Tsx96

Hi guys, for the last nearly 4 months now I have multiple issues with my suspension and after replacing end links and bushings I'm at a loss. The car spent its whole life in Wisconsin and i'm the second owner with 145,200 miles on it(got it in 2017 with 113,500) I work for a local Toyota dealer and one day heard a squeak going over bumps and handling was a little lighter. So I took it in and one of the techs said it was my shocks/struts... I had a more advance tech look at the car and said they actually looked fine with no leaking fluid. So we mounted and balanced my tires to see if that would help for now and the squeak went away but my steering everyday was getting lighter. We then checked the alignment and found the rear to be out of spec with camber. At this point it was decided to take it to zimbrick Acura which is the nearest Acura dealer to me and I showed one of the advisers all the paperwork on whats been done to the car. He speaks to the master tech and says its my rear upper control arms causing everything. In my mind, while this may have given insight to the rear being out of alignment that still didn't explain the front end feeling funny/vague steering. I then took the car to a local mechanic who used to work on my Mazda 6 when I had it. They found out I had a bad driver side ball joint so I had it replaced there 2 days later and then a couple weeks later had Acura do the repair on the rear upper control arms. While the car was better it still didn't feel right and then I had a harsh vibration in the steering wheel so then I take the car back and they said that was caused by a seized brake caliper and that the driver front was the last original one. That was replaced with front rotors also getting resurfaced. Car braked better but the handling still felt not up to par. Upset I take the car back the following week and ask to speak with the Service manager and explained all the symptoms with the car up to that point and we went on a test drive. He said his daughter has a 04 TSX just like mine and never replaced struts/shocks, cv axles etc... and it had 265,000 miles on it As we get back to the dealership we could here this strange clunk going over a bump in the lot which I was trying to explain before and they kept the car overnight to run some tests. They also had 2 other 1st gen TSXs in the shop so I thought this would help draw comparisons. A little later I get a call from the Service manager and he said there master tech basically nit picked the entire car. He said it was the front stabilizer bar end links, lower shock bushings, left control arm bushing and driver and passenger side compliance bushings should be replaced but they were not torn through, only slightly cracked. They also found the driver side wheel bearing/hub will need attention soon. So I order the OEM parts and take them to one of our advance techs at Toyota and he put them in for me. Then the following week get another alignment( didn't have time over the weekend) and the car still has vague steering at times and is now pulling to one side when driving. The same tech swapped the 2 front tires and now instead of the right and sometimes pulls more to the left. There's also a noticeable creak in the steering wheel at times when cranking it to the left. I'm really lost on what to do with the car and just hate driving it now. Everyone including the Acura dealer thinks i'm hyper sensitive and I should just drive the car and that there is nothing to worry about. Is there anyone else with more experience on Acura double wishbone suspension that can provide some insight as to what the problem is?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

you swapped tires, now it's leaning towards the left...I'd say that's your suspect there.

Tsx96

I was suspecting uneven tire wear but I'm still lost on the light steering. the TSX should feel like a go Kart essentially . Nice heavy steering and very agile when going around curves. Also I did replace the tires at around 127,000 miles with the Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06s I have now which at the time made the car handle amazingly.

BROlando

TSX's don't feel like Go-karts.

But...

Has anyone done a steering rack preload adjustment? Takes 2 mins with the special honda locknut wrench.

Is the creak happening while turning the wheel? It could be a common issue with rack seals. This can be mitigated by doing a PS fluid flush. But, to fix it requires a new rack. Or ignoring it. The former is expensive. The latter is free.

Which ball joints were replaced? Front? Rear? Upper? Lower?

Brake pulsation is a known issue with these cars. Its caused by worn LCA bushings and/or by using ceramic brake pads. Buy new rotors. They're like $20 on rockauto....resurfacing doesn't fix pulsation caused by pad deposits...and is usually like the same cost as new rotors. Use quality semi-metallic pads.

Tsx96

Maybe go kart wasn't the best term i was just quoting what some one else told me but more or less it should be a tight handling car. As far as the steering rack preload adjustment I haven't heard of the term before, could you explain a little as to what they would do? The creak is intermittent and but all I notice its sometimes when turning the wheel left at low speeds like when I need to straighten out backing the car in at work or parallel parking downtown. this started maybe a month and a half ago ish? I would would have to check my RO for the ball join but I wanna say it was the lower driver side one.

BROlando

Power steering rack creaks from rubber seals are pretty commonplace. Check youtube....see if those cases line up with yours.

Flushing the PS fluid helps with the seal creaking. Just remember to use Honda PS fluid.

After flushing it, if it continues, ignore it until the rack starts leaking.

The car handles fairly tight when in good condition. But heavy or light steering is a subjective term. If the alignment (especially caster) is good, and tyres are ones that emphasize steering feel...that's as good as its going to get.

Tsx96

I did check the carfax report and the only fluid I haven't touched was the PS fluid. It was last changed at I think 50-60K I think. Last year I did brake fluid, tranny fluid and coolant this year with spark plugs. The steering feel on the other hand is what's concerning me the most cause even with my old tires at 5/32 seconds the car's steering felt fine, just more tire squeal if I took a turn a bit fast or drove without VSA on. Those were continental Pro Contacts which the car came with at like 8/32 Seconds. If it also Helps should I take a Picture of the PS fluid and up load it?

BROlando

Sorry if I'm asking you to repeat info here.

But...did your steering become vague after changing to new tyres?

If so...that is common. A brand new treaded tyre (apples to apples) will make steering more vague than a worn out one. Brand new tyres have more tread. The deeper the tread, the more the tyre will squirm (move around) before translating steering wheel motion into direction change for the car.

A worn out tyre will respond faster and grip harder in dry weather as long as the compound is still good. If roads were always dry...tyres wouldn't need tread.

Some tyres are built to minimize tread squirm. But almost every all season tyre will squirm pretty badly because of their small treadblocks and high tread depth.

The TSX came with Michelin HXMXM4's from the factory. Which were bad at virtually EVERYTHING...except steering response because their design minimized tread squirm-- for an all season tyre.

What brand and type of tyres are on the car now?

Unfortunately, I think a lot of parts that were put on your car were done in a blind attempt to cure the symptoms you were observing. Proper drivability diagnosis isn't something that most shops do.

But...at least now you've got a fresh start, eh?!

Tsx96

I still have the Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06s from November on there. Toyota Installed them before winter and I never had issues with the tires. I noticed maybe early February that there was a slight increase in body roll with some bends but the big thing is I took 2 trips to the 2018 Chicago auto show. Chicago is crazy driving galore because of potholes, cracked roads and having to fight traffic non stop. I also took the I94 route going from Madison WI to Milwaukee WI then hitting Chicago to avoid the tolls. This by itself was 12 hours of driving on top of normal driving in Madison in less than a week span. Is it possible the 2 trips to Chicago is slightly why I'm having suspension issues now? Also I get what your saying about drivability diagnosis but the funny thing is Zimbrick admitted they dropped the ball the 1st time time not testing the car more yet I still was out of pocket for the arms. Its stupid how many times I have been to Acura and yet the car is not acting right. I also saw just saw they got a 06 TSX in trade and is it a good idea to go test drive that one to draw comparisons?

BROlando

I live in the Chicago burbs. A drive to Chicago won't ruin any car. TSX's are built like tanks anyway. You can't kill an Accord. I've driven mine to NYC, Toronto, and lots of other places with minefield roads.

And yeah, may not be a bad idea to test drive another good one. Note what type of tyres are on it, etc.

Tsx96

So I took the car in to the shop that did the alignment today and half and hour later the guy says its my struts/ Rack and pinon that's giving me problems. Upset and wanting to investigate further I go to Zimbrick Acura and test drove an 06 TSX they had for sale and it felt closer to how to mine when I 1st got it last year. The 06 had 111,362 miles on it. I go to service and explain my dissatisfaction with the situation and once again we put the car on the lift and this time was aloud to go back and see the car. Zimbrick's tech said my struts were not leaking fluid so there is no reason to place and said my rack looked fine. Only thing we saw was there was a little grease on the driver side inner tie rod but they said its not worth replacing at this time. So now i'm at a loss cause everyone has there own story and I kinda just wanna trade out of it. TSXs are not known to be in and out of the shop like this and the dealer doesn't know what to do at this point

BROlando

Are your tyres filled to the right pressure?

Any chance you have another set of wheels/tyres you can put on? even from another car...

Tsx96

Nope only set of tires and I can double check tire pressure but if they were low shouldn't it had be noted?

BROlando

Should have been. But...you know...

BROlando

If it helps, you're not alone.

It seems that, as these cars age, there is some vagueness that sets in.

Mine started kindof darting sideways over bumps at 160K miles. And through all the VARIOUS things I've tried; new coilovers, new LCA bushings, new UCA's, new rack bushings, lots of alignments, different tyres (winter wheels), rear spindle bushings, and lastly....spherical bearing compliance bushings (DON'T do this on a street driven TSX, btw).

The issue still persists. The things that made the biggest difference in improving it were a rack preload adjustment, and the sphericial bearings in the compliance location.

BUT...I shouldn't need sphericals to improve a drivability issue. And I hate them on this car (love them on my S2000). So I'm going back to normal LCA's with rubber bushings (ughhhhhh)....and will keep fighting to trace this dumbass issue.

Its probably something idiotic that I overlooked.

But I've heard other people say similar things about high mileage TSX's.

Thing is...there are a larger majority of 200, 300, 400, 500K mile TSX owners that report no such issue.

Tsx96

That's what's really bugging me. How is it I gotta do all this stuff at 145,000 miles??? Most Acura owners say they love there cars and sometimes yea a bump or 2 is expected with a older car but this case seems uncommon. A local Jaguar dealership has 2016 ILX from California with 20,000 miles on it. As much as I would hate to let the TSX go do you think it might be time to trade in?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^it's an older car. older cars need love....

BROlando

The ILX doesn't really do anything for me. Test drive it, though. Maybe you'll like it. Its a newer car with like...no miles, which is nice.

Tsx96

The Milkwaukee dealer had a couple low mileage 2015 4cyl TLXs for around 20K but I heard that heard 2015s are ifffy with transmissions... What do you think? technically I could pay to keep the TSXs running smooth and not increase my car payment or insurance or pawn it off to someone else in favor of a CPO ILX or TLX?

BROlando

No idea how much the TLX market is. The TLX seems behind its time in tech. It looks nice. But is massively boring compared to its contemporary rivals.

For me.....basically, if its not available in manual trans OR isn't a station wagon...I'm not really interested lol.

The 2018 Accord hits all the right notes for me. Idk what the price delta is between it and a 3yr used TLX. But...Accords are cheap. I don't see any worthy rivals in its price point. Literally everything else sucks in comparison. Maybe take a look at that?

rwhockey29

ive test driven the ILX and TLX, the ILX feels like a nissan sentra to my 1st gen TSX. no power, bad handling, just doesnt feel "sporty". The new TLX's look great, and drive pretty great, but for the price of them the technology and interiors are VERY sub par; if i could buy an Accord with an Aspec exterior package I would go that route.

somewhat off topic but this is why i dont trust dealerships to repair my cars. no offense to the OP but you work at a dealership, and have had several higher up/head techs look at the car, and you still cant diagnose the problem. are you sure you even have a problem at this point? have you driven other same year model TSXs? I cant imagine anything in the suspension that would "squeak" but also make handling lighter.... loose/worn suspension should make handling stiffer or more difficult to control. most struts dont "leak fluid" when they go bad, its all interior issues; and unless your car was bouncing a bunch i wouldnt say they were the problem. complaining about loose steering and instantly replacing rear suspension parts doesnt make sense. TBH it doesnt sound like you have had anyone actually qualified look at your car; and if you have they are just taking you for a ride for easy money. and NO, a couple of trips to chicago wont ruin your suspension lol

Tsx96

on the topic of dealers this is one of the reasons I got upset with Zmbrick because it sounded like I was getting the run around at 1st, I can't fault Toyota that much cause they are not trained on Hondas/Acuras. However I am now having 2nd thoughts about the independent shop cause I took the car to the dealer in Milwaukee and still could not find anything wrong with the car other than that bad wheel bearing which I went ahead and replaced. I get the feeling the guy was trying to pull my leg cause he said he had a family member looking for a 1st gen TSX. Car almost has 146K now and driving a little better but idk. As far as trading up, the ILX felt ok but you are right it would be more of a point A to point B car and I also looked at one with the preimum package. The 2015 TLX drove a little better and is more of what i'm used to. In the test drive I couldn't really feel anything wrong with that tranny so I think that one is ok but that's one thing I am a little worried about and the only saving grace is I have the warrenty as a back up. Acura brookfield also lowered the prices a little too. Prices start at $19,500-$20,999 for the cars I was looking at with miles ranging from 14K-35K but for the ILX they have a APR special and I would be looking at 60 months at 2.49%. Would you say keep the TSX and maintain it or see into trading up to to a CPO ILX or TLX? Also reason im sticking with Acura is cause they have the best deals out of all the dealers I looked at in the Madison area and Milwaukee.

BROlando

If you're fine with a car payment, a worry free new car is always nice.

Was there some issue with the TLX/ILX trans? What's the worry?

rwhockey29

man, to be honest if you just have some "slop" in the steering, or creaking suspension parts, i would keep the paid off car and deal with minor noises instead of having another car payment.

Tsx96

I guess my biggest thing is how long can I go driving a car like this. The slop is disconcerting and I mean I could have it fixed next month. I feel like the battle I have with myself is at this point if I was to keep the TSX i'm more invested into it and would wanna keep it as long as I can. But the other thing is I drive a lot 20-30K a year and its already at 146,000. What is the car gonna need as the miles climb and it gets older? I do see Acuras come into the dealership all the time with 200K+ but when it does come time to trade out of it I know i'm not gonna get much for it. I'm heading up to the Milwaukee dealer one more time to do some test drives to see if I can live with a ILX more than likely. I think what's getting me are its civic roots and its not the great head turner the TSX was when that hit the states in 2003. Only saving grace are the better safety features and slightly better 0-60 times.