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Hey all, how's it going? Was in need of ride because I learned the hard way a boosted rx7 is not a car I can afford to daily drive. So I just recently picked up this CLS6 from a friend's dad who was the original owner for $1000.
It has 150k miles and a check engine light on, but it was adult owned and you can tell. After sitting for a year a new battery started it right up. I drove it and it reminded me of a 3rd gen supra I learned to drive stick on. But with a way better trans.
I love this car but there are a few things I have to fix for it to be perfect. I believe this car sat outside for a majority or all of it's life because some of the rust and some sun fading on the roof and wing. The subframe that holds the rack is also severely rusted through. I sourced a new one from Acura instead of going used because I guess these are rare?
I have some questions some searches couldnt find. Since I'm removing both subframes is there anything else I should be replacing when they are both out of the way? I think I saw a thread about replacing the engine dampers with new ones. I also saw the thread about removing the steering rack. Has anyone else had this subframe problem? I'm also chasing a misfire on all cylinders but the car runs great. I switched some coils around and the spark plugs look fine, can someone point in the direction to look for?
Thanks again for reading and any help, here's a few pics of the best $1000 I ever spent.
If the subframe for the manual and auto CL are the same, you could pick one up from a junkyard. The problem is that a lot of cars have front end damage.
Try replacing the spark plugs and testing the resistance of the coils.
If the subframe for the manual and auto CL are the same, you could pick one up from a junkyard. The problem is that a lot of cars have front end damage.
Try replacing the spark plugs and testing the resistance of the coils.
Yeah, I would've paid $2k, maybe even 3 and still be happy. I don't know if they are the same, I already ordered and received a new one from Acura. Thanks for the tip on the coils, I will start there along with a tune-up.
The 2 subframes are the same except the manual has mounting points in the front and rear for 2 torque mounts. They don't NEED to be run so either subframe can be used
Nice looking car for its age. Any plans to modify it once all the maintenance is complete? We offer some great options including a Tanabe exhaust and Injen intake.
Thanks, yeah I do. It's a great daily driver so nothing too crazy. I don't know about the exhaust + intake combo, but I'm eyeing the Street Basis dampers. I'll probably jump on them within the next 2 weeks.
So far I've done a tune-up, replaced the rusty subframe, high pressure power steering line, brakes all around, tires all around(215/45 instead of 215/50), removed the cat and fixed exhaust leaks, and tried to paint the rims bronze but they came out too light.
Future plans are to get the windows tinted. get the tein street basis coilovers, repaint the whole car to black/blue flip paint job, and repaint the wheels again.
How she sits now
Next to a super clean 1st gen
Pic of freshly painted bumper stock nighthawk black pearl. I want the the blue to pop more in the sun but still look black in the shade. I can't wait
Did you just change the pearl color and add more, or did you modify the NHBP base?
My NHBP CLS6 needs some bodywork and a respray, but I haven't jumped on it yet because I'm still unsure on how I want to change the pearl. What you've done looks amazing!
Thanks, nope thats how it came out. It really only looks like that with a flashlight up close. I feel like i want the see more of the blue under natural light, so i'll have them do that when i have the whole car repainted.
Thanks guys. Very informative forums here. If all goes well i plan to get rid of my rx7 and dump the proceeds into refreshing the CL. I thought I would never sell my 7 but I started a small family and don't have the funds to upkeep 2 cars, 2 insurance payments, and to be able to mod them how i want them. I would rather have one nice car and some change in my pocket than 2 cars not how i want them and be broke. And have room in the garage to park the CL to boot.
So, over the next few months I'll be stocking up on parts and slap it together at the end of winter. I'm going to do the suspension and interior mods first.
I've noticed a slight shudder under accerlation around 2-3k, so it's getting new bearings, ball joints, + anything else it needs up front. I just did new pads + rotors up front so I know its not that. Also got new pads and rotors plus shoes and hardware for the rear, I just have to throw them on when I'm not feeling lazy.
I'm don't think the sound system sounds too bad, but definitely lacks bass sometimes. I'm gonna start with a Kenwood double din headunit, and I already have an alpine amp and 10 inch pioneer sub in a bandpass box. I'm pretty sure I won't need more than that, but will try that out first.
that looks pretty nifty and records front and back in case of an accident and while the car is parked. The car came with a decent alarm system with a remote start so i should be covered on security after that.
Speaking of security, I'm open to suggestions on changing the steering wheel. I want something smaller, all black, and suede. If anyone can point me in the right direction for that I would be grateful. My budget would be probably $500 for that.(Is that an ok budget including quick release hub adapter?)
After winter the car will recieve a full paint job, tein street basis coilovers, and I really like the look of xxr 521's. I know, I know, but for the price I can even afford a 5th one and run a full sized spare. I also won't be pissed/miserable if I accidentally hit a pothole or anything. I think I'm going to get them in 18x8.5 but was wondering if anyone has any experience on running 18x10's all around. Do I need a lot of fender work? I'm interested because I would rather have the fenders worked on before the paint job.
At the same time I'll put in an sti lip and maybe rear window spoiler. That should hold me over for a while. After that I'll be saving up for a 3.5 swap + i/h/e, and nitrous. But that's for another post. Thanks for the help guys.
Be careful with that remote start.. I have seen a guy forget the car was in gear and standing in a radio shack showing off his remote system. Car jumped the curb straight into the store! Craziest thing I have seen in a while
Be careful with that remote start.. I have seen a guy forget the car was in gear and standing in a radio shack showing off his remote system. Car jumped the curb straight into the store! Craziest thing I have seen in a while
Holy cow. In order for the remote start to work i have to tap the brake pedal twice with the e-brake engaged and the car on. The car stays running until I get out and close the door. (or one minute passes, whichever comes first). But yeah I've been careful so far.
We have another CL joining the family. MY gf's friend owned this one for a few years before the trans went out. Lucky I work at trans shop. Picked it up for a cool $250.
The good: It started right up with a jump to the battery and sounded mechanically normal.
The bad: Obviously needs trans rebuilt. Needs new tires, battery, power steering hose. Tan interior not so tan anymore. Bland color. It's also not a type S. I Plan to rebuild the trans, do tune- up, tires, replace carpet, than source the body fender/hood/bumper/grille over winter and paint it a different color.
Arriving on the tow truck
Next to mine
Dad's '02 CLS that I maintain. I should buy him some lowering springs but I don't know if he would go for it. He picked this up for $2400 2ish years ago
Replacing his leaky gas tank. Started leaking in seam and would only leak out after filling his gas tank 1/2 or over. Definitely needed a torch to remove the 5 links on each side. Other than that, not too bad of a job
Co-worker's CLS. I r&r'd his trans last year(he rebuilds them here), and his son got into an accident on the freeway. Slowly piecing this one back together
Saying good bye to my 7. Selling it back to my buddy i bought it from. I hope to get the chance to buy it back from someday, but if not I'll find another one. Really sucks because the body only has 80k on it and is rust free, but i dont have the time/money/space/rotary magic powers at this point in my life.
So in less than 1 year I now work on 4 CL's on a regular basis. These forums help alot. Even if I can't see half of the pictures from old threads because they are 10+ years old. haha Also, if anyone knows where to front passenger fenders, let me know I'll buy a 5-pack
Great deal and a lot of good work into it. What was the misfire?
Your dad's car looks good too. Reading about the gas tank makes me hope my fuel pump never goes out.
Great deal and a lot of good work into it. What was the misfire?
Your dad's car looks good too. Reading about the gas tank makes me hope my fuel pump never goes out.
Spark plugs.
The gas tank wasn't hard, you probably will need a torch to remove some stubborn bolts though.
have you thought about the accord trans swap instead of rebuilding the CL trans?
I saw that, but I work @ a trans shop so if I pull it myself I only have to pay for parts. But if i didn't work @ a trans shop i would probably do that
Did you figure out what the shutted was at low rpms. Mine has the same issue but ithought it may be the clutch
Yeah, I did! It was a combination of a few things. A month after I bought the car I tried to do a hard launch in front of a friend's house because he's an a-hole and does stupid shit like in front of mine. Snapped the passenger side axle and didnt move an inch. Got it towed to work and replace the axle with a new one from a local parts store(not rebuilt one)
Vtec kicked in
Since then I replaced all the tires, all new rotors and pads all around + shoes in the rear. New sway bar links in the front and 2 alignments. The shimmy was almost gone but still noticeable when turning hard + accelerating or accelerating in a higher gear than i'm supposed to be in.(like being in 3rd or 4th accelerating at 1500-2000rpm instead of being in 2nd at 3500pm)
After double checking mounts, all bolts and nuts tight(ALL of them since I had to remove both front subframes and completely replaced one), yesterday while doing an oil change i checked the axle I replaced. It had some play back and forth, especially compared to the one I didn't replace. Just replaced it today and the shimmy was gone! Need to do some more driving to confirm but it felt great on the 20-ish miles home.
TLDR: Axle
Originally Posted by eddieflo86
Clean car bro!
Hey thanks man. It's still a work in progress, I can't wait till spring when I have most of the stuff I want to do done.
I've always liked those. Then I saw a clean lowered one and and fell in love. I would jump at a clean one that wasn't rusty.
Changed the wheel color again. Trying for a dark bronze like mugen wheels, but can't match it. Might just paint them black for now as i'll be picking up some new wheels right after winter.
man yall have good taste in cars. lots of cl's! i really like the darker color of bronze. id like to do my tsx wheels that way.
btw, those parts house axle's are garbage. i broke 2 brand new ones within 2 weeks. doing normal driving. not dumb shit. BUT after those broke, the others have held up to track abuse. so well see.
Wow you should go purchase a lotto ticket with your good luck haha you picked up 2 nice cars for a great price! I don't think I have ever seen an axle snap in half like that.. Your Vtec must hit hard lol
Thanks guys. That old axle snapped where that rubber dampener is. Was just it's time. The previous owner purchased it new and kept it outside it's whole life. I have to replace all the gas and brake lines. I definitely have my work cut out to get it how I want it,but I got a great deal do I can't complain. Finally put the teins on yesterday. They feel great!
This is why I cant have nice things. About 2 weeks ago, I spun out on an exit ramp on my way to work. It was wet and cold, so I was taking it easy that morning, but not slow enough I guess.
Did a 180 and took out a light pole. It sucks about the car, but I'm glad no one else was involved and no one was with me. It could've been worse and am lucky to walk away without a scratch.
But I had full coverage and had enough to buy my gf an 02 accord, buy the car back, and buy my dad's 02 CLS.
My plan is to swap in a j35, my 6 speed trans, and a new clutch at the same time. I have a few questions though before I do this.
I plan to just swap the cams out of from my old j32 into the j35, thats the easy way right? 01-02 j35a3 from a mdx? I have my wrecked car so I have subframe, ecu, and engine harness, pedals, cluster, console...
Also, I have an 01 CLP with a bad trans that I have not got around to fixing yet. Since I'll be removing the engine and trans from the '02 CLS, does anyone know if they share the same trans? Would be nice to be able to swap that over and sell that.
And last question, what to do with the 2 leftover j32's + automatic subframe? One will be cam-less, can I put the j35 cams in there? Then I could sell those also. Sorry for the million questions, just trying to plan things out. Thanks guys
Was a shame, was just starting to get this one how i like it. Was planning on making the gas and brake lines myself now that the weather was nice. Am king of glad I didn't get around to that yet. Also a paint job. I would have been upset of doing all the hardwork of prepping the car(would have bodyshop next door spray it) and it all be ruined.
Sorry to hear about the car, but glad you're okay and still planning to stick with it. Same thing happened to me in October. So I picked up another CLS6, bought a couple of engines and got to tinkering.
The J35A3 and the J32A2 have the EXACT same heads as confirmed by me pulling both engines apart. The only difference is that the J35A3 heads have had their intake valve seats ground out for a 36mm intake valve vs the otherwise 35mm valve. In 2003, all J-series engines received revised LMAs (lost motion assemblies) in the heads. These help support the VTEC portion of the cam followers when not in VTEC and the previous versions were hydraulic and prone to excessive slop. In addition to the camshafts, I would swap the LMAs as well.
I also suppose you COULD put the J35A3 camshafts into the J32A2 and sell it, but who would buy it? Who would it be marketed toward?
Da** RIP to another cls6! At least you only paid 1000$ for her. Would love to see the potential swap you have lined up as a new build thread. Always looking for more reading material lol
Damn that's brutal. The labor of love and it gets taken from you. Shitty....but at least you are okay and have plans ahead.
Thanks, yeah shit happens and I'm glad nobody was hurt except the light pole. And that the motor and trans are ok. I was actually considering a 6 speed 2nd gen TL swap, but things worked out where Im to buy my dads car for cheap.
Originally Posted by JarrettLauderdale
Sorry to hear about the car, but glad you're okay and still planning to stick with it. Same thing happened to me in October. So I picked up another CLS6, bought a couple of engines and got to tinkering.
The J35A3 and the J32A2 have the EXACT same heads as confirmed by me pulling both engines apart. The only difference is that the J35A3 heads have had their intake valve seats ground out for a 36mm intake valve vs the otherwise 35mm valve. In 2003, all J-series engines received revised LMAs (lost motion assemblies) in the heads. These help support the VTEC portion of the cam followers when not in VTEC and the previous versions were hydraulic and prone to excessive slop. In addition to the camshafts, I would swap the LMAs as well.
I also suppose you COULD put the J35A3 camshafts into the J32A2 and sell it, but who would buy it? Who would it be marketed toward?
Good call on that. Just googled it and it should be really easy since the cams are going to be out anyways. Thanks
And about swapping the j35 cams into the old j32 motor, I just want to be able to sell it. Wouldnt be much use to me and if i could get $100-200 for it, it would be better than 30 the scrappers would give me.
Thanks for the heads up.
Originally Posted by HorizonCL-s6
Da** RIP to another cls6! At least you only paid 1000$ for her. Would love to see the potential swap you have lined up as a new build thread. Always looking for more reading material lol
Yeah it was the deal of my life so far. Needed a subframe, but was easily worth 2500-3000. 1 adult owner, 150k miles, dealer maintained, perfect interior. Some sunfading, but thats pretty common. I still see the going for about 3500 though.
Aaaand here she is. Threw my old lights on there. Anyone know of a good hid fog light kit?not feeling them how they are stock. Should be ordering j35 soon, looking for low mileage one.
Also, has anyone ordered just one coilover, or had one repaired by tein? Took the wheel off my wrecked one, and the coilover is busted @ the bottom where it connects to the bushing. Thanks
I had a front pair repaired by them once. They replaced seals in both and a rod in one. Total damage was around $350 including return shipping. It certainly won't be cost-effective for the Street Basis models. Mine were Super Streets with pillow ball uppers that had a little more invested in them to make the cost of repairs worth it. Even then, I'm not sure it was worth it.
Jarret I had less than a month on these coils, not even an oil change. I would be happy anything less than 250.
And so it begins, I paid our tow guy a 12 pack to get it in the shop, tonight I will be stripping it. Well see where I get, I'll be sure to keep updating
05-20-2015, 02:04 AM
Dude you got freaking lucky! That thing will treat you good with many years to come.
