Took my car in for some suspension clunks, a belt squeak and brakes screeching when going in reverse. I just got off the phone with Acura of Brookfield here in town and they diagnosed my issues as follows.

Brake screech - Screeching caused by brakes pads being replaced without adding the pad grease.

Suspension Clunk - Bad rear drivers side strut, whole thing to be replaced under the extended warranty.

Belt/pulley squeak - Needs mounting bolts replaced on pulley? and new serpentine belt.

I trust these guys tremendously and they are very well respected and reviewed here in the Milwaukee area, but I wanted to throw this out their to the real 3g experts to see what you think about this diagnosis.

I also felt like I as getting a clunk or a lose feeling coming from the front drivers side, was thinking it might be the lower control arm bushing based of of searches I have done on the forum. It only happens when going over level but busted ass pavement. Think cobble stone street. I have no idea how to diagnose a failed bushing, and the dealership says everything up front looks "nice and tight" as they put it - lol. I'll post a photo in a few of the front control arm bushings. Thanks guys!

 

without seeing the vehicle its hard to diagnose "sounds" over the internet.

clunks are usually suspension related.

so, it sounds like your dealer is doing you a solid and getting your issues worked out!!

 

Right on, thanks man. And its not at all that I distrust these guys, was just more curious if anyone else here had had similar issues fixed with similar methods.

 

^a clunking sound usually indicates something is up with the suspension.
instead of troubleshooting it; your dealer is replacing that whole strut!!
(usually; they look for the cause of the sound. which ends up not getting fixed because they cant find the sound)

the brake screech could be what they say it is, or just no life left on the pads.
there is a "squeeler" prong that sticks out when no meat left on pads. lets out an annoying sound.
but either way; sounds like your dealer is looking into it.

 

This. Lucky to find a quality dealer OP.

 

diagnosis sounds reasonable from where we sit.

Some of the techs at Acura Brookfield are good, some are pretty mediocre though. I always work with Collin if I ever go there because he's the only mod-friendly service advisor they have and puts techs on the car that won't damage my rims.

I've actually been laughed at by their service manager when I came in with a part # for a component they said didn't exist, without even looking it up on Acuraoemparts.com. I gave them the part # and said I want you to order this and they ask what it is, and I said it's the transmission filter cartridge and the manager condescendingly cut me off and said "yea no there actually isn't any filter for the TL".

Mixed experiences there.

 

Cool, agreed! I would also like to say that so far, my warranty company has been pretty damn cool. I have only had the car a few weeks and they ok'd the strut replacement with no hoops to jump through. I have been reading horror stories about some warranty companies denying claims like crazy.

 

Extended warranty? which company if you dont mind me asking?

I may be looking into purchasing one. That "Endurance" coverage is the only one that I can think of. Probably since i watch the SpeedTV on sundays.. :/ and that's where they promote it. lol

 

Mine is through a company called Fidelity, not to be confused with US Fidelis. The former CEO of US Fidelis is currently grabbing his ankles in the booty house for scamming millions of dollars on bullshit extended service contracts.

As far as this go round, so far so good for me. Service guys said Fidelity didn't even need to send a adjuster out, they ok'd the strut replacement right away.

This is my second extended service contract that I have purchased, last one being with my infinity i30t. That thing paid for itself twice on fixing nickle and dime type shit, best 2500 I ever spent. Hoping this one shakes out the same way. Only thing I can say is do a ton of research and when/if you do pick one up, read the whole thing before signing. If its a shit company, they will have tons of cop out bullshit hidden in the contract. Also, during my research, I was told to stay far away from the late night advertised plans.

 

Thanks for the advice man.

 

No prob at all!
I actually just got back from the dealer with an update. Two days ago they ok'd replacement of the failed dr side rear strut. After replacing it today, the tech discovered that the right one was making the same noise... Dealer calls Fidelity, the deny replacement of the right side rear. Coincidently I called and talked to the same guy that denied the claim when the dealer called. I explained very politely that I felt this was unacceptable and that I would really like to have both struts covered. After about 5 minutes of back and forth, He told me to tell the dealer to call again. Dealer called, got a different rep who authorized the additional repair within seconds.. Lol

I guess persistence pays off! I'm still very impressed with Fidelity. Even the guy who was shooting down the claim today was very polite although a bit smug. Again so far so good!

 

Hmm. I wonder if we have a thread about this somewhere. Extended warranties i mean.. I think it'd be good to know,I think a lot of us must be getting up there in the mileage of our 3Gs by now. Mines over 100k already! I need a beater...

 

I agree. I have seen a few threads but none of them actually answered the questions I was looking for and most just turn into horror stories about how lame a warranty company treated someone. It's rare you hear about the actual benefits of these things. (for the record, I do not work for an extended service contract company... lol)

 

Ok, got the car back yesterday. Two brand new struts in the rear and it still squeaks when going over uneven pavement.... I also still have a the break screech when going in reverse after they greased the pads.

Any ideas?

Also, can anyone take a look at these bushing and let me know what they think? Sorry, I know they are not the best photos. I read through the whole thread about failing compliance bushings, are these what that thread is referring to? They didn't look right to me and the tech told my service advisor that they looked fine to him. Still hearing a clunk from the front over most bumps.

 

The squeak in reverse is normal for the TL's with Brembos. I can't see your pics since im at work still. womp womp wommp

 

Bump -

 

see what I mean about not finding the culprit!?


squeaks are annoying but are not detrimental nor will it affect how the car drives.
short of replacing all bushings with new ones, there isnt anything that you can do.

if alignment is off, or car doesnt track straight, then I'd be concerned about finding the worn bushing or whatever is making the metal on metal contact.

 

Did we mention sway bar bushings/links yet?

 

Yep, the first thing I do whenever I get a new car is swap out the crap factory end links and sway bar bushings with Moog. Usually does the trick for any clunks or squeaks I hear. Replaced the rears a couple weeks ago but still hearing the squeak. I talked to the service advisor about it and he said they already had a list of things that they think it is if its the new struts didn't remedy the issue.

 

Thanks man, appreciate the help. Yeah, I'm always mentally weighing weather or not its worth it to hunt for squeaks and rattles... unfortunately, the way my brain is wired, I become obsessed with things like this and then I fixate on the problem and only the problem. Its pretty fucking pathetic - lol

 

^those of us with OCD have this problem. I have an occasional sqweek from the rear over sharp bumps. Not all the time, just occasionally. Hope you get a remedy!

 

Man,i completely get this. I'm more concerned with the way the car rides and drives than anything else. If i hear something wrong, I must find it! At the end of the day it IS annoying, i don't know how people can ride around in their car everyday with noises and whatnot and not give a crap. :shrugs: Guess that's what sets us all apart.

 

I just dont drive my car enough to care about squeaks! lol

 

almsot 10 replies later and NO ONE has noticed that his compliance bushing has fallen out of the control arm?! LOOK AT THE PICTURE ON THE BOTTOM! it's probably dangerous to keep driving like this, normal driving would never make the bushing come loose since it's pressed in so I'd replace the whole lower control arm asap if I were you!

Also, brake squeal shouldnt happen if you are using OEM pads


this is how a bushing is supposed to look like, fully pressed in:

 

Wow, thanks for the heads up man. This is very disconcerting to me as the Acura tech said he looked over the car and that the front control arms looked fine and dandy... What is the average cost to replace both?

 

please delete

 

Thanks, I appreciate it. I'll keep updating as this situation progresses.

 

lol - sounds like my life! Hunting down squeaks to me is like some sick twisted mission im assigned by the government, but in when I succeed, there is no blonde with huge tits and a case of beer, there is only a bill... Not to mention I drive in a city with roads so bad they make your fillings fall out

 

the bushings themselves arent too expensive, but its the labor. popping the control arm off the lower ball joint is the hard part. there's a self DIY method for removing the bushing without popping off the ball joint, but it's not beginner friendly. prices vary a lot depending on where you go, but $200-300(for both sides) would be fair at a shop for this kind of work.

 

Any updates?

 

Also curious to see if you found a fix.

 

Great timing guys! I just picked it up this morning.

The lingering squeak (actually almost a chirp sound)
The tech took like 3 hours to find the remaining squeak. They diagnosed that its coming from something in the drum for the emergency brake. The pads are shot so he figured the previous owner had driven it with the ebrake on for an extended period of time by accident. I'm glad its not something more serious. Not sure what my next step will be but I can live with an shitty ebrake until I can figure out what to do.

Compliance bushing - clunk in front end
Next, they replaced the failed compliance bushing, which was causing the clunk in the dront end. HOLY SHIT I cannot believe how much better the car feels with that bushing fixed... I loved this car before but now I'm head over heals. Feels like a new car! (and imho, handles better than the 2013 TL SH-AWD I got as a loaner...)

The best part about this is the whole trip, loaner car and everything included only came out to - $105.00

theres a catch though... now we are hearing a clank sound in the front, light metal on metal sound only on uneven rough pavement. Its like when one loud noise is fixed another one rears its nasty head haha.

Oh well, going to climb under there this weekend and check the front end links and sway bar bushings - the clank noise reminds me of my 1999 RL when it had bad links and bar bushings.

Thanks again for all your help guys!