Hi everybody,

I'm pretty new to Acura (my first one!) and working on cars in general. I have a 2007 TL Type S 6MT with 70k miles. The only aftermarket parts are AEM CAI and RV6 J-Pipe.

Recently I have been hearing a fairly loud clunk/rattle noise when I go over bumps at normal driving speeds. It sounds like metal on metal contact but I can't tell for sure. I'm almost positive it is coming from the front passenger wheel well. I noticed that the sound does not occur when I am applying the brakes, even just light pressure. My brakes perform just as well as always and the pads/rotors I have on now have about 20k on them.

I read a few other posts where a rattle sound was caused by busted engine mounts, control arms, etc., but mine seems like it may be brake-related since it goes away when braking. A friend of mine thought it could also be something like a wheel bearing (and the sound goes away during braking because the wheel is stabilized) but he is no expert. I am hoping to get some insight from the community here before I try to start pulling things apart. I'm tight on cash right now so I really want to avoid a dealer visit for this.

Please let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks in advance!

 

inspect the entire front end. Highly possible you have a worn lower or upper ball joint. It's also common to have worn sway bar links and bushings. The Stock suspension may also be worn but usually make a clunking thump rattle type noise over bumps. Also, very common for the passenger engine mount to be blown and make a thump noise over bumps or metal to metal noise as the bracket hits the top of the mount.

-Inspect upper and lower control arms (Play or damage)
-Inspect lower control arm bushings (Cracks or torn)
-Inspect passenger engine mount (Blown)
-Inspect caliper and caliper bracket bolts (tighten them)
-Inspect center nut on axle (This makes a click noise when shifting into gear from PARK)
-Inspect front sway bar links and bushings (Worn, or broken)
-Inspect front struts (Worn)

That's pretty much it.

 

04WDPSeDaN -

Thank you very much for your reply. I assume to check most of the things you listed I will need to jack the car up to get the wheel off the ground? Forgive my ignorance but I'm not exactly sure how to check most of the the items you listed. If you wouldn't mind could you please in more detail? **I don't think I need to check the center nut on axle since mine is manual and thus does not have park**. Hopefully one of the parts you mentioned turns out to be the culprit. Thanks!

 

Similar to you, I have a 6 Speed 08 TLS and had my car into the dealer last week for suspension noise in the front (I have an extended warranty). I was guessing the LCA or compliance bushings and sure enough the SA came back and said both the left and right side compliance bushing are torn, but because they are not "broken or failed" they aren't covered under the warranty

OP - here is a thread for your reading pleasure............https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...3#post15088053

 

^If the bushings are torn, then they are broken. I'd fight that all day long.

 

Hey thanks for the info man! Maybe this is somewhat of a common issue for our cars. I'll give that thread a good read-through.

 

Thank you,

I'm a certified technician for over 10 years and have worked for two Acura dealerships. It's hard to explain to someone how to inspect the front end and know what to look for and what's good or bad as far as suspension "Play". I will provide some links to help you better.

http://www.wikihow.com/Inspect-and-R...t-End-Assembly

WATCH this video. This guy is looking for a suspension noise but it ended up being a broke passenger engine mount which sagged so much the top bracket was hitting the metal part of the engine mount.

This video will show you what noise a bad lower control arm bushing makes

This thread on lower control arm bushings with pictures
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/04-08-front-lower-control-arm-bushing-failure-please-read-look-707888/

Best of luck!

 

just checking in to see if a solution was found. I’ve had 3 different mechanics look at this and no one can find the source of my rattle from the front passenger wheel area

 

did you read the very helpful reply here at all?

 

I must have missed it but I’ll definitely dig into it now. Thanks!