Zeroskillet

I have a 99 TL with 87k miles, I did a complete tune up about 3 months ago. Recently I've been feeling a lose of power. Last Thursday my check engine and tcs light came on, the car then started to really act weird by "sputtering"( feeling as if were going to shut off when slowing down or idleing. The problem only got worse until Saturday when I took it into the shop. They did a diagnostics test and reset the lights, he sent me home to see if the problem persisted and if it did then it is most likely the coils. The lights came back on and the car is running really awful, shakes quite a bit.

Does all this sound right?
He told me each coil is like $200 and there are 6 of them obviously.... =(

silver3.2tl

iTrader: (1)

used coils are your friend.. I had this happen when i washed my engine bay and water got on the coils. luckily, i dried them out and it was fine. but yours does sounds like a coil problem

DC3328

iTrader: (22)

im selling 6 for 60 bucks let me know

01tl4tl

a 99- doesnt that have a coil and wire to plugs setup or did they get the 6 coils?

What spark plugs did you use- they are critical

first things to check- a diagnostic would have thrown codes for multiple misfires if a coil was bad- the computer only knows something is wrong.. not always what is wrong
so codes are clues
What codes did it have?

often at tune up, a coil gets dropped or mishandled slightly and damaged inside- a few months later it dies and car runs bad

you can buy 1 coil for 50 bucks at parts stores and try it on each cylinder until car runs better

Most techs want to make money,,, so of course you need all 6 sir
Ive never seen more than 2 go at once and most are from diy tuneup dropping
its normally 1, you just have to figure out which one

01tl4tl

another prob may be EGR clogged
was the car ever taken in for the recall? call acura to check 1-800-382-2238x5 need cars VIN when you call
there was another recall for ignition switch so ask if the car is done on that too

the 99 has single egr port in the intake manifold and clogs easily- read DIY on thermoblock install and egr cleaning

00 and on have 6 egr ports to help reduce clogging but they still need to be cleaned every 75kmiles or so for best performance

Zeroskillet

Good looking out guys

I don't know the brand of sparks but they are supposedly the OEMs. I got them changed like 3 months ago. I took the car to a place here in Miami called Japanese Car Care, its an authorized Honda repair shop.

I'm thinking of going for used coils because at $200 a pop new ill kill my christmas.

ThreePointTwoTeeEl

iTrader: (1)

I had the same problem....It was my EGR port.

When it first happened I had loss of power and the car always felt like it was going to shut off.

Take it to a shop so they clean the one and only EGR port in your 99'.

01tl4tl

see the diy thread on egr port- it has the official acura guide for 99s
and call acura care to see if it your car was ever done on the recall- if not its free
1-800-382-2238x5

do not buy any coils yet- 200 is a lie,,but that set for 60 is a bargain just as spares!

was there multi misfire codes? thats the coil clue
egr is 1.5 hours labor to remove manifold and clean port(s) wiki egr and you will understand how it would make the car do these symptoms

DC3328

iTrader: (22)

I've cleaned my own egr ports, if you want since ur local, just get me a case of beer and I'll help you do it

01tl4tl

way to step up and help a fellow ziner!
maybe you can try a coil to see if that helps too, Assuming there are misfire codes

Zeroskillet

Wow thanks guys for all the help, input and support....awesome forum!

I will definitely look into the EGR recall thing tonight when I get home.

DC3328, thanks a ton dude. Ill get back to you if I need you for sure man. Sounds awesome...I never really worked on a car before so having some experience guidance will be killer.

Guys from what I see I think this whole changing of the coil plugs is a pretty plug and play thing, no? I've done a full tune up on a corolla before and this seems even less complicated. Why the hell would this guy at the shop charge $200 a coil? When he told me that I imagined it would require taking a chunk of the engine apart or something.

01tl4tl

because business is slow everywhere and its the slowest time of year for auto repair..you put it together from there

or maybe he guessed coil price without looking them up- or got dealer price

you can ck the recall status by registering and looking it up
need vin -http://owners.acura.com/landing.aspx

Alex D

You'll know if you are misfiring as it will feel really down on power and very sluggish all of a sudden. The EGR being clogged will not demonstrate the same symptoms to the same degree as a misfire. The way i diagnosed my bad coil was by removing all of the plugs and carefully marking which cylinder they were removed from. After looking at them i noticed one was significantly different than the others and i replaced that coil pack on that cylinder. Problem was eliminated with only 30 min of time and $60 later for the coil pack.

fsttyms1

Find a new mechanic.

From the dealer the coils are under 55 bucks each

http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org/...catdisplay.jsp

1 30520-P8E-A01 COIL, PLUG HOLE 6 1999 52.69

Zeroskillet

Wow great info guys...Im taking it all down. I just haven't had time to do anything because of finals in school this semester. I've been overwhelmed by work and crap.

What I did do a few seconds ago is register in owners.acura.com
I went under recalls and the only ones that appeared are:
1997-99 CL/TL IGNITION SWITCH Campaign
Status: Fixed

97-99 CL & 99 TL INTERLOCK
Status: Fixed

2000-03 TRANS WARRANTY EXT
Status: Open

Nothing about the EGR.

So anyways I think I might have found a savior in the form of a co worker who has a nephew who is a certified Honda mechanic at one of the biggest Honda dealerships in the area. This guy always works on cars on the side to make money.

fst thanks for that find on the plugs...that is awesome. OEM for a cheaper price than I've seen elsewhere.

Ill keep you guys posted and if you have any more tips please post away.

Zeroskillet

I called Acura and they told me that the car was taken in for the EGR recall service in april of '03. So that eliminates that possiblilty.

01tl4tl

not at all- you have only 1 egr passageway so it clogs easily- the 00 and later have 6 egr passageways and they still clog and need full cleaning every 75kmiles
If you can feel a rough idle--egr ports are suspect

a recall never guarantees a final fix-
the 99 got an 8mm tube inserted in the 1 passageway as a smooth liner to cut down on the problem of crud builing up,, but so what!
egr gasses are pumping at all times except idle and full throttle

Luke7

I have a 99 and cleaned the EGR myself. I have instructions from Acura on how to do it. Let me know if I can help. The garage wanted $550.00 to clean it. LOL YEA RIGHT! I did it for the price of 2 cans of throttle body spray cleaner and 1 and 1/2 hours of my time.

Zeroskillet

Does this seem like a good purchase?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...d=140331840797

Alex D

Go with OEM Honda/Acura Coils. Those Hamburg coils have a really bad rep with the BMW guys.

Zeroskillet

I bought an igition coil and tried it on each one swapping them and nothing.

I had a mechanic come to my house to check it out yesterday..he hooked it up to the computer and got codes

P0300
P0301 Misfire
P0302 Misfire
P0303 Misfire
P0304 Misfire
P0305 Misfire
P0306 Misfire

He took a look and said all the coils and sparks were fine. But he did find that one of the valves misfiring.... So he is suspecting that one of the fuel injectors is the problem. What you think? He is going to take a look at it today.

Zeroskillet

Sorry I meant he found that one particular cylinder was misfiring even though he got a code for misfires in every single cylinder. He disconnected each single coil(reconnecting it before moving to next) one by one and the only time the engine didn't change was when one particular coil was disconnected. He tested the coil and spark plug which both worked fine. We even put a new coil which I purchased into this cylinder and same result.

He is going to do further testing today to start eliminating possiblities but he is starting by taking a look at the fuel injector. What do you guys think?

Alex D

Its quite possible for the one cylinder to have a poorly functioning injector causing the misfire.

01tl4tl

try resetting the ECU after the coil replacement- otherwise it doesnt know you changed things

remove CLOCK fuse on passenger side for a minute- that resets ECU without losing radio security that occurs when disconnecting battery to reset ECU

while doing the electrical disconnect is one test- if you know a bad coil is present but not sure where- keep trying a new one on each cylnder-
with ecu reset each time until it runs better and no codes

01tl4tl

I dont think your guy knows much about the TL- injectors are a rare issue

You may want to run some seafoam thru vac port at TB, and in gas to clean up the crud from the failing coil

Zeroskillet

Alright I changed all the coils, I got a great deal ok them. It's still givig me misfire codes. Now it's giving the egr code P1399 I think.

My mechanic checked the fuel injectors and says they're fine. He pretty much gave up and told me to take it to the dealership LOL

01tl4tl

did you reset the ECU after the coil replacement?- pull the CLOCK fuse on passenger side in cabin to force a reboot of the system

and check the plugs while you had the coils off?- made sure one wasnt loaded up from a bad coil?

01tl4tl

do you know the coils are all good?

Azoth

Luke7, can you post the instructions? Thanks.

fsttyms1

They are in the DIY thread.

Morphies

the coils should be no where near 200 each... i got mine for 65 each... but the shaking of the car when it is idling or when your slowing down could both be a bad coil(s) and the egr valve... i had a mechanic tell me to clean the egr valve it would be around 25 to 30 bucks but he said it would be best to replace it to prevent it from gettin clogged so often...