So I finally got my new AC filters in today! I ordered the ones with activated charcoal from MicronAir... http://micronair.us/Honda+-+Acura/2 Does it work better than the regular? Hell, I don't know but it makes me feel better knowing I have it.

Thanks to the instructions I found here on the forum, changing them out could not have been easier! When I took it apart, I found they had never been changed at all in 53,000 miles. Just one more thing I personally think should be part of the "certified" inspection they didn't do. (My air filter was a mess when I recently changed it. I've only had the car for about 4,000 miles.) It was easy to change. The longest part was just cutting the piece out and then cutting all the notches in the plastic smooth because I'm picky.

Anyway, sorry for not having a camera with me but I was SHOCKED at what I found! Not only were the filters FILTHY but there were actually a bunch of leaves stuck in there too! I couldn't believe it! How do leaves get down in there anyway? Granted, they weren't huge but they weren't exactly super small either. So I cleared out as much as I could by hand and then took my air compressor to it to blow the rest out.

Thanks to everyone who went down this path before. It made the job a lot easier knowing exactly what to do ahead of time!

 

I just followed the provided link and saw the High Efficiency Particulate Filter with Activated Charcoal...did you really pay $116 for cabin air filters????????

Back to the topic of the thread though, I replaced mine last weekend and there were a ton of moist leaf/stem/seed pieces in that bad boy, it was disgusting. The instructions provided here were great and it took me about 25 minutes to unscrew everything, dremel the plastic piece out, clean the crap out and put it all back together. Now the air smells much more fresh.

 

Oh hell no, dude! hehe Even I wouldn't pay that much just for air filters. They come as a set of 2 to a package.

 

Oh, because it says $58 and then in the quantity it said '1' and because the CL needs 2 for the change, I thought you purchased two lol.

 

I assume you bought the CL from an Acura dealer since it's certified. You should report them to Acura Corp or sue them for fraud. That car should have undergone a 100+ inspection which MUST include filters. They should compensate you for selling a vehicle that does not conform to the contract. Thats' ridiculous that they didn't change the filters if they were that dirty. i hope you didn't throw the old ones away and can use it as evidence. Get those miscreants!!!

 

Also-- I suspect that they didn't even look at the brakes or tires or anything relating to safety. I would get a copy of their inspection list and specs and have a good mechanic compare it to the car. Get those miscreants!!!

 

I had the same problem with my certification....I called them out on it and made them pay for what they didn't do.

 

"certified pre-used car" concept was invented by dealerships to improve their sales numbers on used cars. They jack up a price, claim its a certified car, but in reality they do nothing. You are paying more $$$ only for the extended warranty that usually comes with the car, but the dealer actually never bothers to do a full scale inspection. The mechanic probably spends 1 minute, and just says "yeah, it looks ok"
so you are really only paying extra for the warranty, I would not trust BS that each car is carefully inspected and etc. Its all marketing crap....

 

you can go back if you find something wrong on certifieds used and they should replace what's wrong. 4000miles is short enough so that they would replace it. well, that's what we do in the case the client comes back and complains about something that was forgotten. but i know the inspection is more about security (brakes, suspension, tires), that everything works (engine, tranny and every accessories) and they tend to leave the a/c filters unchanged

 

Yeah, I know nothing good would come of trying to slam them. At best, I might get an offer to replace the filters for free next time or a free oil change or something. Hell, I wouldn't even let them do that. I insist on changing oil myself because most dumbass places just slap a dry filter on, load the engine up, and start it.

I'm more surprised about the engine air filter not being replaced as opposed to the AC. I just think it is really stupid that these sort of things are so small but aren't checked. It doesn't cost that much extra in time or parts and it's not like the name "Acura" is the same as "Pontiac". This is supposed to be a higher quality vehicle. Perhaps I was just kidding myself. I can see how they probably just say "yeah, it works and is not unsafe" and then put the thing on the lot. Hell, the damn brakes vibrate due to warped rotors! You don't notice it right off though because it isn't until they heat up after repeated braking on the freeway at higher speeds. I don't want to complain about it because they would just put the same sort of crap parts back on. I have cryo treated Powerslots on the way.

Probably my biggest complaint at this point that I'd like to go to them with is that the rear part of the exhaust pipes look pretty rusted. I was surprised when I saw this. I can hear some popping which sounds like a slight exhaust leak but might just be the hot exhaust. Shifting isn't very smooth either but it doesn't miss gears or anything. That's a whole other ball of wax.

 

those filters are like $20 in pepeboys... for 2.

 

Yeah, the regular ones. I'm just picky. Sue me. hehe I looked around town (Houston, so its a big selection) and no one had charcoal filters. Places like AutoZone could order them but no one carried in stock. Figured if I was going to have to order, I might as well get the MicronAir ones online. I'd be interested in how they rate compared to the Bosch offering. I might go that route next time just to see. Hey, if nothing else, I'll bet they clean the air quickly if someone farts in the car! LOL

 

How many miles are on the car? Perhaps your tranny fluid needs to be changed.

 

about the inspections, it's not that the mechanic didn't check it or see it, when i inspect a used vehicule, i write up an estimate and it's the used sales director that decides what to do and what not to do.

about repeated highway braking, i know it should be done, but we don't have much time (1h for complete inspection and oil change)..getting to the highway, test driving it, going back to dealer... time consuming and we are driven by productivity, so taking more than an hour would mean bad productivity leading to getting fired in the long term..

i know it should all be done, but as business is today, every job time is reduced over the years leading to this kind of situation (yeah unfortunatly, productivity over quality seems to be the way they want it, not how i want it (short term.... seems like they never look long term)). it could also be that the mecanic is careless though.

 

@TallyCL-S: About 54,000 right now. They said the tranny cooling mod had been done and I assume the fluid has to be changed for this. Are there any good instructions on this? I've changed the tranny fluid in my Stealth before. Also, what fluid is considered the most effective for these trannies? (What's in the manual is not always what is best. Many 3000GT/Stealth owners have found RP MaxGear to be a better solution than factory recommendation)

@Type S Zero: Yeah, I would blame a mechanic if I brought it in for a specific problem and they didn't to the proper checks. As for a "certified inspection", I have no doubt its the dealership/economics that drive things just as you said. It's a shame. I just expected more from the "Acura" name. I guess the level of "attention to detail" I am looking for only comes with a Mercedes though.

 

Did they tell you when the tranny mod had been put on? I had just hit the 30K point when I did my tranny fluid change. The dealership charges $68 to change only 3 quarts of the stuff, I paid about $58 for 9 quarts of the fluid and changed it myself. Use the Honda ATF-Z1 tranny fluid(the same fluid is cheaper at honda vs. acura if you want to save a few bucks). There is a round bolt with a square inscribed in it located at the bottom of the tranny maybe 8 inches in from the driver's side tire. You need a 3/8" rachet to fit inside the square. Everytime you unbolt it, about 3 quarts get drained.

Some people recommend refilling the tranny through the fill bolt located at the top of the tranny, the bolt is marked 'ATF'. If you have the oil jet kit you will have to unbolt it first. I have also heard that you will need some serious strength to unbolt the fill bolt. Personally, I just refilled the fluid through the tranny dipstick and I didn't have to unbolt a thing. When you remove the drain bolt, make sure you clean it off because you will notice dark metal shavings around it.

After your refill it with the 3 quarts, run the car through all the gears(D1 through R). Then drain and refill two more times using up the fluid you buy. Replace the bolt and washer and tighten. The old fluid will be brown, but the new fluid has a pretty purple color like this smiley face

Before the change I noticed that shifts were kind of rough, but now it is smooth as silk.

 

You are way too nice. Also, the tranny cooling recall may NOT involve a fluid change. If your tranny fluid is dirty or smells I would raise hell and ask for a new tranny. At least show that dealer the dirty filters before they screw someone else. Part of your contract are the inspections---you got TAKEN> COMPLAIN!

 

geee wizz, if you can't trust your stealership who can you trust?

 

I've said it before, the 'certified inspection' is used much of the time just as a marketing tool. If they think they can sell the car pretty easy they don't really inspect it much except maybe very obvious things a regular buyer might notice.
I've seen it lots of times. I wonder if Lexus or others do they same?

 

No fraud. There is nothing in the paperwork about certified cars that says the filters get replaced. Inspection and extended warranty is all there is.

 

Honda and Acura have minimum standards on their certified vehicles that are posted on the cars in my area. There must be a certain tolerance on many parts that must be replaced if they are outside the tolerances. Inspecting a useless, worn out filter w/o replacing it breaches the contract IMO and defies common sense and logic and makes it an illusory contract. BTW, the inspection questionnaire posted to many Honda vehicles in my area is part of the contract IMO and requires that tires and filters and fluid etc. be replaced if they are worn out-dirty etc. Also, the consumer is relying on promises that these non-functioning, nonconforming parts are being replaced not just inspected. For example, their tires tread must be at 5/32 by their own standards to be certified. Someone is going to get hurt relying on these so-called inspections unless someone does something. The fact that the dealer is knowingly, intentionally not replacing worn out parts after representing that the parts are being inspected and if necessary replaced is fraud per se.

 

Go to the Honda website and look at the certification standards-not a word about ac filters. As the ac filter is not part of the certification process, the dealer is not obliged to inspect/replace and there can be no fraud.

Now if they sell a car with worn brakes or something else that is covered then that's a horse of a different color.

 

And that they did! However, like I mentioned, it just isn't worth it to me to complain about this. They would just replace with crappy OEM which, as I've read around here, is worthless. The Powerslots will do a much better job. I'll save the bitching for the wammy items.

@TallyCL-S: Thanks for the tranny info, bro! If you filled through the dipstick hole, did you just keep checking the level? Is that good enough? I did everything on the Stealth through the fill bolt to a specified level. Can one assume it is proper simply by going through the dipstick tube? Thanks again for info! I really prefer doing this sort of work myself. I don't let anyone do work on the Stealth but me and a friend. I only trust him because he owns one and knows more than I do. LOL

 

I just replaced what I took out. Someone here measured it out before and I think they said that almost 3 qts come out so that is what I put back in. Once I completed it I checked the level on the dipstick and the pretty fluid was between the two dots on the dipstick.

 

ok cool. Thanks again!

 

Go to Acura website. SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE must be done is within 2500 miles of the required maintenance to be certified--since the cabin filter must be changed every 30,000 miles they should have changed them by Acura's own standards. If a new car customer didn't change their oil by Acura's required maintenance schedule and blew their engine I doubt whether Acura would honor the warranty. You must work for Acura or be a civil defense attorney to give Acura the benefit of their malfeasance in these instances.
They also are obligated to replace the brakes if 50% worn and the air filter if dirty and many other items that are listed on the Acura site.

 

BYW, did you get a copy of the 150 point inspection that Acura assures us on their website should have been in your glovebox.

 

Just looked through papers and didn't see anything like that around.

On a side note regarding the AC filters, I've really been enjoying them! Talk about nice clean air! I think I'll start replacing them every 6mos. to a year.

 

New filters are quite an improvement. I smelled the difference immediately. I changed mine every two years regardless of miles since I only drive about 8000 mile/year. DIY saves you about 75.00 from dealer's price. I would like to see you ask the dealer for your inspection form that he is obligated to provide by Acura's own rules.

 

I believe I will ask for it the next time I am over there and then compare it to what I know to be true. If I am able to call them on the smaller things I have already seen, I can use that as backup if something big happens and they claim to have checked it during the "certification". I can say "Oh, you mean the certification that didn't include other inspections, right? Why should I believe you checked that too?" hehe

 

Did it today. Pretty much 3 on the nose. I ran some SeaFoam Trans. through and then drained. Filled with Mobil1 Synthetic ATF since that's all I had access to today. It meets specs. Will probably run it for a few hundred then drain and fill with the Honda Z1 stuff. I didn't see the fill plug at all. They put the oil jet in place of it or something? I just filled through the dipstick hole. Anyway, thanks again for the info.

 

Ahh, I remember someone saying that even the Mobil1 people recommended using the ATF Z1. Be carfeul. I don't think the oil jet is completely over it, but I think it is near it. Filling through the dipstick was easy as hell anyway IMO.

 

Yeah, I read that it is an acceptable "short term" substitute. Since I plan on flushing it out anyway, I didn't want to waste the Z1 on it. Not that the Mobil1 was cheap but I wanted to at least start the process now. I'll probably pick up the Z1 this week and drain/replace next weekend.