MOBB212

Hey All,

Recently purchased a 2012 TL Advance Shawd. Car has about 55k miles and is outside of Canadian warranty. Shortly after purchasing the car I noticed the dreaded screeching from the proppeler shaft. Brought it back to the Audi pre owned dealership and they agreed the noise was comming from the rear drive shaft. Since they are not Acura they are willing to eat the full cost of rebuilding it but not replacing it with a new one from Acura. They will bring it to the best driveshaft rebuilders in town which I confirmed they do all the work for major dealerships. They mentioned just replacing the joints and all bearings in the driveshaft, the mechanic who heard the noise said the only fault is the bearing and that's what causing the high pitched screeching sound? Should I be concerned about not getting a new OEM part? It's my first AWD car so I don't know how long a rebuilt driveshaft will last or if I will have the same issues again.

Anyone else have a rebuilt driveshaft that cured the shaft noise?

Thanks for input on this.

CruzanTLSH-AWD

I was not even aware they can rebuild it. Most I know just replace the shaft... Might just be the safest thing to do.

rainydays

There are a fair amount of low-mile updated shafts (part no ending in -03) available from junkyards in the $200-300 range. That's my plan if/when mine starts screaming.

MOBB212

theres none that I can find up here in Canada. The OEM part is almost 1200$. A03 should be the fixed version.

edog76

I'm on my third OEM shaft and it still whistles. They all whistle. The two problems with the tls are the propeller shaft and torque converter in my experience. Even when you replace them, the same issue quickly manifests again in my experience.

It a shame because these are otherwise great cars. I'm contemplating trading my TL for a Lexus because I don't want to be stuck with paying for these replacements out of warranty. This is not a wear and tear issue here, I consider it a manufacturer defect. This is probably why Acura extended the warranty on these parts. Who knows...

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

If they're willing to rebuild I'd take it. Who knows, the components they use may be better than the funky ones causing the issue from Acura resulting in a superior part for the future.

Lee C

I agree you just never know.Good luck to the OP.To the OP where are you from

dregsfan

I agree. What have you got to lose if the rebuild is free?

MOBB212

So the rebuild came back and really disappointed. They replaced the joints and not the bearings the tea kettle screeching is still there. The car now shakes like I have all unbalanced wheels above 65mph. Service manager was also disappointed said they would send it back and have all the bearings redone. I contested and asked for them to let me take it to Acura and just replace the whole shaft and be done with it. They will consider it and get back to me tommorow. I'll keep this updated. Rebuilt shaft so far doesn't look good.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

Wow. I'm amazed at how stupid some shops can be. I run a small computer business. If one of my customers brings a system in for warranty service, I make sure that things are running like a top before I get it back to them. How do you decide to skimp on bearings when you rebuild? That's like rebuilding an engine but not bothering to change out the rear main seal or changing a timing belt but not bothering changing the water pump. Who does that? You'd have to be a damned moron to skimp on that. The costs and time are so minor at that point it's absolutely stupid not to. Plus, if they took it for any sort of test drive they would have heard the noise and realized the problem still persisted.

This is the reason I'm so reluctant to have any shop repair my piston ring issue on my TL. I'm guessing I have a 50% chance it will be done correctly. They'll either botch it completely and I'll still burn oil after spending $2500, or they'll screw something else up.

MOBB212

Follow up on the thread, 2nd attempt at rebuild car still shakes at 65mph+, they blamed it on unbalanced wheels, they road forced balanced them and still the shake was there. The mechanic said it was the driveshaft being unbalanced or internals are bad from the rebuild. Either way they had a 2013 TL SH-AWD on the lot and asked if I would like to swap the drive shaft for the OEM one off the 13. Took it for a test drive and heard no noise and was smooth, car had 55k miles. Agreed to take the chance for the OEM part. Got it installed and the noise is gone, the shake is also gone on the highway. Go OEM folks, looks like rebuilt will never be the same.

CruzanTLSH-AWD

So what happen to the Shaft for the other car? That so sketchy lol.

deanoatkinson

So you replaced the entire drive shaft propeller? that's like 1k for the part

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

I've been thinking about swapping my 4G FWD for the AWD but these threads keep coming up and convincing me otherwise

Oh, thread jack, but those runners you sold me are great Cruzan. Finally got around to installing them. Super smooth. Thank you

CruzanTLSH-AWD

Man idk about you but I enjoy my 6 speed AWD... As discuss in another thread its like a whole different car.

Mickman

I agree, having driven both FWD and AWD... the AWD is a much different car.

JM2010 SH-AWD

Good advice on the OEM parts. Unfortunately, there is a flood of cheap, Chinese-made bearings in the USA auto and motorcycle repair business these days. You have to look very hard to get quality US or Japanese-made bearings. A lot of shops are using the cheap crap, knowingly or not. The result is what MOBB12 felt in his rebuilt shaft.