-box that's got a rattle. If I hold down the part where the key is inserted when driving over rough surfaces, it stops rattling.

The noise though is pretty loud and is very annoying when it continues to do so for a longer period. This rattle also comes up when I'm doing 60+ mph.

I know you mentioned that you had the glove-box changed but I'm guessing they re-used the locking mechanism since it's mated with your key.

I also get another ticking sound from above my head. I'm guessing the inner lining of the roof has become loose and the glue/sticky surface keeps sticking / unsticking when I'm driving over a rough road.

I can't believe the quality of the 04. My 97 TL (which I sold this year) didn't have a single internal vibration after almost 183,000 miles.

 

well I even tried duct taping the entire metal clip and locking mechanism in the glove box so that there wouldn't be metal against metal and the sound remains so it definitely does not involve the glove box

if things couldn't be any worse, just today when I was out I am beginning to hear a similar but a very low clicking/scratching vibration noise coming from the driver side front door and dash similar to the passenger side but not as loud

It just seems like my 08 is loosening up and falling apart as time goes on its and to make it worse it is only 14 months old, arghhhh.....

I really wanted to love this car because it looks wonderful, I constantly get compliments on the exterior/interior design, the buyout is great, and I really wanted to keep this car because I love how it rides and the size of it but I just keep having problems after problems

If all these noise/rattle issues weren't enough, now I have a definite front-end alignment problem which is ruining my top of the line expensive Bridgestone Serenity Tires and of course Acura wants to blame the tires but there is no way that is possible; I forgot to mention on my initial post but on top of all this, I had a power steering leak back this past summer and finally after four visits to two separate Acura dealers they found the leak in the rack and pinion and had to replace that and the entire steering gear box

suffice it to say that even with the leak gone and steering wheel has never felt the same and seems like it fights me a little bit when I try to turn it but I guess I'm going to have to live with it

Hopefully, other people haven't had the problems and headaches I have had with my 08 TL and have been able to enjoy it a little better than I have been able to!

 

In my case, it is the circular section where the key is inserted, which in some way has become loose which causes the vibration. To test if your's is the same, wedge a quarter or a (thicker) key between the gap of the dash and the top of the glove-box (above the key hole) and then see if it stops the rattle. If it does, you know what it is.

 

maybe it's the tweeter up there on the dash or something in the door pocket like the sun-glass holder.

 

Check the sun visor-- if the visor is not clipped in, but the visor rod touches the clip, it will vibrate when the car is moving and make a horrible rattle that sounds like it is from the center speaker.

Over rough roads, I also discovered that the sun visor mirror cover can rattle against the mirror light lens when the visor is pushed up against the roof: tilt the visor down to see if any clicking/rattling noise goes away.

 

I have tried the quarter in the gap idea, I even tried shoving a piece of cardboard into the gap between the glove box and dash both to no solution to the noise because it remained when I drove

I doubled checked that each sun visor was securely clamped into place and the mirrors where close; no noise is coming from those areas

I have begun to hear the noise on the driver side, but to a much lesser extent; someone on another discussion here brought to my attention a TSB in one of the Acura Service News Bulletins back from February 2008 and it deals with similar noises in the front doors due to the weather stripping, here is the link:

http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SN/B080200.PDF

I am taking my TL back into my Acura dealer to try and get these noises addressed; I'm going out with a mechanic over rough roads near the dealership that I know produce the noises so hopefully this will eventually get resolved now; I'm def going to bring up about the above TSB in the Acura Service News about the front doors and see if I can have that done; I swear though, this guy better not pull the token dealership, "I don't hear anything routine" or I'll go medieval on him!!

Wish me luck!!!

 

smarty - where are these?

I have a steering wheel rattle that has been driving me nuts for a year. Dealer finally admitted hearing it but then said it was "normal" becuase they had another TL in the shop that did the same thing. I can simply bump the bottom of the steering wheel to cause the rattle. Sounds like a loose screw but they are saying it's a cable and that there's nothing wrong with it. Hopefully I can find something in the articles that covers it.

Edit - Nevermind, for some reason I forgot about the sticky thread on the service bullitens.

 

I have the same exact noise. I had a passenger when it was happening and he hit the door panel top near the dash and it went away for a short period. So it's in that area. I need to figure out how to fix it as well.

 

have the same exact noise. I had a passenger when it was happening and he hit the door panel top near the dash and it went away for a short period. So it's in that area. I need to figure out how to fix it as well

Well had it into the dealership today and found out there was two areas that are at issue,; one is the area you mentioned, top corner panel of the passenger door where the door meets the dash; mechanic put some sealant behind it and took care of that noise

the other noise was coming from the top corner of the dash on the passenger side where it meets the front windshield and A-pillar area; mechanic told me that when he pushes down on the dash top that the dash flexes and bends in which it shouldn't; told me this was another flaw done by the factory; swear to God my car was not put together right by the factory to be having all these technical/quality issues with the car; anyway, spent an hour pulling the corner of the dash off and the corner pillar above the dash that supports the front windshield, dash to the roof of the car; put a whole bunch of sealant and black foam underneath these areas to try and prevent the dash from flexing and moving which is causing the plastic piece underneath to rattle and make noise when go over bumps

when back on the road afterward with the mechanic and while I still heard the sound a little bit it was much improved; he said, the only way to completely eliminate the problem would be to remove the front windshield in order to have complete access to the dash underneath so that they can seal and foam the entire areas under the dash

this would be like a two day job and I just don't want to deal with that kind of project, as long as the foam/sealant he put in now reduces the sound to a much more quiet level it will have to do; it just doesn't make sense to me how a car that uses such high quality interior materials could have such hidden fit and finish issues that causing things to dislodge and make noises, etc

 

I am not exactly sure where you mean he put some in that area of the door. Behind the panel I assume?

 

no, he didn't put any in the door, it is behind the top right corner of where the dash meets the front windshield and behind the diagonal pillar that connects the dash and front windshield to the roof of the car!