Boarder.97.TL

I recently found a '97 3.2 TL with 98,000 miles on it. Its a great car, but I have a few questions.

1. Does anyone else's tranny shift a little harder than normal cars? It doesnt seem to like to go very slow in town (tranny shifts hard)...it seems much smoother when I'm driving like I want to...a little fast.
Would just a tranny flush fix this...? and does anyone know about how much that would cost?

2. My car also seems to have a little play in the steering wheel...it also pulls a little to the left, but I figure a tire balance/rotate will fix that...part, but the play in the wheel I dont really know about.

3. Do they have anti-sway bars for these cars? They seem to have a little more body roll than I thought it would, but I do have stock tires on there and they suck...I'm sure the sidewalls just smush when I roll around a corner. (would love to find some tires/rims for it, 17's I'm thinking...but I cant really afford it right now. Oh, by the way, does anyone know the correct size tire to use going from stock 15's to 17?)

4. Does anyone know how much it would cost to replace the timing belt? I have 98K and figure that NEEDS to be done (and would hopefully fix the issue of my car shaking a little when its warming up, I live in ND so its still cold here, the shake seems to go away after its warm or when i get some RPM's going)

Thanks guys, hate to ask so many questions...but I'm curious. I love this car.

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

let me be the first to welcome u to the boards.. hopefully u will find it useful here as most of us do... i will try to answer most of ur questions for i really do not have all the correct answers...

1.) as for ur tranny flush it wouldn't hurt the car especially if u don't know when the last time it was done... as for shifting hard i noticed that on the car when i first got it too... eventually i got used to it as the norm...

2.) when u say play in the steering wheel i really don't know how much play to mean... i mean my steering wheel has some play in it but i haven't driven a car without a little... if it is excessive then maybe that will signal something to be checked out... the alignment should fix ur issue of not going straight...

3.) sway bar... ahh yes the very much anticipate GAB strut bar that only fits 2.5 and not 3.2... i would say that it is not impossible to find one for the 3.2 but it may take modification and money... to answer ur question about rims... if u were to upgrade from 15" to 17" wheels... ur tires will go from 205/65/15 to 215/50/17...

4.)timing belts are recommended every 90k for our cars so if u don't know whether the previous owner did it yet or not.. DO IT!!! it is too important to look over... as for the shaking during warmup shouldn't that be normal at a cold environment??? it is getting all of the cold air built up over night until it can idle... if it shakes at idle im pretty sure its a timing problem... if ur shake goes away when the car is warm then that should not be a problem... good luck...

Mikes96TL03CLS

well said Kamlung.

HQuakers

werd..welcome to the board!

Boarder.97.TL

Thanks Guys!

DoUbLe0

Welcome to the Forum!! hope you like it!

TLBaller

i paid like 30 bucks for a tranny flush. it shifts smoother.. i paid 400 bucks for a tune up, which includes changing ALL the belts, but thats with a hook up and yes...that also made the car ride smoother (like brand new). rims, im riding on 215/45/17 on 17x7 with a +40 offset. you can ride on 7.5" width rims without rubbing the fenders. if you want to drop your car in the future, you can go with eibach. if you like coilovers you can go with B+G, Ground Control, and Skunk2's. let me see what else?? hmmm oh change your spark plugs and wires as well. if you want your car to breath better, you can purchase a K&N drop in air filter made for the acura legend or a aftermarket air intake/air filter made for the legend as well. have you gotten clear front lenses yet? if not, try ebay or this site. this site sells them too

Boarder.97.TL

Awesome, thanks for all the info TLBaller. 1 question though, I know some cars are made for the kind of spark their crappy factory plug give...and may perform even worse with new/different plugs...what type of plugs do you recommend for the TL? And for that matter...plus wires as well? Thanks!