Hey guys I have one of the issues with failure of prop-shaft on my 2012 TL AWD. Took car to Acura West here in London Ontario. Technician noticed sound that I complained is coming from front of the car is due to failure of prop-shaft. Car has 53900km on it so I am out of the warranty by 8 months. It would cost me 1890 plus tax to replace. Guess what I called acura Canada explained to them (acura Canada) that how come car with so low km has prop-shaft failure. They said that they (acura canada) will make a decision in a week or so if acura will or not cover under warranty. Yesterday they (Acura Canada) called me and said that they will cover the total cost of replacement. Part is already here at the acura west dealer ship, next Thursday I am getting old shaft replaced with a brand new one. I asked for part number and dealer confirmed 40100-TK5-A03. I guess I saved myself a few hundred of dollars for a making a phone call!!!!!

 

Did you just go to Acura West and tell them you have the whistle noise? Do they charge you anything for looking into the problem? How much do they charge? I used bought a used Acura and have the same issue after driving for 10 mins whenever over 60km/h. I can hear the whistle noise coming from the front passenger side. Thanks

 

I went to Acura west about month ago, about that noise. Mean while I was driving with that noise for about a year or so. Then it became annoying so I made appointment paid $105 for the diagnostics. They called me and said that I needed the new propeller shaft that it will cost me $1890can plus tax. I declined the repair and called the Acura Canada customer relations services. Explained to them that car with that low km should not have bad propeller shaft and the lady admitted way to early. She asked me If all maintenance was done at that dealer ship I said all history, maintenance, service is always done over there. People at the Acura west are always nice, polite and very helpful. That is why I always go over there. What can I say. I am getting new replacement even though I am out of warranty. I can beat it!!!!

 

Thanks very much Jerry. It is very helpful. My Acura TL's warranty just expired Sept 2017. I had actually brought to Performance Acura North Mississauga to do a full inspection before the warranty expired. They said the car is all good. However the noise is still there. I brought it back in again for another diagnostic ($105) after the warranty expire. The mechanics Shaikh said they cannot hear any weird noises. All noise are normal.
My issue is after the car has driven for 10-15 mins whenever the speed is over 60km/h, I can hear the whistle noise coming from the front passenger side with radio turn off. I just wondering if I should pay another $105 for diagnostics at other dealership. I have planning to bring it to Acura Toronto North.
It is the same issue you were experiencing before the propeller shaft swap? My car now has 94000 km. I believe the mileage is still quite low.

 

That is exactly it!!! On my 2012 tl today just rolled in 54000km. I had written report from the acura technician that the whistle noise is caused by failing prop shaft and needs to be completely replaced with oem brand new $1890 in total plus tax. The new propeller shaft comes with 1 year warranty or 20000km according to acura. I told them to take car on a highway turn off music and ac off. Drive for about 15-20min then the noise comes on and stays on then the noise goes away when travelling under 60 then when you speed up noise again. It is annoying after a while. I drove with that noise for about a year or so. Maybe you have to be in the car with technician while testing it and explain that noise when audible? I was not in the car and they acura tech diagnosed right a way. Tech also said that I have a slight warp in the front disk but I can't feel anything at all. They also checked all breaks and I still have about 60% life on disk pads front and 75% left at the rears. I don't know what to say beside good luck....

 

Thanks again Jerry. My brakes are okay as replaced they have been replaced. (I sent the car to Acura dealership to inspect the car before I buy it). Please let me know the outcome of the shaft swap next week. Please also let me know if you still have the noise and roughly how long it take for the work. Good Luck and have a nice thanksgiving long weekend.

 

Hi Jerry,
I think a lot of people what to know about this as well. Could you help to ask Acura West what happen if we do not replace the shaft? Is it safe to leave it as it is? It is far too expensive to fix out of pocket.
I know you have driven it with the noise for more than a year. Does it causing any issue beside the annoying whistle noise?
It seems to me it is a design fault as more than one incident of Acura TL SH-AWD has this whistling problem. I believe Acura better perform a recall to fix this design fault to restore their brand name.

 

I will let you know the outcome this coming Thursday. Referring to driving with that noise for a year or so, I think there is less noise in the winter than in summer that's what I noticed so far. The noise didn't become any louder by any means of the year driving with it. I can't recall any problems related to it what so ever. Will ask the service advisor and hopefully tech at Acura west what possibly could happened if you ignore the noise and just keep driving. I think Honda changed that shaft number 3 times so it must the be the latest redesigned and improved one. I just don't see and hear anyone complaining here at acurazine with failing shaft on 2013 and 2014 models. More info coming soon. Happy Thanksgiving.......

 

Hey guys, just small update about the propeller shaft install. All went smooth here at Acura west today. The tech got it installed under 2 hours. On the statement says: install propeller shaft under Acura goodwill as per last inspection. Confirming part. ACU 40100-TK5-A03. The best of all, parts and labour free no charge!!!! Went home after the install got the car above 70km, 80km all nice and quiet now! I asked if he got anyone ever coming in with failed prop shaft with that newest updated shaft and he said, no, he can't recall a single one. I also asked the service tech what could happened if I lefted alone. He said he got customers with 200000km with that noise and no problems at all, just annoying. When customers ask how much it is to fix that noise by replacing the propeller shaft almost everyone declines the repair. He also said some people may think that it is normal to have that noise so they ignore and drive with it. I have to say outstanding service from Acura customer service relations side and Acura west dealer side. I am one happy camper!!!

 

Thanks very much for your update, Jerry. I has been very helpful. However, Acura West too far from Toronto. I shall leave it for now as it is not doing any damage until have I have money to fix as I just bought this Acura TL 6MT about a month ago.
I just changed all the fluids (transmission, engine and differential) over the long weekend. In addition, I sprayed some dry lube on the propeller shaft hanging bearings. It seems to get rid of the noise for now, not sure how long it lasts.

 

So in an interesting turn, I was getting the whine in May, but by June or so, it seemed to go away (without me doing anything to rectify it). No, at the end of November, it's back again. I would have thought that the problem would be worse during the warmer months, but it seems not.

 

Bumping this thread up. I think I have the same issue I'm trying to diagnose. It's not a tea kettle sound, but it starts at around 50km/h after being warmed up a bit and goes away at lower speeds. Don't think its belt related, did my timing belt and accessory belt 1000km ago. I'll be replacing the auto-tensioner because its a savage to pull back to remove the belt. Doubt it'll fix the noise since it's speed related and not engine RPM.

Has anyone tried this before replacing the whole assembly?

 

To my knowledge, nobody on this forum has serviced or replaced only the bearings.

*** Edited*** Actually you're wondering how often a noise was resolved by replacing a bad auto tensioner? How many km on your 2010?

 

There was a thread in the last few months where someone said he had taken the car to an independent shop to just replace the bearing. As I recall the fix wasn't satisfactory and the poster then replaced the entire shaft.

 

That's what I'm stuck with now. The new tensioner has quieted down the engine belt noise significantly but the faint kettle whistle sound is there. Time to find a used unit.

 

Make sure you get the updated part entire shaft part number 40100-TK5-A03 I think the old one ends in A01 but not sure. Good luck and keep us informed

 

Yes, A03. ^^^

 

The A03's must come in later years because I can't find any from 2013 on in local yards.

 

My -A03 was from a 2013

 

Having a hard time finding anything 2013+ out of a TL. Do any other models share the same drivetrain as the TL in those years?

 

Mine went away too, 2012 awd advance. Is there any point in fixing it at this point? I don't notice any performance change and it's completely silent.

 

I too am having this issue now. I noticed it before I was out of warranty with my 2012 AWD, but techs could not replicate. Now it's back with avengence. If this is the fault of a crap part why won't Honda take responsibility? Same with the TC (got that issue too). Their fix for that hasn't worked for me either.

 

So I have a 2011 that went bad replaced it at 75,000 miles then about 121,000 it started making it again haven't replaced it yet because the car was getting up there in miles got hit on Christmas eve found a 2012 with 39,000 miles to replace my 2011 and 750 miles in same noise. Can anyone confirm that the a03n as different bearings? And from what I have found it changed half year of 2013 is that correct? I was looking at getting used because the in service date on my car was may of 2012 so I am 9 months outside of warranty and forking over that much money for new doesn't feel great but I will if I have to can't stand the noise.

I have been on the phone with Acura customer care they advised met o have the torque converter update done and thought it would resolve this issue. I tried to explain that I knew this sound but they don't seem to have any knowledge of a part update.

 

So I ordered the new drive shaft got the a03 and laid it next to the one out of my car. I got some pictures that I will try to upload later but it is different. The rubber around the bearings is thicker and comes up a bit higher. The a02 that was in my car as a bolt at the end of one of the shafts in between the ujoints the a03 does not. So there at least was a few design changes. A machine shop I know in the area said to them it looked like the rubber was thickened up to help protect the bearings and that the bearings inside could be different as well wasn't pulling off the rubber seal and messing up the new driveshaft to find that out though.

 

My car is making this sound. Did it sound like it was coming from the front for you? In my case, it sounds like it’s coming from the front when windows are up and it only happens at above 40-50km/hr. My mechanic hoisted my car and spun my wheels and I did hear a clicking in my drive shaft. Think it could be that instead of the propellor shaft?

 

My opinion: No. Clicking half shafts are likely to be noise around turns. The propeller shafts is a distinct whistle / crickets chirping sound. People walking will look at your car from afar before you notice the noise with the windows down at speed. Check to see the part number isn't already the revised one on the prop shaft too.

 

I doubt mine is the revised prop shaft. My TL is a 2009... I hope I don’t have the bite the bullet and pay 1500 for it...

 

Pm sent

 

I Know this is an old thread but there is hardly any help online for the DIYer. I removed the prop shaft myself, and decided to order from a junkyard in VA. I just received the part and there is grease on all the joints... Perhaps leaking? Not to mention that the shaft is arrived all scratched up and with a label by itself. No box, no protective wrapping, just the naked prop shaft. Who knows how many people threw it around, pole vaulted, rolled it. Any tech on here know if it's oke to install with grease coming out of the joints?

 

What model years does this affect? I was under the assumption that it was the 2009-2011 cars that had prop shaft issues. I thought 2012-2014 cars for the corrected part. I have a 2014, and at highway speeds I do hear the faintest of a transmission whine, but you'd have to REALLY discuss to hear it.

 

No.​ It affects 09-13 models. SOME 13 models made later closer to 2014 have the updated part

 

Not sure if this helps, but I also picked up a few replacement shaft from the junkyard. It eventually took three visits to get a unit that appeared useable.

All three shafts were shipped-in from other yards on the west coast. The first two appeared to have been yanked from the donor vehicle, as a guard on the end of both units were oval-ed out (rather than round) and presumably would have been well out of balance and a nightmare at almost any speed.

The first shaft was returned after inspecting at home, while the second shaft was opened and inspected at the yard and the mechanic at the yard fully agreed it looked unusable. The third unit looked great.

it cost about $280 for a replacement shaft and took about an hour to replace. It was a tight fit, but was able to be threaded down and out the front end without having to remove any of the exhaust, bumper, or paneling components.

I drive a 2012 sh-awd. The donor vehicle was a 2014. FWIW, the shaft has been propelling me in silence now for about 3 years/ 40,000 miles since the swap out was done.

 

My experience was identical to yours. It took 3 propeller shafts from junkyards and only the third one was usable. Donor was a 2014, the junkyard pullers did a horrible job removing it and packaging it. By the time it got to me it looked like it had been pole vaulted with out of a prison, scratches and grease everywhere. Nevertheless I installed it and it is working so far no noise. Hats off to you for getting it in without removing exhaust pipe B, I have no idea how you squeezed it in. I was on the floor on jack stands with very limited space

 

Damned then this must be what wrong with my 2012 TL SH-AWD. Ive replaced the propellar shaft once already! how many time does these things nee dto be replaced? The airplaine howl sound as I go faster it gets louder. Drives me NUTS@!

 

They usually start failing around 60- 100k. I've heard some fail as early as 30k. Yes,very annoying sound, I will go on until you tap out and decide to replace it

 

There is currently a sale on prop shafts. They are currently right under $1300 If anyone was looking. May be because of the holiday weekend.

 

where is this sale happening?

 

Looks looks like it's at acurapartswarehouse.com 4th of July sale. just under 1,300 bucks. Still pricey imo

 

Did the noise every return after spraying dry lube on the bearings?

 

update I completed the install and it’s a night and day difference. Wish I would have taken it off of my old 4G TL and I could’ve saved 1300 but it’s quiet now.