I think I failed as a mechanic. Dont know where my mind was at when I test drove my 1G TL I got a couple weeks ago but man I missed so many issues.
Like the frozen odometer
failed upper control arm
Bad inner tie rod
over heating
list goes on

I even believed this 18 year old kid that he replaced the head gasket a few weeks prior.

Or maybe subconiously I didn't care so I'd have something to do on my days off.
got most of it done, I'm going to try that "kick the bezel" strategy i saw in another post to see if it actually fixes the frozen odometer and speedometer.
would be nice to know how fast I'm going

 

Don't beat yourself up Nick. On the plus side, you said, " Or maybe subconiously I didn't care so I'd have something to do on my days off. " Frozen odometer, easy to miss. Over heating, not so much, unless you didn't test drive it very far. Have you solved the over heating issue? Curious to know, how the " I even believed this 18 year old kid that he replaced the head gasket a few weeks prior. " subject came up.

 

I moved your thread Nick to a 1G TL subform to see if they can't help you over there. Good luck!

 

I'd say a solid D- since the car still runs and drives

 

I'll start off by saying this is my first acura. I know that's not an excuse but they use some things I've not seen like you will read below. And I actually picked it out for a family friend. I was looking for a cheap common car with parts a plenty at junk yards, but as it turns out the 3.2 isn't so common.

When I test drove the car cold, coolant temp went straight to red, so I figured just a bad sender. After I brought it home I replaced the temp sender and issue was fixed. It was sent till a week later that it lost enough coolant to overheat. There was zero visual of a coolant leak so I figured internal. Previous owner said he did head gasket a few weeks before (that's why i mentioned that) so i busted out the harbor freight cylinder compression test kit. Sure enough first time I use it and the gauge is broken. Got it for $15 on sale so I'm not heart broken.
anyway after research I found that it's possible to have a hidden coolant leak from a bad intake manifold gasket, so I removed the intake and sure enough I found coolant on top of the valves of cylinder 3 (closest to front on passenger side). But during the teardown, I found evidence of coolant on a bad hose on the "high idle valve". Which I had to research what that was and why coolant was even in that hose.
while k was waiting for parts to come in I replaced the d/s upper control arm (bad ball joint) and replaced the p/s inner tie rod. Some reason all the part stores around me dont have bellows boots even listed for this car to order and I was on time crunch so I covered whole shaft with thick coat of grease and ordered a new boot online.
anyway reassembled, test drove, and all seemed good and returned car to family friend. Next day (today) they text me and said it overheated going up a hill and abandoned it till it cooled off and pick it up later. I asked them to check coolant and oil level when they returned but still haven't gotten back to me

 

Also I know it has a oil leak, which she knows about and is supposed to keep an eye on it and fill as needed till I can get to it, which is supposed to be next weekend. While I was under it, It looked the oil pan gasket was all RTV with a few bolts missing. Drain plug is also RTVd on. I'm wondering if low oil had something to do with the over heat on the hill. Waiting to hear back is killing me

 

As for odometer and speedometer issue. All other gauges work.
when I turn the key the speedometer doesn't even move and while driving there are no issues with transmission shifting gears. I've read that if it's the VSS it can affect shifting. I've read that the gears in the instrument panel can get stuck so i hit the trip meter button a few times to see if would shake something loose but nothing.
but like I said it doesn't affect shifting so it's on the bottom of the todo list but if anyone has suggestions I'm open.

 

Last thing (sorry for multiple posts)
of the 2 fans on the radiator only one runs. And I found the fan control sensor on the radiator is looped, some one put a piece of wire in it to always remain on.

but my question is for the 2nd fan, I've read that if the refrigerant is low then it will not activate, any truth to that? A/c is warm so I'm guessing with those 2 clues (if the first is true) then I need to recharge the refrigerant, but with all these other issues I'm betting its leaked out and not discharged on purpose.

 

 

You posted in a thread and under wrong vehicle year. If you go back to TL section click 2G(2nd generation) and "start new thread" that will get you in the right place

 

With all the Bastard repair attempts, performed on this car, prior to your purchasing it, there is no telling, what the actual problem could be. Most cars, do have an a/c refrigerant pressure sensor, which is intended to prevent damage to the compressor, in the event of refrigerant loss. That sensor, can be bypassed, momentarily, just to see if the compressor actually works, or is seized. You will have to start from scratch. Test the compressor, if it does work, evacuate, and re-charge the system, and see what happens. It's very helpful, to have a freon leak detector, available, for this process. Keep in mind, Nick, this one vehicle, has provided you with valuable experience, in how careless, and incompetent people, maintain their cars! The numerous issues, you've discovered, and posted, will provide everyone reading your post, with the knowledge, of some of the vast number of things, to look for, when considering a used car, for purchase. Thank you.

 

For some reason the validation makes me feel better lol
funny thing is I chose an acura for the commonality and surplus of parts so if I run into issues chances are they have been faced in the forums and cheap parts can be found in the junk yards.
So far 2 things have come to light:

1- my 3.2 is specific to 1g acura tl, no Honda variance or other acuras except the 2g legend. Both of which have been more then difficult to find in the junk yards.

2- understandably, feedback for 1g isn't as forthcoming as the later models. I frequent maybe 10 different forums helping where I can, ram forums, ford forums, multiple motorcycle forums etc etc and I, 99% of the time, only reply to posts with vehicles I have previously owned. I've given wrong information a few times because of small changes for a year I haven't worked on. But the caveat to that, if I see a post a couple days old with zero replys, I try to weigh in. So like I said it's understandable.

but the worst of it all, I picked this car out for a friend, and I've felt so bad about how wrong of a choice i made, I've paid for all parts and did labor free of charge. She's a single mother, in community college and slinging pizzas for money. So I feel I owe it to her to turn this heap into something somewhat reliable but I feel I've lost credibility. I'm not trying to save face by fixing it, just trying to right a wrong.

Ok drunken rant over, funny thing, tequila is what started this thread

need to finish my todo/ troubleshooting list for when she brings it back.