I got a 2002 acura cl with navi for $3300 early winter. I'm looking to do some minor work to it. I got it for cheap due to the fact that it is a salvaged title. It was rebuilt at 100k after a major fender bender, and I bought it at 121k. I'm now at 123k and have had no problems. It needs some very minor cosmetic work and brake work though. I am getting new rear rotors and brake pads front and rear this week(front rotors were replaced before I bought it). It's not a perfect car by any means, the paint job is cracking in only a couple spots and the rims are rusting pretty bad.

I sanded the headlights and polished them with plastx to get rid of the yellow oxidation.

I will be fixing the passenger heated seat this weekend. I will be following this guide:
http://joshsworld.com/cars/acura-tl-seat-heater-fix/

One question I had was about the front road lamps. I'm aware that a lot of people are replacing them with 18w piaa's or polarg m6's. I was wondering what type of bulbs are these exactly and if i could maybe get some recommendations on 10w or 8w bulbs just to avoid any melting on the housing. I live in upstate NY so I drive through rain, snow, and generally cloudy weather all the time and have my lights on most of the time so I am thinking of getting the 5w polarg m4's.

I am also looking for any advice on easy mods i could do myself such as cold air intake or powered subwoofers. Also, is there anything I can do about the rusting rims? I don't want to have to buy new rims and would want to try to polish them or get rid of some of the rusting myself.

Lastly...the seatbelts' recoil isn't that strong or it seems to be getting hindered by the slot it goes through above your shoulder. Is there anything I can do to free the seatbelt or increase the recoil strength?

 

Well for intake go with AEM CAI V2 (judging by your gauges you have a clp), it gives a pretty nice low growl to the car and cant remeber what the bulb type was but I believe its the same as the ones used in the interior lighting of your car, you can search for it.

 

Grats on the car, put some money in the bank for when the tranny goes.

 

lol, i'm hoping that doesn't happen, I'm hoping to keep this car for just 2-3 years. Wanna have a couple of years with no car payments after i graduate while i pay off my student loans and settle into a job. I probably won't run this car over 150k.

and i think i settled on these for the road lamps.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance

 

do pulley, cai, and dc headers... and that's the equivalent of a type s :-)

where you from OP

 

grats on the car. That is a cl-p only color, that gold and the green. Was the car in an accident on the driver side. Looks like the fender is bent out some. Ive never seen that crease line on the front bumper on a cl before either.

 

if u read the first 2 sentences of his original post you wouldn't ask that question.. wow

lol

 

I'm not sure, but i think the accident was on the passenger side.

Have any of you guys ever changed your own brake pads? I'm sure someone has. I've taken my wheels off before just to scout it out and found out that my rear rotors are rusted on. Would I need any other tools than a impact screwdriver and wd-40 to get the rotors off and a c-clamp to push the piston back in? I'm thinking of saving myself the $175 that someone offered for labor to change my rear rotors and front and rear brake pads if i buy the parts.

 

pads are a breeze on these cars, no special tools required, just need a 12mm,14, 17 i believe

 

Thanks. I will have a lot to do this weekend haha. I'm hoping to get the heated seat fixed before the weekend which I will spend on the brakes and installing the 18w piaa road lamps i just ordered which hopefully get in quick. I also need to resurface the road lamps. The road lamps and heated seat will be easy. I'm just hoping I don't get stuck when trying to fix these brakes, but if I do, I'll just have them done for $175.

 

for the road lamp bulbs, go with either the PIAA or Polarg ones that you mentioned above. I've seen these in person and they look great. They wont melt your housing. getting the 5W bulbs will be a waste of your money, go with the 18W.

As for the seat belt, the dealer might be able to fix that for you. Seat belts are covered by a lifetime warranty from Acura, one of the few things left that they will do for salvage cars.

that heated seat DIY might be kinda hard since you have to take the seat out and that sucker is heavy.

never seen those wheels before on a CL-P, are they 2002 CL-P only rims?

 

I've got all my parts and tools together...I'm going to install PIAA 18w bulbs, ceramic brake pads, rear rotors, and fix the heated seat. I'm also thinking about getting a couple 2-ton jack stands to hold up the car while I work on it instead of leaving it on the jack that came with the car. My only other problem is that where I live we've been getting inches and inches of snow and I don't have a garage to work. I also couldn't do the work in my rocky driveway even if I got a day where all the snow melted. I could leave and go somewhere safe and flat, but I would rather not have my car away from my house while having it disassembled.

 

those PIAA bulbs might be a bit big so you might have to sand down the opening a little.

 

From what im seeing, they repainted the hood, front bumper, passenger quarter panal and then preceeded to add a second tone of paint around the whole lower half of the car.

The drivers front wheel looks like it's out of alignment too. This car is a great project but i think it's going to need alot of TLC

 

for 3300 tho you gotta expect to drop some $ on her to get her mint

 

congrats on the car, i've also just aquired a cl not too long ago mine is the type-s version. I got it from some guy who bought it for his son for college. they were the second owners and also had the tranny replaced (very common problem for these cars)
i got it for an unbelievable price of $950 with a clear tittle but with a bad tranny.
now im running a 06 Honda accord tranny put on by a very trusted member here on azine and, loving the car alot.

You should post some pics of the bulbs when you get them inn.

 

I've still been waiting for the snow to melt before I go under the car to fix the brakes and replace the road lamps. Also, I have the problem of not having a garage or paved driveway to work on, but I'm heading home for spring break so I will do it there. I will try to post night time before/after pics of the bulbs. I have a relative near home who could help me with the brakes there too. I haven't fixed the heated seat yet either.

In other news, got my first ticket today, it was only a parking ticket. I don't know how, but I got mixed up and moved my car to the wrong side of the road when i shouldn't have and got a parking violation for being on the wrong side of the road.

And, I'm not sure if it would be worth it to me, since I plan to own this car for about 3 years, but how much would a decent full body paint job cost?

 

So I bought this impact driver.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._ya_os_product

Didn't help. The rotor screws are rusted in really bad. I only let the wd-40 soak for a few minutes. I'm gonna let them soak overnight. If I can't get them in, then i got a few quotes from $175 - $300 to have the rear rotors replaced and brakes all around replaced(with me supplying the parts).

Also, I put the PIAA bulbs in. They look really nice.

 

just use an electric drill and the proper bit and they should come out. just lean all ur weight on the drill before you start going in reverse... DO NOT WANNA STRIP the threads

 

Those screws are pointless, if you have to drill them out and dont worry about replacing them, all they do is hold the rotor on while the wheel or caliper is off, some older cars don't even have these. nice grab on the car btw

paint will be expensive for the whole car, probably just as much as you paid for it for a decent job.

and welcome to the site, there is a lot of useful info here

 

Actually, it could be a type-S, I've seen a couple type-S's in this gold color before. Also, i didn't think cl-p's had the gate shift option

 

You don't need the screws, they are just there for the factory to hold the rotor on going down the assembly line.

 

The premium models did. its the same tranny

 

they do, remember I had gold cl-p

and type-s has white tachometer and speedometer

but for 3000 that's not bad of a deal at all.

 

I called the acura dealership. They said they won't fix seatbelts on a vehicle with a salvaged title. They aren't really broke though, the retracting power just isn't that strong, I have to kind of feed it back in to get it to go retract. There is no fix for this I could do myself?

I had the brakes and rotors changed. Now she brakes smooth, and without the rumbling due to the bad rotors.

I realized that when i put the road lamp bulbs in, I had to force it in a bit. Now i realize this may be a problem when i have to replace them, if the bulb is pulled out of the socket and stays in the housing.

I'm still considering getting a paint job at the end of the summer, for hopefully around $3000 but we'll see. I won't be keeping this car forever so as long as the paint will look good for about 3 years, i'll be ok.

BTW, how often do you guys get oil changes. I'm coming up on 4000 miles since my last change and was thinking about doing them at 5000 mile intervals

 

that seat belt "issue" is how it is man...
the seat belts typically don't retract by themselves.

had 2 cl's (one was my moms) and obv there is mine i have mow.. both didn't like retracting very much

 

I was quoted $1900- $2100 to get me cls re painted the same color. They do great work I know because they painted my TL a whole different color than it was before.

As for the seat belt they seem to have that issue, mine retracts slow for some strange reason.

 

seat belts are covered for lifetime warranty regardless if its salvage. Im sure sure if it means that the belt has to be defective itself because technically the belt will still work.

call acura customer support and ask them if acura's lifetime seatbelt warranty applies if it doesnt retract.
if it doesnt then you can try to replace it yourself if it bugs you. I did it in my mom's camry cause it wouldnt retract.

 

changed the engine and cabin air filters today. They were both filthy. What octane gasoline do you guys use, I've been using 89.

 

your supposed to use premium 91 octane

 

when i had my tl-p i only put in 87 never had any problems if it was a type s i would put in 91 or higher