Hi, new to this forum and just got my Royal Blue Pearl end of June in 2009 and has about 2300 miles on it. So far I love it and think it is one most unique looking car on the road.

Hopefully no one else posted about this before, but when I took delivery of the car I was pretty excited so didn’t really pay too much attention about the little details of the car but since then I have noticed there is a somewhat loud clunking sound coming from the area of the transmission when I shift from reverse to drive. It is difficult to hear when the windows are all up, but if I roll the windows down, I can hear it clearly. It happens every day and doesn’t seem to go away.

I have a FWD tech and am wondering if anybody else also experiences this clunking noise when shift the transmission from reverse to drive and is it normal?

Other than the noise, the car drives fine and reverse fine. I didn’t have an oil change yet but when I do I might also ask the dealer about it. But if no one else has this noise, I will take the car in right away.

Thanks~

 

same here. brought it up with a tech from my dealer and he said it's normal on all Acura vehcles. he even had me test drive another 4g TL on the lot and it had it too. this is my first acura, i've been driven bmw, audi and infiniti prior to this and imho only those cars feels more solidly build than my 4g TL. heck, even my wife's '04 Accord doesn't have as many rattles and squeaks as my TL.

 

The experience of most 4g owners here is that the 4g was a big step up in build quality from the 3g and that the rattles are significantly less. I would definitely check into it with the dealer next time you're in.

 

no rattles here yet, tight as a drum.

 

I have not had any rattles or squeaks either on my car but the clunking noise from the transmission does worry me some.

 

all honda's do this....my 3g tl does it, my 2000 honda accord did it and so did my 95 civic!

 

No clunks here, but there is a pronounced click when shifting from R to D. Even my GF's 09 Accord does it, as did my 08 RDX. I like to think of it as the gears biting down, ready to rock & roll.

 

yes I have a click to when I shift from park to drive, is this normal? sometimes when I take off from a light it clicks, is that normal too?

 

it's kind of ironic, Acura's slogan is "Advance", however, it is still sharing the old 5 speed auto with the accord, where infiniti already using the 7A and lexus has the 6A and 8A, bmw also has the new 8A on their new 7 series. there is something wrong here. i know the 2010 mdx will finally have the 6A but it's already late to the party. oh yeah did i mention both Mitsubishi and VW though both don't have as good reputation as acura quality-wise but they at least have the dual clutch auto shifing trannies in their lineups. honestly, this will be my first and last Acura, the only consolation price i can lean on is i got a hell of a deal on my 4g TL.

 

Good point, In the last few years they have missed the bar a little bit, like adding a tape player to the 04 TL and keeping in in intheir until 2008, that aint advanced. Keep in mind VW and Mitsu are not even close to as reliable as an ACURA....Pull out a consumer reports and look at the problem spots with their cars, not to mention parts for a VW aren't cheap. VW just recalled like 20,000 car using the dual cluth tranny...and the reason you got a deal on your TL is becaue alot of people think those are ugly (I don't, well kinda) but alot of people were turned off and left acura all together.

 

and i didn't even start on the old SOHC v6 engines acura shares with the Accord.

 

The TL has good ratios. A 6th gear would be nice, there's a theoretical fuel economy increase, but there's diminishing returns. 7 or 8 gears seems pointless, it'll just be hunting for gears all the time. Honda's too sensible to put that crap in their cars.

 

I agree! Why is the TL bashed so much for 'only' having the 5AT? If the lowest gear and the highest gear is the same, the only difference is having to deal with more shifts along the way. The low gear is fine, and 5th now results in a pretty low RPM at freeway speeds. Each additional shift is a loss in acceleration, as the power drops for a sec. I understand a 7AT will be smoother, but come on -- it shifts very smoothly and (personally) I like to feel a little bump when accelerating.

Too many people feel a bigger number is better.... do not fall for this marketing scheme.

 

Funny the comparison between VW and Acura was brought up. Last car was a leased VW Passat and never had any problems. Still, it never crossed my mind to get another VW and I decided to “purchase” the next car. I stick with the car brand that has better reputation in hope it will better my chances of a worry free car.

Even though Acura may still have 5AT while others moved on to 7AT or 8AT, there are still nice “advances” for Acura. The SH-AWD performs very well, the sound system is one of the best not costing an arm and leg and good safety standards. I don’t mind the 5AT, but not having DI engine is a little disappointing though. Especially when domestic brands are starting to roll them out.