My 04 TL is making a noise much like shot wheel bearings. I have just over 43k miles on it and I'm hearing a drone that is tied to speed (not RPM) in addition to the tire noise. I can hear a low, rumble/grind at speeds too slow to hear tire noise. I hope it's not bad bearings but it's getting louder, so I'll have to have the dealer look at it.

I think at least one other person here has had to get new bearings. Could this be an indication of some other problem with my car? In other words, if I have to get new bearings, are they likely to only last 40k miles, too?

 

Unless you have an extended warranty, you need to get the car to the dealership ASAP. 50k miles is approaching soon and you want to put a few thousand miles after the repair to make sure there are no problems before the factory warranty expires. Maybe now would be a good time to inquire about the extended warranty.

http://www.acuracarewarranty.com/

 

The car is CPO, so the warranty is 62k plus 100k for drivetrain. I don't know if the bearings would be considered part of the drivetrain, though. Still, I am going to try to get it in this week.

 

Does the noise get louder or more vibration when driving through a corner at speed? This might be the CV going bad.

For example, while driving at highway speeds, I would not hear or feel any noise or vibration when driving straight. However, while driving on the highway and going through a corner, I would get the noise and slight vibration. It was both my CV going bad.

PS: What do you mean the car is CPO?

 

^^^ I should have wrote, my previous car had the bad CV.

 

It doesn't seem like a CV joint problem as I've had those on past FWD cars. This noise happens whenever the car is rolling, but it does change character a bit through turns (gets more aggressive-sounding). I don't feel any vibration from it.

CPO = "Certified Pre-Owned." I bought the car with about 8k miles on it.

 

I should add that the sound is very much like that a past coworker had on his POS Taurus. He told me his wheel bearing was shot, but it was a beater car so he didn't really care about it. Of course, he lost his right rear wheel a few months later.

 

usually aren't cpo's car that the dealership used for rentals? Members on this site have done alot to these cars. For example one guy wore the tires to about a 10k mark racing.

 

does the sound sound like an airplane propeller? If you are driving on the highway at about 50 and you gradually turn the car from left to right does the sound get louder when the car goes to one side. if it does, then you have a bad wheel bearing. If it is on the front: when you turn left and the noise gets louder the problem is on the right side, if you turn right and the noise gets louder then the problem is on the left.

 

Mine wasn't a loaner/rental car in its past life. It was owned by a guy who decided after the 8k miles to trade up to an RL.

Regarding the sound, it's not really tonal in nature. It's more of a narrow-band noise around 120-150 Hz and the pitch doesn't change much with speed. The sound does get slightly louder when cornering, but that could just be the color of the sound changing. As I mentioned above, it gets a bit more aggressive when I'm cornering at speed.

If I were to compare it to something more familiar, it sounds like the hub on my bicycle feels, if I overtighten the wheel bearing so that the bearings are rolling on a rough surface under too much pressure.

 

is it auto or manual?

 

Hey Bluenoise, what was the outcome of this,,,,I'm now getting a similar noise

 

ive had wheel bearings make noise in hondas/acuras (pretty rare unless very high mileage) but on my TL i have a similar noise as you guys describe and to me it feels like noisy tires/road noise and not a noisy bearing... Just my opinion though

 

I have an auto. It's definitely not road noise. Though the tech agreed with me that it sounded like a bearing, it was ultimately found to be "normal." They kept the car for a few days to fix some new rattles and I had a loaner during that time. The loaner made the same noise. When I talked to the tech when I picked up my car, he said, "It definitely sounds like bearing noise, but we've compared it to the other TLs we have on hand and they all make the same noise." He also pointed out that the wheels turn smoothly with no play when up on the jack. He and I went for a couple of drives in some '06s on the lot and they all made the same noise. It's weird because I had never really noticed it being that loud before.

 

I'm going to have to revisit this. Over the past week or two, the noise seems to have grown louder (or my sensitivity to it has grown). This sound is louder than any other sound in the cabin, besides the radio. I can't even hear the engine over it at any speed. I can even feel the noise in the floor pan, if I rest my left foot "just right" toward the seat.

I'm going to have another dealership take a look at it as I'm now up to 55k miles and I don't want the warranty to run out.

 

In acura buletin news i remenber they explained that the bearing for the TL are special and you can' diagnose the issue by using the old trick i.e.'' Turn right or left and the noise change'' the noise will be always the same with the TL bearing.

 

If it is a wheel bearing and it probably is make sure if you have aftermarket rims that they are not on the car when you take it in. They will say that they are the cause of the problem. Also try to get it taken care of ASAP. Riding on a bad wheel bearing can be quite dangerousif it fails on you while driving.

 

i think when the car is lifted you can try to shake and move the wheel around to see if the wheel bearing is bad. i know when mine went, i can make the wheel was move up down left right. yea my bearing was really shott.

 

Back in the day, I had a wheel bearing go on my POS '72 Toyota Celica when I was going about 90 (it was downhill). I was instantly in the other lane before I could correct.
If you rotate the tires, does the noise change?
Could be tire noise if so, especially if the tires are high mileage.

 

Tire rotation didn't affect it. When I did the rotation last weekend, I tried turning amd wiggling the wheels by hand and was unable to detect anything useful.

As I slow to a stop, the sound seems to throb a bit with each rotation of the wheels such that it goes, "Throb, throb, throb..throb...throb....throb...........throb..... .........tthhhrrroooobbbbb." That can't be normal.

 

Did you take it to the other dealer?
It apears all the evidence points to wheel bearings.
My 06 mt makes no such noises, for reference.
Good Luck!!

 

Not yet. I still need to do that.

A good way to describe the situation is that it sounds and feels like I'm driving on studded snow tires in the summer. Imagine the studs are worn off half the tire, so there is a rhythmic element to the sound.

 

My friend has an '05 TL and had the right front bearing go out at 15,000 miles. Not sure if it's common on the TL's or not but it definitely happens.

 

How old are the tires?
Rethinking it, rotating the tires might not be a very definitive test for tire noise, especially if you rotated them on schedule.
I'd try to do something to rule out tire noise; maybe have the dealer temporarily swap a different set (and brand) of tires on it for a road test.
I was listening closely to mine tonight, and it does kind of make a sound like you describe, only not very loud. It doesn't have to be fast. It makes it rolling to a stop; I attribute it to the tires.
It does sound kind of like a bad bearing. It's a completely different sound than the drone you get from mud tires.
I hope you figure it out!
Mike

 

If I listen to the car roll by slowly (someone else driving, of course), I can hear the tire sound on the road, but it's nothing like the noise I hear in the car's interior. Also, I've never heard tire noise at speeds below 5 MPH on other cars, so it makes me think it can't be the tires.

I've had the tires for about 15-20k miles, but they still have 5/32" tread on them.

 

yea, i'm having this exact same problem with mine as well. the sound is much more pronounced when coming to a stop. Well, when someone figures this one out, please let me know!! s*its driving me crazy!

 

Does it make the same noise when the pavement's wet, or on snow?
Maybe test it with like 18 psi in the tires?
If you can do something to change the way the tire interacts with the road, and the noise changes or goes away, then it's tire noise.
Switching with the same model of tire might not tell you anything (that's why all the others made the same noise)
I had a car back in the 80's that would make almost a grinding noise right before it came to a stop when you were on the brakes hard. Drove me nuts. Turned out to be tires.

 

I have 06 with 15k got about month ago and I hear like whirring sound from front.
It happens only with light accelerating between 30-50 MPH and stops when take foot from pedal and does not hear when slowing down or fast acceleration.
I took my car to the dealer they checked and told me that's tire noise because they found right front wheel was bent but I know that's not this problem. It sounds to me like bearing noise .

 

I'm having the same issue has this been resolved yet? I got my front bearings replaced and it cost $530.00 noise is still there. A few of my buddys told me it could be the tires but im not sure because the tires seem fine, they are toyo proxes btw.

 

Well check the tires by running your hand over them to see if they are chopped at all, could be a bad tire or tires, from lack of rotation. If thats not the case then the only way to find out whether it is a wheel bearing is to run the car on a lift and listen to the wheels bearings with an automotive stethoscope.

 

I checked the outter part of the tires already and they are fine. Also I replaced the wheel bearings in the front, along with a wheel alignment, tires rotated from front to back(directional tires), and also got them rebalanced. It still pulls to the right. Honestly it may be the tires but im not going to replace them until the tread gets lower. There is still like 50% tread left in them. Also it could be another isse but im not sure, thats why im trying to see if anyone had any luck resolving this issue yet.

 

Have any of you guys been in any form of accident, hit the curb or something of that sort? I remember I did, and it made the same noise you are describing after I had the wheels aligned and balanced. They replaced the subframe and lower control arm and a few other parts, the car seems fine now, but steering is tough, it's like pushing a boulder up a hill.

 

I got mine used but being a auto body tech. I can tell you from my experiance it never been in a accident. The person that got the subframe replaced stated on a later thread that it was still doing it after 500 miles.

 

How do threads like this just die with no resolution? There's like 4 people in here with a problem and nobody has solved it?

Did you all just get rid of your cars out of frustration?

 

been a year and a half... they probably lived with it.

 

I too have the same problem, and now am wondering if I have a bearing issue or tire issue. Haven't been good about rotation . My car was rear ended a year ago. Rear camber is out, 22k miles, 06AT TL, ASPEC wheels/suspension