dcdeep

I report the vibration at under 1,000 miles on the car, since then it's been in for service four times for the same issue. The TSB made the problem better for about two weeks and now it's back at speeds around 75 MPH, it used to start at 80 MPH.

NightShark

It's been quiet in this thread for a few months now. I read through everything just wanted to know if anyone has had any updates on this situation. I have the issue on my 15 SH-AWD and I'm currently going through the motions with the dealer but problem is still not fixed. I didn't want to start a new thread on this just wondering if anyone knows what the specific cause is.

Thanks

mlody

I hate to say it but some people, like myself, have given up on the fixing the issue and got rid the car. Best of luck fixing the problem.

Tardym

Hi Nightshark,

Like Mlody said, most of the people have given up on Acura and got rid of the car. As for myself , I am still in a small court process against Acura and still waiting for a date to appear in court. The process is so long that most people decided to wait till the end of their lease and simply return the car. In my case I bought the car and want to be able to fully enjoy it and not fell any vibration.

Acura is still saying that vibration is normal behavior on the TLX SH-AWD V6, but I did not pay that kind of money to have a vibrating car. Too bad that so many people complained about this defect, but so little decided to sue Acura / Honda. I even ask few time, on this forum and another forum, for people to send me their complain / Acura explanation / dealer comments, and only two people sent me good detail that I added to my court case.

I will not let go till they (Acura) decide to take back their defective car and we'll see what the court will decide.

Thanks, Mickey

phil1c

Well, this thread makes me real happy about the used 2015 TLX AWD I just picked up this past weekend. I just noticed the vibration on hard accelerating beyond 65mph, though I might also be experiencing the VCM wobble as well but I'm not torn up over it.

Also, Hey guys!! New here. Just bought a 2015 TLX AWD Tech w/58k on it.

9SpeedTran

So interesting story. I had never had this vibration problem (early 2015 TLX SH-AWD) until after my most recent A1 service where they rotated and balanced the tires (Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3s with probably 30K miles). Then it was distinctly noticeable. I brought it back in for a 4 wheel alignment and to get the wheels rebalanced. They recalibrated the balancer before doing the balancing and found out that one of the wheels was off balance, and I had a slight toe in on the left front which the alignment fixed. That unfortunately didn't really fix the problem.

I then went to a place that had a Hunter machine. After a little while, the guy comes in and says, where did you last get the wheels balanced? I said, the dealership, when I had it serviced, and then I had them rebalance the wheels like 10 days later because of the vibration. He said, well, apparently they used the stick-on weights on the inner rim of the wheels that they are only supposed to use on the outer part of the wheels when they balanced the wheels, plus they only used a regular balancer. He said just replacing those with the right kind of weights and balancing should fix the problem, especially since the car has (as he put it) a very light front end. Well, I took it up on the highway after getting it back, and the vibration was gone.

Now, I had never had a vibration until after this most recent service, so I am not sure I encountered the same problem as all the other folks here, but it certainly raises some interesting questions. The symptoms were all the same: vibration starting at 70 up until 80, felt it through the steering wheel, gas pedal, and seat, and I could see the passenger seat and seatbelt vibrating.

The road force balancer will find problems with tires, as Kuzdu pointed out in this thread, and it certainly seems like whatever balancers Acura is using (and the weights) are not of the same caliber. So if you have this vibration, find a local shop that has one of these machines and take your car in and have it done. Cost me $60 and an hour of my time but it made the problem go away. :-)

slimm1469

Thanks 9speedtran. I've analyzed some "alignments" made by dealers over on the Accord site. They were actually MISaligned. RoadForce balancing does so with the wheels on the car. Rotate your tires every 7k miles to eliminate or confirm the vibration is wheels related.

aussie5

I finally solved my TLX vibration issues. I got rid of the car today! Had a 2016 TLX that vibrated more than our washing machine on the spin cycle once you reached 70+ mph. Had the November 2016 Acura TSB work done sa soon as it came out, and it helped a bit, but I’ve been driving it since with vibration that never went away, and it pissed me off every time I drove the car. Well no more for me, I now have a very smooth riding Infiniti Q50! Before I bought the Infiniti, I test drove a 2019 TLX with FWD, but this car also had slight vibration above 70mph,. It was not as bad as my 2016, but’s it still had more vibration than I would expect in normal highway driving. So now I have the much smoother riding Infiniti. Acura screwed this up and so my first Acura experience went down as a complete failure. Won’t ever buy another Acura.

Terdbath

Good for you Aussie. It's hard to consider getting another Acura with all the vibration issues folks are having.

Now lets see some pics of that Infiniti Q50!

someguy11

I wish we could help get the word out to other people.

I purchased a CPO 2015 TLX V6 SH-AWD a couple months ago. I felt the distinct slight vibration between 68-80 mph and wrote it off as an imbalanced tire. That's exactly the sensation it resembles having driven dozens of cars over 20 years. For those who don't know - it's a high frequency, low amplitude shake. It's bad enough to vibrate the floorboard, steering wheel and passenger seat enough that the belt buckle rattles. I researched the Goodyear LS2s it had and concluded they were garbage tires that needed to be replaced soon anyway around 40k miles.

So I replace those with Michelin Premier A/S - a very good tire. Drove home and immediately realized that was not the problem. I researched more (including here) and learned about this chronic expressway vibration issue. I called the Acura dealer to describe the problem. They are completely aware and asked me to bring it in to perform the two TSBs. I hoped that would fix it. It did in fact get better. It's much smoother at 70-75, but the vibration between 75-80 still exists.

I don't blame the dealer for not being able to fix it; however, there is a design flaw with this car that Acura is aware of and cannot fix (otherwise they would have by now). These cars are about to come up as CPO and used off-leases that will anger a whole new group of people. I'm hoping they figure out the problem and issue a TSB soon.

It's definitely a mechanical problem, but what's strange is it comes and goes, meaning it's something dynamic. It's inconsistent. On the same highway within 2 miles, it starts, tapers off, then it gradually comes back, then disappears. It's not the roads. No other vehicles have issues on these roads. Forget about those who think it's VCM. It's not. It happens under acceleration, deceleration and coasting. It's definitely not the tires or forged rims, because imbalance would never pass the balancer. It's not the engine mounts or propeller shaft TSBs. It's not the transmission, because the vibration is consistent between gears and RPMs. I don't think it's the axles, because it's not a constant vibration for any given speed. For many of those guesses, the frequency and amplitude of the vibration would be proportional to something, whether it be speed (moving parts) or RPMs (engine/transmission).

All of my driving to date had been under Normal IDS. I tried an experiment on the expressway flipping through the IDS modes. Perhaps this was a placebo effect, but I found that Sport exhibited the least vibration amplitude. Eco and Normal were the worst. Sport was the best. Sport+ was no better than Sport except the engine downshifts two gears.

I think this whole 70-80mph vibration has something to do with the suspension. I'd love to know if anyone who replaced the springs, struts and shocks, or any combination of those, still has the vibration.

neil0311

dannydleon

slimm1469

About a year ago maybe longer on the other Acura forum, there was a long thread about the same issue. I remember there was discussion about the vibration coming from the subframe on AWD cars. I was researching it carefully because I really wanted a TLX (I didn't buy one). My theory is that the vibration has more than one source.

someguy11

To close the loop on my experience for anyone reading this thread, I traded in my TLX after 14 months and ~20k miles. The expressway vibration was the real reason, but the tranny is a close second. Acura road force balanced my tires (and tried to charge me for it, but I convinced them not to thanks to this thread and the known vibration issue), replaced engine mounts and rotated prop shaft, but this vibration never went away. It was reduced to about 25% of what it started. For me, it was every time between 70mph and 80mph every day, every road, just like everyone else. Many of ours were 2015s, but what's really crazy is that there are still people on Edmunds with 2019s complaining about the exact same problem.

I'm pretty sure the source of the vibration is either the rear diff or the transfer case. The gears, bearings, both or something else in those is out of tolerance. It's not the tranny because mine was replaced and vibration didn't go away. It's not the prop shaft because removing that didn't make the vibration go away. It's unbearable if you have it and there is no fix except ditching your TLX. Acura will not replace either of those, even if you are aware of the issue and ask specifically (I tried). They eventually do what they do to minimize it and write "characteristic of vehicle" or "within parameters" on the work invoice.

Christopher.

Never experienced any vibration problems (other than from rough roads) in my 2018 TLX and I've taken several road trips where I frequently drove at 70 - 80 MPH for hours.

someguy11

I’m not sure if you read the title of thread or any of the posts within the thread before posting this, but the vibration is exclusive to AWD models (only some). It comes from the prop shaft, rear diff, rear axles, rear subframe, or some combination, none of which your FWD car has. Posts like yours muddy the water for new and prospective owners. You wouldn’t need several road trips to feel it. It happens every single time you reach 70 at the end of the on ramp and sticks around unless you exceed 80. You will know if you have it. You can’t miss or ignore it. The consistency of each individual owners stories who have/had this is remarkable.

One of you PMed me about suing Acura over this. That makes a handful of members who hate this seriously enough to take legal action. Like a dozen other members, I simply took my financial hit and left Acura. If considering a TLX V6 AWD, test drive it thoroughly.