2001 Acura CL Premium with 153K miles.
Transmission was rebuilt about 6 weeks ago.


Last week I started my car after work around 2pm and the Engine Malfunction and TCS lights came on.

I've read this can be caused by not tightening the gas cap fully and if you tighten it down after 3 driving trips it should go away. I always fully tighten the cap so I don't think that was the cause.

Anyways my tank hit E driving home so I stopped and put a full tank of gas. The following morning the TCS light went away and hasn't been back on in 6 days but the Engine Malfunction light is still on.

I took it to the mechanic who rebuilt the transmission and he asked if I ever had the thermostat replaced. I will admit I don't know a think about cars so i didn't have a clue what he was talking about. Anyways he said it might be the thermostat and to bring the car back today to get checked out a bit more thoroughly.

Long story short, does any of this seem like a possible cause for the light to come on? The car doesn't seem to be acting any different than before.

What is the avg cost of thermostat repair/replacement?





Side note: I have noticed that the overall performance of the vehicle has declined but I believe that is due to the age of the vehicle and the rebuilt transmission. Car used to feel like a rocket 8 years ago but now it seems newer base model cars have more get up than the CL. Maybe it's just my car?

 

these engines are strong and with proper maintenance should feel just as good as 8 years ago. Ask your mechanic what code was thrown. When is the last time you've changed the spark plugs, air filter, etc?

 

I'm terrible with service records. Couldn't tell you when any of those were changed honestly. I'll have to dig through my service papers.

 

As far as maintaining the car, I'd say I've been 85-90% compliant with routine maintenance about as well as a normal car consumer would be, if that makes any sense? Purchased in July 2006 with 75K miles from CarMax.


@gnuts - You have a very nice looking CL btw...

 

thanks!

Do ask your mechanic for that code and it'll really narrow down the issue.

 

guy i bs'n you. Thermostat has absolutely I mean absolutely nothing to do with any engine code popping up. You would severly overheat the engine with stuck thermostat - but I do not think you have missed that event. mil and tsc may be an issue with transmission slipping but it may be also faulty yaw sensor, abs issue - i say many many things. what codes do you get?

 

If you don't know the code, you can take the car to Autozone and they'll read the codes for you for free. The plug for it is underneath the coin tray in the little cubby there. There's a plastic piece with a small space right above it in the back of the cubby. Pull on it and it should pop right out.