2012 TL FWD - Sputtering/light knocking noise driver side front
 

I noticed lately that there's a sputtering or light knocking sound on the driver side front of the car. It seems to happen mostly when decelerating. I made it happen consistently while turning right then letting my foot off the gas quickly. I'm not sure if this could be related to the main seal that the dealer replaced a few months ago...it's not a loud clicking type sound like when a CV joint goes bad and it doesn't happen all the time.

The obvious answer is to take it to the dealer, but I was wondering if anybody had any insight as to what the sound could be. When I notice it, it happens in 3s, something like "knock knock knock" in quick successions.

Car has about 77k miles on it and has been nothing but a PITA, relatively speaking. We bought it CPO in 2014 and our power train warranty just ran out. It took them YEARS to finally get us a software fix for the jumpy transmission. Alternator has died outside of bumper to bumper, dead battery, leak in main seal as mentioned above, etc etc. This isn't a car that's abused either as this is my wife's car and she just drives it to work mostly.

I'd say the halfshaft is a good place to start. My passenger side one went out at about 150K. Although CV joint noise is usually associated with accelerating while turning, there's a good deal of stress on it when decelerating as well, just in the opposite direction.

Sorry you haven't been happy with the car. I guess it's about perception between you and I. I have the same car (2012 FWD) and have had pretty much the same problems sans the main seal leak. I've replaced the half axle on the passenger side, alternator, brake master cylinder, passenger side upper control arm and battery. I also had the transmission problem but got it fixed the 2nd day I owned the car. I'm surprised they took so long to fix something as easy as a software issue in your case.

I just turned 190K miles and that's largely all I've had. I'd consider it one of the most reliable vehicles I've owned. If I owned a BMW it would probably be all that stuff x2 along with the water pump, turbo bearings, various sensors, window regulators and ignition modules. All at 3x the price of Honda parts :ugh:

Thanks for your reply..i'll definitely mention the half shaft when I take it in next time for service along with the CV joint.

Overall the car is okay, I say relatively reliable because compared to other cars I've owned, this one has been the most problematic, not that it's a POS or anything...maybe we shouldn't have purchased it used...at least we got the CPO warranty cuz we definitely used it!

That's what I'd guess. Wheel bearings are also a possibility but when I replaced mine (just for preventative maintenance) I tore apart the old ones and they were in perfect condition. That was at about 160K. The ball joints were also in near perfect condition when I changed them. So I wouldn't expect either of those.

Could be the rotor shield lightly scraping. Those things bend like soda cans. Let us know what you find out