CTNYC

About 3 weeks ago, at around 44k miles, my rear shock absorbers were replaced under warranty. All was good I thought, then today, on my way back home, I notice a squeak over bumps, just like it did before I got my rear shock absorbers replaced last time. It seems that my rear shock absorbers went bad AGAIN. They went bad after 3 weeks and 1500 miles. I haven't been back to the dealership yet to confirm since they are a 40 min drive away from me, but same exact symptoms as the last time the rear shock absorbers went bad... Just not as bad/loud yet.

I know some ILX's and RDX's had the same issue, but question is, did any of you guys experience the same problem again in such a short amount of time? After they got replaced last, I thought I'd drive this car for a few years to minimize my losses, but as 50k miles creeps closer and closer (a touch over 46k miles now), I'm having second thoughts.

Any suggestions? Could something else be the issue? And for reference, I live in VA and my commute into DC is 8 miles roundtrip, The roads aren't the best, but it's not as bad as NYC. Also, it's been in the 90s and relatively humid the past week. The car is in a parking garage overnight, and parked on the street during the day. Also, the car was in the body shop all of last week getting the rear bumper repainted, but I don't think that would be a factor...

Torren61

What brand of tires are on the car? Out of round tires can cause problems to other suspension components. They can be balanced (i.e. you can balance a square but it still won't be a circle) but they can stress shocks to the point of early failure.

CTNYC

The car still has the original OEM tires that came from the factory on them. According the Tirerack, these should be Continental Contriprocontact tires.

I regularly rotate the tires, but I admit, I've never balance them. Early failure is one thing, but can out of balance tires lead to shock absorber failure at just shy of 1500 miles?!

Torren61

Good question and one I cannot answer. Think about this: everything in the suspension system affects everything else in some way. A tire that is not round within tolerances will not roll IN tolerance even though it's balanced. That out-of-round tire will punish other parts of the system. Enough to ruin a new pair of shocks in 1900 miles? Who knows?

That's why cheap tires (not calling your tires cheap or out-of-round or anything else) should be avoided. One can save a few hundred dollars today with cheaper tires and end up replacing major and/or minor suspension components in the long run costing thousands of dollars.

Here's a Consumer Affairs site with a multitude of complaints about Continental tires. I can tell you my 2005 Dodge Magnum came with Continental tires that lasted 8,000 miles. Yes, really. 8,000 miles. I drove that car from Lake Arrowhead, CA to Big Bear Lake, CA and back for work and those tires squealed and slipped and finally wore out. I replaced them with a set of Goodyear Eagle GTs and loved them. I will NEVER own Continental tires again.

Back to your problem. I have no idea what's causing your shocks to fail so quickly but tires CAN be a factor. I hope you get your problem solved quickly and cheaply. Btw, my car has Michelin tires. I like them, so far.

Torren61

Where's the edit button? Here's the link: Top 338 Complaints and Reviews about Continental Tires

CTNYC

Thanks for the information on the tires. I still do have the stock Continental crap tires on the car. I had one of the stock tires blow out on me around 12k miles IIRC. I just replaced that one tire with the same Continental ones (As per the Acura dealership's recommendation).

I picked up the car Friday and the dealership said that there was some metal in the sunroof that was rubbing that made the squeaking noise and they replaced the sunroof shad tracks and other things to fix the issue. The sounds from the shocks still persisted and went back to make an appointment with the tech to go on a 20-30 minute test drive to pinpoint the issue on Saturday.

However, Friday night, my tire randomly blew out, so I had to get the car towed to the dealership. I had the dealership special order a set of Michelin Defenders which should be coming in tommorow, then I'm going on a test drive with the tech, but I'm 99.9% certain that it is the shock absorbers that went bad again. Hopefully the Defenders hold up as well as some of the previous Michelins I bought, although the reviews seem slightly mixed..

For all I care, the dealership can take their sweet old time with my ILX Hybrid - I have a 2016 ILX Tech Plus that I picked up with under 600 miles that I'm currently racking up my miles on Now the 2016 ILX is one fun little car to throw around.. I'd trade mine in for a 2016, but I do have concerns about the new tranny...

CTNYC

UPDATE: After new michelin defenders were mounted on my car (goodbye crappy continentals), the shocks stopped making noise for a while. Also after picking up my car, it was only in 70s and 80s as opposed to the 90s when the noise initially was very noticeable. Now that it is back to the 90s and humid, the noise has returned.

In other news, my horn went bad and had to get replaced as well.