TheDude42

I've had my TL for about a year now. When I first got it, I noticed that it would drift to the right while driving. I took it into the dealership right away, and they said "oh it's just new, give it time to let the tires wear to the road". Sounded like bs to me.

Anyways, after months of this, and other horrible service, I got the service manager to take the car home and check it out. He confirmed the drift, but says that Acura's policy is that they will only fix it if it does a complete lane change in less than 7 seconds at highway speeds. It takes about 8 or 9 to do this in my car. Then they gave me some bullshit about directional tires and crap (I have the 18" alloy wheels btw).

Well I had my rims and tires replaced for the winter, and what do you know, drives perfectly straight. Put the old ones back on come summer, and it pulls again.

I don't care what acura's policy is (though it sounds like bullshit to me). MY CAR DOES NOT DRIVE IN A STRAIGHT LINE. It's really annoying. I keep my hands on the wheel like a good driver, but a) I don't feel like constantly restraining the wheel while driving, and b) sometimes I have one hand on the wheel, and have to suddenly put my visor down or something. just little things that you don't notice untill your car starts to veer whenever you loosen your grip.

Anyone else have this issue? Any ideas for getting the dealer to fix this?

I10O0I1

iTrader: (1)

my tl also drifts to the right also... im going to have my dealer check it out...

ElmerHiggins

i believe there is a 1 yr, 12,000 mile "adjustment" warranty that would definitely cover such things as alignment and balance.

Never Stock

I know for a fact that Honda Accords are having the same problem. Honda has a TSB for the Accord. The procedure is to verify the problem. Check alignment, then loosen the subframe mounting bolts and pry the subframe to the side and while holding it there against the bolts, tighten the bolts. This is because there are no caster or camber adjustments and one or both of them are off enough to be causing the pull.

Tim

Never Stock

Acura has TSB'S for the following problems, these are on the NHTSA web site, however there are no details about them.
ATF refill procedure with oil jet kit.
Poor fuel economy.
Pulling to right or left.
Brembo brake squeal under light braking.

Tim

chill_dog

Here's a list of all Acura TSB's from the 3G Garage...

https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...55&postcount=1

Not all relate to the 3G, but most do...don't see one about pulling to the right, though, unless it's hidden in one of these...

AdamNJ

I've got a pull to the left right now with 4081 miles. I haven't brought it in yet, but I'm working on my list of items to be fixed.

Prolanman

Sounds like a tire problem. Unfortunately most car manufacturers specifically state that you must deal with the tire manufacturer for issues related to the tires themselves.

TheTriads

That's total BS. Here is what you should do, write up a mature letter to Acura/Honda corporations (can be found on Honda.com) and "cc" the dealership about the issue. Meanwhile, go to another dealership to resolve your issue.. alot of dealerships wants to save time and labor by giving customers bullshit.

I took mine to honda when my accord had the same problem. Honda service did it without hesitation. My TL did that "but went to the left instead" when I first got it, Sussman dealership gave me the same BS how it's normal. I went to another dealership and got it fixed.

TheDude42

The letter part is a good idea, but the going to another dealership wont work. I've tried it. They refuse to fix it, because I've got some scuff marks on my rims (cause of their stupid setup - I was parking). So they write it off as an alignment issue caused by the driver even though I have a service receipt/printout describing the problem from like 5 days after I took the car home.

ramzfan

Mine has always drifted to the right. Even after new tires and 4 wheel alignment it drifts right.

chill_dog

This is BS...my car did not drift when I got it...in fact, no car I've ever owned has drifted unless it was out of alignment.

Huh? A complete lane change at highway speeds? Just attempting to prove this sounds unsafe! Directional tires? Had those before...they don't make the car drift.

This is where you throw me...the 17's don't drift? This would lead me to believe it is the wheels - they are not balanced. That or one of your tires is bad (defective from the manufacturer).


Regardless of the source of the problem, the dealer is giving you a bunch of BS, and their "reasons" for things are way off base. That drifting is normal, directional tires, the alignment of the planets, Britney Spears being in town, etc. are all weak.

Lore

It's most likely a result of radial tire pull, which is common on directional, high-performance tires. It happens to my car too. I gave up trying to have the dealer fix it - my alignment was dead-on everytime they put the car on the rack.

equity

My new TL is also pulling to the right. I'm going to take it in the next few days. I don't want to hear any BS about the tires. A brand new car should be able to drive straight.

jviviano

At 43,000 miles, the Michelins on my 2002 TL 3.2 wore out. Replaced them with Yokohama AVID TRZ's. which are directional tires. Everything was fine until 56,000 miles. It suddenly started pulling to the left. Had it realigned twice, once by an Acura dealer. Had pressure checked. Alignment shop and tire dealer felt it was a separated radial belt on one of the left tires, so had the two left tires trashed, put the two old right tires on front, two new tires on rear, still no help. Jacked the front end up, turned off TCS started it and put it in drive. Left and right front turned at the same rate, therefore no front brake drag. Also no brake drag on left rear. The Acura dealer had no idea what it was but said that they've seen similar problems with tires other than the original Michelin MXV4 Plus tires. Not sure what to believe here. Haven't much of an idea what to try next. May try another dealer, if they can convince me that they know how to fix it before I bring it out there.

Actuary

I know how drifting feels. *had bent subframe for a month*

causes are camber and caster - which TSB should fix by pushing subframe side to side

TL310

My tl pulls to the right too, I put 20's on it at first i thought it was the wheels and shiting bricks but due to this website I see I'm not the only person with this issue so I have got use it already so i think it happens with all acura's.

NX64000

see TSB 06-034 It is in the sticky at the top it directly addresses drift and wheel pull

JustinZ

My TL pulls to the left - is this under warranty
or do i have to pay for alignment?

jviviano

I hate to admit it, but I've seen convincing evidence that that the problem can be tire related. My 2002 TL had no drifting problem with the original Michelins. After they wore out I replaced them with some very highly rated Yokohama's (AVID V4S's) Ater these tires got 13,000 miles on them, it started drifting to the left. Had it aligned twice. Got rid of the left tires. Got two new ones, put them on the rear and the right tires on the front. Several other things, none of which helped solve the problem. The dealer said it was the tires. He said he has seen it a bunch of times. I argued very strongly that it wasn't. Even gave him the Acura TSB showing that there are ways to address the problem. He then convincingly proved me wrong. He offered to temporarily swap out the tires/wheels with those of another TL on the lot that didn't pull one side or the other. Low and behold, my car immediately stopped drifting, witnessed by me as I rode in the passenger seat on a test trip from the dealership. There may be other ways to address the problem, but I have, against my will, been shown that tires can cause the problem. The Yokohama's are directional tires. I believe that the original Michelins are not. That may be part of the issue.

jviviano

I hate to admit it, but I've seen convincing evidence that that the problem can be tire related. My 2002 TL had no drifting problem with the original Michelins. After they wore out I replaced them with some very highly rated Yokohama's (AVID V4S's) Ater these tires got 13,000 miles on them, it started drifting to the left. Had it aligned twice. Got rid of the left tires. Got two new ones, put them on the rear and the right tires on the front. Several other things, none of which helped solve the problem. The dealer said it was the tires. He said he has seen it a bunch of times. I argued very strongly that it wasn't. Even gave him the Acura TSB showing that there are ways to address the problem. He then convincingly proved me wrong. He offered to temporarily swap out the tires/wheels with those of another TL on the lot that didn't pull one side or the other. Low and behold, my car immediately stopped drifting, witnessed by me as I rode in the passenger seat on a test trip from the dealership. There may be other ways to address the problem, but I have, against my will, been shown that tires can cause the problem. The Yokohama's are directional tires. I believe that the original Michelins are not. That may be part of the issue.

TheDude42

Listen, I totally believe it's the tires/wheels as I said in the OP, the car drives straight with my winter rims/tires, but the problem is getting Acura to admit that it's a problem, and fix it.

jviviano

See other entries by jviviano. After having been shown by the Acura dealer that temporarily swapping out the Yokohamas with Michelin oem's eliminated the problem, I went ahead and bought a set of the Michelin oems. They are expensive and have no warranty because they are V rated, but that perfectly fixed the drifting problem. I've finally found one reason to say something nice about Michelin tires.

Jchick

I've got a 2000 TL 3.2

I too had the pulling to the left problem. I had Yoko Avid V4S tires with less then 2,000 miles on them. Then the TL started pulling to the left, especially on highway driving at 75mph. Took it in for alignment, was off a little, no change. Took it back, they tweaked alignment again. Tires rotated. No change. Took it to another shop, alignment right on, rotated tires again. Same problem.

They finally replaced the V4S tires with Yoko TRZ and problem solved. Something about the V4S was too aggressive/too grippy or something.

I'm watching closely for the same problem with the TRZ.

But the pulling to the left was most definately the tires and I'm told its a fairly common problem.

Shalooby

What brand/make/model of wheels and tires are you running in the summer? Are the 18" wheels from Acura?

04WDPSeDaN

iTrader: (1)

Its a bad tire

simple as that

Take the tire of the front side that it pulls to swap it to the rear and take a rear one and put it in the place of the tire you rotated to the rear.

havokgroup

I work on an Acura Dealership and I've seen alot of cars with this problem. I will get a work order that states an alignment problem, but only after new tires (different brands) have been put on. I have pulled a brand new car off the lot and switched the wheels and tires on a customers car to show them it's tire pull that is causing the problem. I even take the customer on test drives, I've even let customers do the test drive by themselves.

On a side note... I own a 05 TL and have replaced my tires after they the factory ones have worn down. When I first put on a set of directional tires, the car pulled to the left. I put the car on the rack and everything was on the dot as far as specs go. I hbad to adjust the tow out of specs, so the car did not pull anymore.

TheDude42

I'm using the stock 18" rims and tires.


This has supposedly been done by the dealer, to no effect.


Interesting, though again, I'm using the stock tires that came with the rims. Also, what dealership do you work at? Wouldn't happen to be one in Toronto would it? I'm desperate for competent/caring service.

ccanders80

I have a 05 TL and have had nothing but problems with pulling to right since I put new rims and tires on it. My tires are directional, and no matter where the tires are on the car in respect to rotation, it pulls to the right no matter what. Acura said its my tires, b/c they put on factory rims and tires from another TL on lot and it drove perfect...so hence it has somethign to do with the TL's not being able to have anything but OEM wheels/tires on it!?!? THis sucks for such an expensive car..should not happen. So now I'm stuck with having to find new OEN rims to put back on and get new tires (obviously Michelin as posted on here)

anyone else have any ideas?

NX64000

As an update to the issue I reported - the 06 TL pulls to the right - with the stock Bridgestone tires .. I took it to another Dealer and even though the toe was within specs he adjusted front toe - to be close to 0 on both the right and left side

It drives noticably better now although the tendency to pull to the right is still there it is much improved

Ask the dealer for the output from the alighment machine - and check to see if right and left side are both in the middle of the alighment spec

I suspect that the new tires and wheels are more sensative to toe -in

BTW I have been told that the Michelins are much better than the bridgestones in this regard

jviviano

I would suggest first just changing the tires back to the OEMs, putting them on your new rims. Test drive the car. If that doesn't fix the problem, then go back to both OEM rims and OEM tires.

ccanders80

I think I'm just going to put my OEM wheels back on, after I send them in to be chromed. I want the 18" OEM 2007 wheels, but dont want to pay 1200 more since I still have these new rims to sell now...tires are pretty good..will prob offer in a combo package to anyone that wants them.

I do want to go lower profile tire though, which means I will mess up my odometer/speedometer, but will adjust mentally eventually. What do u all think? Just go with OEM 17" rims, and put smaller tires on...

jviviano

From all I've seen, I wouldn't risk going with anything exotic like lower profile tires. It's too risky on the TL. I would recommend sticking with the OEM tires.

Steerpike

Aren't the stock tires that come on the stock 17" rims already considered 'low profile'? I thought the main reason people went with 18" or 19" rims was for the visual effect of bigger rims.

McKulit

When I bought my used 04 TL it had directional 17" tires on them. The car always pull to the right. I bought a used A-spec 18" rims and have them put on the car. These a-spec rims didn't have directional tires. The car run perfectly straight and didn't pull to the right anymore

jviviano

Reading through all of these posts, it seems that the pulling is connected with directional tires. I know I had the same problem with my '02 TL when I put directional tires on it. The problem went away immediately when I went to the OEMs which are not directionals. And yes, I tried all sorts of things with the directionals, including swapping the tires front to back and replacing one of them. Nothing worked except going back to the OEMs. See other posts by jviviano.
Later

eaglegreen48

Any ideas on this? I just had my tires rotated and my car pulls to the right from a stop. After that it does not pull at all.

NX64000

[
I complained about pulling to the right with the stock OEM Bridgestone tires - the dealer wouldn't give me the time of day -

I installed new snow tires this weekend Michelin PA2 and guess what ? the car tracks fine doesn't pull any more

The clear conclusion is that Acura cheaps out with The infamous Turenza EL42 yet another reason why Acura is something less then an overpriced Honda