2011 Acura TSX V6 trials and tribulations

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TristanVash38
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Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 8:38 pm
Location: Long Beach, MS

2011 Acura TSX V6 trials and tribulations

Post by TristanVash38 »

Last weekend was the first of many to dyno and tune the J35Z6. TDC Performance in Mobile, AL has the football with me on this one. Mike, the owner, has been very patient and humble through our first runs. However, we were unable to get a good tune without a tremendous amount of knocks or more/less "pings".

Mod list: DC Sports CAI, J-Pipe (third cat delete), two high-flow pre-cats, lightweight same size diameter crankshaft pulley, flowmaster 40's mufflers.

Currently on stock ECU, but will update as I go. Will address any questions. Thanks!
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TristanVash38
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 8:38 pm
Location: Long Beach, MS

Re: 2011 Acura TSX V6 trials and tribulations

Post by TristanVash38 »

Also no throttle overrun compensation adjustments are possible at the moment. Not sure if this will be implemented with other settings as time goes on or not.

Also, with the report of a large amount of pings when I was dyno/tuning, a possible question was raised with my rough idle having to deal with bad gas, worn spark plugs or the XRL8 light-weight crankshaft pulley SSD was to blame. I am running my gas down to near empty and purchasing HEET to put in my gas tank, I ordered 6 new 8 level heat spark plugs and I may be removing the light-weight crankshaft pulley SSD. This will all be done this week.
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KTuner
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Re: 2011 Acura TSX V6 trials and tribulations

Post by KTuner »

Overrun throttle compensation is for MT.

Mike @ TDC is very capable so once you have your issue resolved I have no doubt it'll do well on the dyno. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
TristanVash38
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 8:38 pm
Location: Long Beach, MS

Re: 2011 Acura TSX V6 trials and tribulations

Post by TristanVash38 »

Car has been seafoamed and ISO-heeted, lightweight crankshaft pulley was removed. 8 Heat NGK IR's have been installed. Awaiting some more dyno/tuning time at TDC.
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KTuner
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Re: 2011 Acura TSX V6 trials and tribulations

Post by KTuner »

Excellent! Hope all goes well.
TristanVash38
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 8:38 pm
Location: Long Beach, MS

Re: 2011 Acura TSX V6 trials and tribulations

Post by TristanVash38 »

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Everything has been running great the last few weeks. The only issue I can report, and this has been reported by heeltoe, is the axle issue located here: https://www.heeltoeauto.com/news/04-08- ... fixed.html

SITREP Below:

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There have been numerous instances of vibration in the TSX front end when accelerating. Usually at lower or more moderate speeds, the shimmy in the steering wheel can also be felt throughout the front end of the car. We've recently heard this issue is prevailant on S2000s as well.

The issue was attributed to an axle shaft problem very early on, but even replacements of axles has not proven to be a reliable solution to the problem. In fact, Heeltoe had sold for at least a year a new replacement aftermarket axle we believed to solve the problem. However when the issue arose in our own HTSpecTSX, said axle failed to resolve the issue. In fact, the inexpensive aftermarket axle we (an most all others) were using proved to exhibit worse vibrations that the factory units!

On a hunch, we purchased some new inner joints to install on our TSX's original axles. When we removed the old joint cup, we were impressed to see the problem so blantantly in front of us!

The joint bearings ride on this surface and put a torsional load there to transmit power to the shaft then to the outer joint. When there is load on the axle it forces the joints bearings against this pulverized area of the joint causing a really nasty vibration! There is wear on the other two loaded surfaces as well but we are showing the worst one here to save space.

So there you have it. Replace the inner joint and you will be set! We have not determined a great method for knowing what side is the culprit side but it seems like more people have an issue with the right side (USDM passenger side) so we suggest starting there. The joint and boot kits are available on heeltoeauto.com and are linked to this article for your convenience.



While we were in the joint we noticed something else that you might want to be aware of. You know how mechanics tell you the lowering your car is bad for the axles? They usually tell you this when you have an outer joint noise or problem. However lowering the car has little or no effect on the outer joints. Rather, the inner joints can experience some abnormal wear.

The axle has a tripod on the inner end that mounts three bearings that ride in the cup of the inner joint. This is so the axle can vary in length as the suspension articulates. When you lower the car, you are actually making the axle compress all the way when you hit large bumps, and this can cause the bearings to bottom out in the base of the axle cup. See the image below. We've highlighted some witness marks on the inside of my inner joint cup. We have not yet seen this result in an actual failure of the axles, but it is something to be aware of.


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When I am in sport mode and I take off in first, there is not a noticeable amount of vibration. However, at the low end of second gear riding into third, this vibration is noticeable. It does not bother me, knowing the source of the vibration.

I have not had a chance to go to a track yet and get a 1/8th mile time and a 1/4th mile time. My previous best before tune for the 1/8th mile was an 8.96

I'm currently on 245 width 18" tires and with the tune, my tires will spin like crazy. A purchase down the road will be 255's and slightly stickier :3

I also just purchased an Ingalls Stiffy engine torque damper (93055). This was not made specifically for the 2011 Acura TSX V6 and will need a little bit of fabrication to make work. I am looking forward to seeing the results from this.

Thanks, Ktuner and TDC Performance for giving my car life! Thank you, Mike, for also modifying my TPS. :) I really like the throttle response changes you made <3



Secondary note, the knocks that were reported in an earlier message above after the lightweight crankshaft pulley (XLR8) was installed remained a problem after the OEM crankshaft pulley was reinstalled. This was remedied by a new computer that my parent's shop, Bentwrench Automotive in Pascagoula, MS, ran on my car and performed a crankshaft relearn. The issues immediately were resolved. I ended up selling the lightweight crankshaft pulley anyways due to controversy surrounding the crankshaft bearing stresses that the LWCSP cause over time.
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KTuner
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Re: 2011 Acura TSX V6 trials and tribulations

Post by KTuner »

I was definitely impressed with the gains and I hope you're enjoying them. Once everything is resolved I imagine you'll be able to lock in some much improved new times.
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