JohnT187

Hi all,
Name is John. My son has a 2001 CL with about 78,000 miles. I bought the car for him about 2 years ago from a family friend. It's been trouble free until recently. There seems to be a misfire while idling and the car would sometimes stall. Took it to a Acura dealer and the following was performed : valve adjustment, manifold gasket replaced, spark plugs replaced. My son picked up the car and it seemed fine. The following day the check engine light came on and the engine seemed to be misfiring again. Took it back to Acura and now they are saying that when the car is idling for long periods(about 20 minutes)
the intake air reaches temps of 190 degrees which when it hits the gasoline it actually brings it to a boil which is causing the misfire. When the car is in motion there is no misfire because the intake air is cooled. They recommend replacing the computer at a cost of $1650. They are willing to credit the $500 which we spent on the first visit towards the $1650. I would like to hear Cl owners opinions on this. Has anyone here hear anything like this?
Thanks in advance.
John

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Welcome to the forum, albeit under crappy circumstances.

Check the coil packs and spark plugs. Replacing the ECU seems a bit extreme.

typeR

wow ... first find a new dealer get with client care and get some if not all of your money back they basically admitted the work they did wasnt the issue and now are fishing for a new fix ... and let me add they dont fish good ! one if atomized fuel boiled when it hit 190* air how would changing the ECU change that ? its retarted like wow ! next they should have a known good ecu to swap in and see if the problem were ecu related ...

there must be a check engine light on take it to your local auto parts store and have the code/s read and report back please

AnthraciteTypeS

That's the biggest crock of shit I think i've ever heard. So if that's true, is the J the only motor that gets that hot (190deg) after idling 20 minutes? NO! Bring it somewhere else and make an attempt at getting the money you spent back from acura corporate aside from maybe a diagnostic fee and the valve adjustment (it's recommend maintenance at 90k which is soon for your son's car anyway). Definitely sounds like a sensor or an ignition problem for sure though.

JohnT187

Plugs were replaced and the coil packs checked out fine.

JohnT187

I asked if this was a common issue with 01 CLs. The service manager said according to Acura they have seen some CLs with this problem. I'm having my son pick up the car tomorrow. I'll try a different shop. Can anyone recommend a shop in the Westchester County NY area ?

exl124

Hmm...I think the guys are right. ECU does not seem like the problem. Generally a misfire is caused by an issue with fuel delivery/pressure, bad spark plugs or possibly cylinder pressure. Bad sparks plugs wont ignite properly. Low fuel pressure could be caused by a clogged fuel filter, which reduces the ignition to push fuel to the cylinder. And if the cylinder has low compression, it wont beable to compress the fuel and air mixture properly...causing the misfire.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

There was a TSB for the 98-02 Accord V6 regarding the fuel system. The issue was the engine would heat up the fuel in the fuel rails causing it to boil, but that was only causing hard starts.

What check engine lights are you getting?