Another crazy dealership story for me. Went to the dealership for the SMS lighting that was on for six months, goes off when they plug up to test codes. OK fine.........so they run a recall sheet on the car and found a recall never done on the car for the timing belt tensioner (03-030) 02 - 03 CLs. Said it will save me 600 dollars when I replace the timing belt. Anyone else know of this?

 

It's not a story. There was a recall on some of the early 03 CL's on the Timing Belt Tensioner. IIRC, the water pump was also replaced if there was a specific number on it (you'd have to do a search if those threads are still around). My water pump wasn't the one specific, however my servicing dealer did the tensioner, belts, and water pump under the recall at no cost to me.

 

Thanks, I'll do some research.

 

Yep, I found the list of service bulletins on a database at my library recently. There were several that went together. I think it started with the water pump and later included the tensioner. It required them to change the tensioner, timing belt and water pump if your water pump was one that required it. Have the dealer go ahead and do it. It's free to you since it's a recall.

 

I bought mine 2 years ago and its getting close for a timing belt change. Just read this and thought, why not give them a ring and see. I see your in DC and called the Laurel Md dealership. They took my VIN and said that the belt adjuster was changed but couldnt give me specifics of when or where. Also, he said that as of 2008 my car wasnt under warranty anymore so any recalls would be void anyway at this time. Does this all make sense? The guy was totally aloof, but I expect that every time Im forced to deal with the stealership.

 

Recalls supersedes warranty. That information should be in their computer records.That's how I found out about mine, I'm the second owner. They can give you a print out of any Acura dealership work done in the country. Go back and ask for it. If I have to I deal with Chevy Chase Acura and my trust value with them is low.

 

Tischer used to be a v-e-r-y friendly dearler for aftermarket work - especially for COMPTECH upgrades. Mr. Steve used to use them exclusively years ago, but I don't know if he still goes there. I had my suspension work done by them, and it was because of the RonJon Servos I had that they went out and bought a high-end alignment machine to eliminate any chances of scratching the wheels. However, they started getting away from being aftermarket friendly, choosing to work with those customers who's cars they had dealt with but not undertaking anything new. Lonnie I think his name was used to be the go to guy, but he moved around so much which may have been a contributing factor.

 

I used to sing the praises of another Baltimore dealer while I owned my CL-S, because they always bent over backwards to accomodate my needs/concerns. As I noted earlier in this thread, when the Tensioner Belt recall came out, they replaced everything associated with the recall even though my water pump wasn't the one specified. I had a ballast start flickering somewhere during my 4th of 5th year of ownership (well out of warranty) just before Thanksgiving and Joe (the service advisor) came out and told me "bad news/good news". The bad news was the headlight replacement was gonna be around $800. The good news ... no cost to me! Every 7500 miles when I brought my CL in for service, I always got a new loaner - usually TL's. I swore by these guys until I started pricing service for my '10 TL, and found them to be higher than anybody else in the area. Even though everybody in/around the Balto area was overcharging for TPMS kits when I replaced my wheels, they ended up being the highest by a long shot. As far as Chevy Chase - where I purchased my TL - I used their car wash once during the winter, but after speaking to the Service Advisors a couple of days after purchase it didn't take long for me to realize I'd never be using their service department for anything.

 

It was a bit comical during my last visit, one service manager doing good cop (no charge to look at the car) the other doing bad cop ( charge him). Good cop won but definitely not the professional behavior you would expect from a business. I should be at the end of my warranty stuff -seat belts and tensioner- so they or any dealer will never see me again.

 

I was about to do my timing belt and ran across this tensioner recall while looking for some info. The recall doesn't show up for my VIN on MyAcura, but according to an old thread, my car should be included. I don't recall seeing this recall being done by the previous owner (I bought the car 2 years ago), but technically, if the previous owner didn't have this done, any Acura dealership should still replace my tensioner and related parts?

 

Yes, they shouldn't give you any problems but you may have to try a couple of dealerships. As you read some dealers aren't as complete and professional as others. Don't be discouraged if they can't show you the information from the VIN.

 

So I looked through the history listing I got from the Acura dealership when I had the pre purchase inspection done. In 2004, with around 27,000 miles on the car, one of the jobs done were 'Perform Tensioner Update'. I'm guessing this is regarding the recall?

If my VIN number wasn't included in the water pump recall, would they only have replaced the tensioner itself or also the timing belt and associated parts?

I'm trying to piece parts together to do the timing belt change, but if I have 30K+ more miles I can put on this one, I'd rather wait.