bpjadhav

I've a 98 2.5TL that I bought last September. I had no idea about Acuras before I bought this one. I always thought the engine noise on my car was a bit louder than normal. By March of this year it had grown significantly. Based on what I'd read in a few threads in this forum, I suspected it to be a cracked exhaust manifold. I was hoping that it was not the case. Anyway, Ken had posted somewhere that the exhaust manifolds on the 96 and 97 TLs were covered by Acura under the 14 year/150000 warranty as part of the emissions recall. I was cursing my luck for having a 98. I looooved the car, BTW. The engine kept getting noisier. So, ultimately in the last week of May, I took it to the dealer. He confirmed my worst fear - it was the exhaust manifold!!! He gave me an offhand quote of $1445 for parts and $255 labor.
I posted this problem on some thread and got lots of helpful advice from the 98 guys - someone had welded his manifold, another dude had gotten one from a junkyard and got it fitted for a total cost of under $550. By mid July, I decided to take a long shot and wrote a letter to Acura Client Services. I wrote how much I loved the car and how this was a common problem with the first generation TLs but was covered only on the 96 and 97s and I thought it was unfair that I had to shell out close to $1800 (after taxes) only because I had a 98. I'd also enclosed a copy of the unofficial quote the dealer had given me. A couple of weeks later, their representative called me; she asked if the dealership had chrged me for the diagnosis, I told her they didn't. She asked me to drop off my car at the dealership and get it checked and she would follow up with them. She said that she would definitely assist me with the repairs, maybe not a 100% but certainly some part of it. So I dropped off the car at the dealership. By the end of the day, the dealer had a quote: $1689 in parts and $238 labor.
I waited impatiently to hear from the Acura Client Services (ACS), by next afternoon I was impatient beyond control, so I called up the lady at ACS and told her that I had the car checked and the dealer had a quote ready. She said she would speak with the dealership and get back to me. The next two hours seemed like eternity (I was at work). Finally I received a call from the dealersip, the service advisor said Acura would pick up the parts for me; all I had to pay was the labor. He said that the labor he had quoted was warranty labor, which was unfair to the technician, so he asked me to pay $340. I agreed to it. Heck!!! $340 is a lot better than $1689 + $238 + tax!
So the next day I dropped off my car at the dealership and they changed the manifold, gasket, O2 sensor and a couple of parts - all for $340!!!
The lady at ACS called me a couple of days later for a follow up and I told her about the increased labor cost - she said it was normal practice for some dealerships to quote warranty labor and that she was aware of it. I thanked her a ton for paying for the parts!!!
I'm sorry for such a long post but I am ecstatic and thought I ought to share it with the good guys out here! This forum rocks!!! Had it not been for this forum, I'd never have known that this is a common problem with first gen TLs and that it is covered by Acura for the 96 and 97s and I never could have made a case for myself!!!
Now my baby is as good as new. There is a world of difference - the engine is quieter and the response is better. Haven't yet driven it enough to notice a change in the gas mileage.
Thanks guys!!!!

Ysidro

I too had a crack manifold. Before mine cracked, I had installed a Weapon-R Secret intake. Then after a week, the exhaust was louder so I brought it into my local muffler shop for them to inspect it. They told me I had a crack manifold and it will cost me tons of money. I came home all shocked and sh**. I thought my new intake had cracked it. But then I started reading in this forum and found out its under warranty. Goodlord!
I have to admit though, despite the louder exhaust, the acceleration was quick all of a sudden when my exhaust manifold cracked, weird. Now when its fixed, the quick acceleration when away. I guess the crack in the exhaust manifold allow more air to come out resulting in alittle faster acceleration, like a new header with a bigger pipe. I dont know, just a theory. What did you guys think? You ever noticed anything ?

Ken1997TL

Wow, thats great to hear.

Haikoo

Nice

I had my manifold replaced under warranty but the flex pipe is not covered so they gave me a quote of $600!!

A month later I took it to my local shop to get the oil leak fixed and he told me about the cracked flex pipe and I ended up paying around $200 for the same repair.

spooky3ce

Fellow 98 2.5TL owner... I should write them too huh... but i don't fall under the warrenty... Not just Year but in Milage...


Acura ... I like these kind of stories...

bpjadhav

Hey Spooky3ce,
Thank you
I didn't fall under warranty either. I bought the car when it had 84000 miles on it and I wrote to Acura client services when it had 106,000 miles on it (this was in mid July). I don't think it was under warranty when I bought it. I made it a point to mention the mileage and the VIN. Did you mean that your car has passed the 150K mark? Even if that is the case, there is no harm in shooting them a nice letter.

bpjadhav

Hey Spooky3ce,
Thank you
I didn't fall under warranty either. I bought the car when it had 84000 miles on it and I wrote to Acura client services when it had 106,000 miles on it (this was in mid July). I don't think it was under warranty when I bought it. I made it a point to mention the mileage and the VIN. Did you mean that your car has passed the 150K mark? Even if that is the case, there is no harm in shooting them a nice letter.

NyRider

I am very interested in this warranty info. I have a 1996 premium 3.2 tl with 110,000 on the dash am I still under warranty?

WolfpackBill

Do a search:

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...light=warranty

There's a link in that thread. Click on it for all the details.