UGGGH. what a week.

Last friday i hit 100k in the TSX and my check engine light, and vsa light came on.
I made a service appt for monday morning....Great right? Wrong....

Saturday morning i was running a few errands when i stopped for a redlight and the car made a funny sound and died.

I had to pay 90bucks to have it towed to Ramsey Acura..

I get a call monday saying my engine is done.

Supposedly the tensioner on the timing chain went, which caused the chain to start flapping around, and my engine jumped timing. Basically my pistons hit the valves as they were opening...

Want to hear the fun part......................
13 TOUSAND FRIGGIN DOLLARS TO REPLACE THE ENGINE.
AND ITS NOT UNDER WARRANTY



so........since i love this car so much, im getting another one. Problem is, they dont have what i want in the surrounding 5 states.
I want to go White, Ebony interior, 6MT, Navi.
sooooooooo it might be a 3 month wait.


discuss.....

 

1. WTF. That's crazy.
2. I wouldn't have been driving my car if the check engine light was on.
3. How in the hell can it be $13k for a new engine??

 

1. def is crazy
2. ehhh
3. i have no idea but i can prolly buy a nascar engine for that much.

 

damn, thats just bad luck

part out ftw then '09 tsx

 

I can't believe your buying another one. I wouldn't touch Honda/Acura with a ten foot pole if that happened to me.

And I would get a second opinion about the repairs.

 

Agreed 100%. Second opinion for sure.

 

What year was your car?

 

04

 

so why did you keep driving your car. too late for that-hard lesson learned. my tsx came from ramsey acura. i bought it in pa-they got it from there as it was the exact one i wanted-06 6spd/w nav milano red/ebony tsx. i live in nc so i had a 700 mile drive to pa to get it-i peviously lived in pa and bought 8 cars from this dealer so i get excellant deals. my good friend is the acura service manager so that also helps.

 

last time my check engine light went on, it was because the gas cap wasnt tightened all the way.

car felt fine, its not like i took it on a 500mile trip., i went into town to go to the bank...

 

13K is a suspect price for repair... new crate motor and install shouldn't top that price. I'd call big haunchos at Honda and look for a goodwill fix because the timing belt and tensioner don't even get looked at until over 100K miles. I'd part the car out before I paid that much to put in another engine... the other parts of the car would be worth more to you in the end that way.

 

wow... ...

 

Wow that sucks. Timing chains were supposed to be more reliable than timing belts when they failed. Although I guess in this case, your chain didn't actually break, just the tensioner, and the chain probably jumped off the sprocket.

 

true...i'd get a second look and call acura themselves. This doesn't seem like it should happen and i'm sure they would good will something this extensive.

 

ABSOLUTELY the right thing to do. Call Acura Customer Relations IMMEDIATELY.

 

Wow, that really bites. Can't believe they'd charge you 13k for a engine. Good luck with that and +3 on calling Honda of America to fix your car because the belt and tensioner weren't closely watched.

 

Wow man, that sucks. This happened to me on my Protegé about 8 years ago. I was sitting at a light and BAM the engine sputters and shuts off in a weird way. I knew exactly what it was when it happened, tho, as I'd heard that sound before when I was a kid (my dad's Pinto did the same thing). I knew also that cranking the engine will make it worse so I had it towed to a shop. The engine rebuild cost me $1200, parts and labor.

I suggest you look into rebuilding it as it can't be that expensive (maybe $4500 MAX). Also, call Honda and see what they say.

 

if i spend any money, its gonna be towards a new car, not to fix this one.

 

I agree. At 100k, I wouldn't spend thousands to fix it. Just isn't worth it.

 

925tsx,

Let me know if you'll be selling the car as-is. I may want to buy it.

MBA

 

13K my rear end!!! it should cost less than that for a brand new engine w/labor

 

hmm.... that leads me to think... how do we check/adjust the timing chain tensioner?

 

$13K for a new motor? Damn, use it to invest in a new ride man!

 

My oil spilled out of my CL once because a seal let go and the dealer told us if we kept driving the engine would have blown. Cost to replace one '97 Acura CL 2.2 engine, $14,500. This was awhile back according to the dealer so that price sounds pretty good assuming mine was accurate.

 

Newer Honda Series Motor blows up = price of new Kia?

925tsx, what's your driving style? Did you service it regularly or yourself?

 

Definitely call Acura -- Timing chains are supposed to be good for well over 100 thousand miles; that's the reason they are so much better than timing belts. I don't have my service schedule handy but I believe, as has been mentioned, they aren't even on the list to be checked until over 100k.


edit: page 2 ownage

 

The check engine light means "get you're car checked out soon" not "pull over immediately" as the oil pressure light does, so I wouldn't fault a person for having kept driving.

If an error code is more serious than a loose gas cap they should have it blow some extra whistles, you'd think.

 

I'm in jersey...if you plan on selling it let me know, I'd be interested.

 

Yes, Honda/Acura engines are that much brand new but it doesn't seem necessary to replace the whole engine. More than likey you only bent your valves. The only way to really tell is to pull the head. Pull the head, make sure there is no damage to the pistons, replace the valves, machine the head, put on a new headgasket and call it a day. It should cost you maybe $2k.

 

Wow dude, that really sucks. Now you've got me scared as I'm at 81,500 miles with my '04! However, I do have an extended warranty, but knowing my luck if that was going to happen it'd happen at like 105,001 miles or something stupid.

As far as people calling you stupid for driving it with the CEL on...is it your only transportation? For me, my TSX is the only car I own...so if the CEL is on, I don't have much of a choice!

Even so, the owners manual of ANY OBD equipped vehicle does state in various spots something roughly equivalent to that...

The CEL does not mean pull over, shut the car off, and have it towed to the nearest service station. It is an indicator that something is definitely not right and that you should get the car serviced as soon as possible. Unless you had access to a code reader, you had no idea this was going to happen!

So, you're not stupid. I'm on your side!

 

that sucks, sorry to hear that. what are you going to do with the car then, part it out. if so I got a couple things I would buy.

 

You should have got FREE towing.


When you buy a new Acura, it comes with Acura's Total Luxury Package which includes free towing to the nearest Acura Dealer.

 

Only during the warranty period of 4 years, I believe. He's over 100k.

 

Is the Total Lux Pack still in effect after the warranty expires?

 

werd with what excelerate is saying, pull the heads, if the pistons arent' damaged replace the valves and machine the heads if they have enough meat left on them. If not order up new heads for a few hundy. This can easily be saved for like 3gs. If your mechanically inclined doing the labor yourself is not hard. just have to take it to a machine shop to get the head polished and decked. doing the work yourself it will be like 1k to fix. + for calling acura and tearing a new one because the tensioner and belts don't get inspected till like 120m according to their service intervals so they need to atleast split the cost with you.

 

That oil light only monitors oil level, not pressure.

 

pfffft shitty acura roadside assistance said it would take 60 minutes to get a truck out there.

i was in the middle of a main road, police said the car couldnt stay there for an hour. they called a company, the dude was there in literally 5 minutes.
Plus i got reimbursed from my insurance company.

 

the head has already been pulled. the engine is fuxored.

Like i said, if they told me it would cost 50 cents to fix it, i wouldnt do it.
Either they are fixing it totally free of cost, or not. In this case, they are not.

besides the body/ tranny has 100k on it. time for a new car anyway.

 

Dont have the time/ energy/patience to be bothered with that.

They are giving me some money for it toward a new car.

 

I think you just want a new TSX.

You have a pretty good argument against them. You could potentially get a brand new engine and save yourself the car payments.