ok.....my early appologies as this post may turn out to be a little long.

ok, so i got my 105k tune up last wednesday. and as it would turn out, due to emmission recalls, i got free spark plugs, wires, and rotor and cap for distributor. that is the good news. now onto the rest :/ :

at first look, the techs figured my car was pretty clean and would be fine all around. well, there were a few things that they found:

1. Electrical issue: turns out that my a/c and cooling fans do indeed work, but not at the right times. here is what the tech wrote:

"did not cahnge coolant at this time. run engine for fans to cycle. fans did not run. coolant boiled out several times. bleed cooling system 3 times. did not help. fans run with AC on (when turned on manually). Turn AC off. fans continued to run. radiator fan finally shut off but AC fan did not. has an electrical problem with fans circuit. will need more time to diagnose. spent 1 1/2 hrs on this problem of overheating today."

so that's not good. it hasn't been a big issue since it's cold as ass here in Iowa. and since they weren't able to figure it out, i'll now have to pay someone to diagnose this. i did call a guy yesterday and he thinks he can figure it out in an hour or two. they don't charge 92/hr like the dealer, but 69. so either way, still expensive. but it must be done if i am to drive the car during the summer. so i'm not sure what will happen with that.

2. Radiator: has a leak and is of some aftermarket variety. i think the brand is SC? not sure what that is. but on the cap it says it's performance, but that matters little to me if it works right. the dealer wants (after 200 off) over 700 to change it out. so i called another guy yesterday to see if i could have it braized (spelling?) and then have the whole system flushed. the dealer said i have a leak on the bottom part of the radiator on the seam. i filled the res. several days ago and it's not really that much lower now. so it must not be a huge leak, but it now has to be fixed. i did see some on the top of the radiator yesterday so that must be the 'boiling over' that the dealer was talking about. i hope it can be fixed. even a replacement at this other guy is about $210 or so.

3. CV boots: all four boots are cracked. they are to the point of slinging grease but not in horrible shape. plus my left axle seal is leaking. so the dealer wants $530 or so to change those. but, yes, i called someone here in town and he can do the electrical diagnosing as well as the boots. plus he can replace the joints, both axles, and the boots for, what he said, would be of a similar price.

so i guess other than that, the car went thru the tune up pretty well. the kick in the pants was this: NO CAR WASH! i mean, i know it's cold. and the guy had said that due to the cold he didn't want anything to freeze. but when i was working at the caddy dealer washing cars, we would wash one and then leave it inside to dry. i was kinda upset about that, plus they gave me a crappy ass loaner. boo.


so what do you guys think? just say F it and have all these other guys do it and tell the dealer to stick it?

any idea what could be wrong with those fans?? that really kinda bugs me. also, i do have an auto starter (aftermarket) installed on the car (was on when i got it). i'm kinda bummed, but after all this, it should be as new as i can make it.

sorry for longness.....hope everyone made it thru it awake.

 

uhm man i never go to dealers to get work done unless it is under warranty.. i don't see why since a good mechanic can do everything for a lot less... i mean how much does acura charge for a timing belt and water pump??? 700-800?? my mechanic will charge me about 400... so why not??

 

The upper & lower radiator tanks are plastic, and tend to corrode when coolant becomes acidic. Because they are plastic, the radiator must be re-tanked or replaced.

The CV boot price, IMHO, is within reason. That's about what I've charged in the past.

The radiator fan circuit is complex in Hondas, and can be multiple items. Probably a fan timer or cooling fan control unit.

 

My local Honda dealer is pretty good for prices on some things, so i'll let them do the tough stuff and I do all the rest myself.

 

i would try to do some of that stuff myself.....i'm that type of idiot who likes to work on his own car whether he knows how to or not. :P but it's -8 here and i don't have room in garage cuz my wrecked car is taking up all the room. so i had no choice but to go to dealer. plus i don't know any mechanic that can do this within my city here.....i've always done stuff myself. so i'm forced to use dealer for most big things.

 

im at the 105K mark and i was about to do the tune up as well i was gonna pay full price 4 everything 2 but this emissions thing intrigues me, how would i go about qualifying for this..(96' 2.5 TL bought used at 103K 2 months ago) and getting it free? do i have to take it in to an acura dealer to get it checked out first? i probably know this has been posted before fellas sorry for repeating shit im a noob..... thanks i nadvance for any replies on the matter

 

Yeh that makes me pissed! I had my plug wires go bad on my car and took them to the dealer and he was like ohwell they wear out....I need to call them back!

 

what i did was have them look up, via my VIN number, whether or not the car has any recalls on it. some have them, and some don't. but i do believe that the 96's all have emission recalls, and those are done for free, parts and labor. and they have to change them...not just if they want to. i would ask them to check that and check to see if there is anything else as far as recalls for your particular VIN. any Acura dealer can check.

also, check this place out:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...callSearch.cfm

that's a place you can look up recalls and bulletins for any car. bulletins and stuff are things the dealer doesn't deal with. but the recalls and emissions stuff they must do for you...for free. hope this helps....

 

should i have them just change the thermostat when they flush the system just to be safe? that thing can't be that expensive....most aren't. what y'all think?

 

I would do it.

If you dont you might end up overheating the engine and wont know it until its too late. Thermostats wear out over time, might as well.

 

ok i'll try to have them do it. thermos can't be more than 6 or 8 bux...if that. but i hope my 2.5 engine won't leave me having to order it special lol...i shall pray for good luck.

 

It should be pretty standard.

 

so how much have you spent on the TL already?

 

well so far....$1008. but i'm lookin at prob. $500 or so on the boots, axles, etc. and maybe 150-300 on the radiator stuff. but those prices are not set yet...so the 1008 so far.