Ok, so I just bought a 2002 Acura CL S-Type from a coworker friend of mine, he's owned the car since new. The car has 152k miles on it. It's been sitting in a parking garage for months, he said it really started to deteriorate quickly just by sitting there. But really it's in good condition, just needs some TLC. I had some questions though, especially due to the high mielage.

I want to do a near-complete tune up on it, to ensure it's in tip-top shape and ready to go.

- Timing Belt. Was told the old timing belt was changed at around 65k miles, so I know it's overdue for a new timing belt.
- Water Pump. Not sure if the water pump was ever changed but since the timing belt is being done, its easy to throw in a new water-pump.
- The gas pedal sticks, there's resistance on initial push, causing me to apply more pressure than I want to, the result is fast take-offs, which is kewl sometimes but not in stop and go. Mechanic-friend looked at it and did some things but believes it to be a throttle cable. So for $15 I bought a new throttle cable from Acura.
- The front brakes need to be changed. I'm not sure about the calipers, rotors or even the shocks. If I need new shocks, I was looking at KYB Shocks on EBay (item # 310177800384), thoughts? If it needs rotors, I'm going to go with drilled rotors but not slotted. Look at EBay item # 150332753284 I'm told to go with Ceramic Pads?
- The hood support shocks are bad, already bought replacement and will have those installed.
- Spark Plugs. I really like how stock is the NGK Platinums, but I decided to go with NGK Iridium IX, ZFR6FIX-11, what's curious is the FAQ's said to use NGK BKR6EIX-11 but according to NGK's site, the ZFR6FIX-11's are designed for this car, so I chose to trust NGK's site. I have 6 Iridium IX ZFR6FIX-11 plugs ready to go in.
- Air Intake, the Car had a nice Comptech Icebox installed, however the Foam Filter Element inside was shot. Also the little Elbow joint below the icebox was ripped off when it hit a large parking bump, so temporarily I took the icebox off until I could buy a new filter for it and see if I can buy that little Elbow joint (http://glitch.cc/comptech1.jpg) and I put on a Spyder Cold Air Intake whic is just an alumimum tube that brings the cone filter down by the front bumper. But man! The sound of the engine is completely differen w/ this air intake, and it really makes some noise when you accelerate and hit high rpm's, it sounds really kewl. But the dangers of sucking up water when going through large puddles scares me too much, the icebox has a superior design IMHO.
- One problem I've noticed the windshield wiper, the driver side windshield wiper doesn't seem to know where to stop. It usually stops about 6" from the edge of the glass, sort of right in the drivers view. Then occasionally it will go right to the edge like I imagine it's supposed to do. Then occasionally it will go over the edge, and sort of wrap around the car a little. I'm not sure whats responsible for 'stopping' the wiper, telling it where to swing, but apparently it's malfunctioning. Ideas?
- Oil. Needs an oil change. Since the car has 152k miles I had considered a high mileage oil like quaker state, but then I've always believed Mobile 1 Synthetic to be the best. And now I'm hearing about Castrol GTX oil being the best and they have a high mileage formula. The previous owner didn't run synthetic in it, as far as I know he just used whever the mechanic put in, regular oil, probably Castrol or Mobil or whatever. So what kind of Oil should I run for 'spirited street driving' I don't really race and as far as I know it doesn't leak oil and until the old plugs come out I don't know if oil gets into the plugs and I don't notice any blue smoke.

Any help on all or some of the things I've mentioned would be appreciated. I know the car is 7 years old but it's really a nice ride. I want to keep it for at least 4 or 5 years.

 

- The front seats, both of them, don't seem to recline. They move forward and back, and if you pull on the lever thing at the shoulder to get access to the back seats, the seats recline forward and the motor slides the seat forward automatically (really kewl). But both seats won't recline. I think I hear the motor trying when I hit the switch, but nothing happens. If it was one seat I'd have guessed a bad motor, but both seats at the same time? And both seats slide forward/backwards just fine. How can 2 motors in 2 seats go bad at the same time. Are they maybe on the same fuse and a bad fuse?
- The alarm system won't activate. If I close the door and hit the button the remote, it locks the doors. But if I hit the button again, there's no chirp from the horn and the security light doesn't blink. Not sure why. I'm also interested in that shock sensor mod I saw in the FAQ's, how you can wire in a shock sensor to the existing alarm, give it some extra capability. Enhancing the factory alarm sounds nice to me. But to find a mechanic or tint/electronics/alarm shop willing to do it.
- The trunk button in the driver side door does not appear to work. The only way to get the trunk open presently is the remote (key fob). I wondered if part of the computer or system thinks the trunk is already open and thats why the inside trunk-open button doesn't work and maybe why the alarm won't activate. But the key-fob works, so not sure what to make of that. I figured maybe a bad button or blown fuse. Haven't checked all the fuses yet.



Any help on all or some of the things I've mentioned would be appreciated. I know the car is 7 years old but it's really a nice ride. I want to keep it for at least 4 or 5 years.

 

theres a lot of things to address here and only some of them you asked for opinions on. others, your just simply making statements. please ask one question at a time.

for the tune up, get the complete 105k service done. Timing belt, AC belt, power steering belt, water pump, all new fluids, idler, adjusters, valve adjustment, etc.

KYB shocks will be fine unless its lowered or you plan to lower it.

for the plugs, get the NGK Lazer Iridium plugs, they are the best for our cars and will last another 105k.

 

Yeah sorry about that, I guess I was just stating what I was intending to do but while doing that I'd have questions too.

I'm having my friend-mechanic do the tune up. I'll mention the ac belt, power steering belt, idlers adjusters, and valve adjustment to him. The timing belt, water pump, all new fluids was already on the list.

I don't plan on lowering the vehicle. How do the KYB shocks stack up against the stock or other similarly priced aftermarket shocks?

 

they will do fine on stock cars.

 

for the wipers it proably has a linkage that is broken from the previous owner useing the wipers to clear snow from the windshield and stuff (not clearing it beforehand), if you move them by hand like when they wipe they will proably have play in them


also for the trunk, check the gloveboix there is a switch (on left side near the center console) in there to disable the trunk release button in the driver's door

for the gas pedal, try lubing the pivot on it,(above where your foot pushes it) those can get dirty and cause a sticky pedal

for the timing belt, just get it done including water pump and idler bearings, then they are done and you don't have to worry about them for another 105K, (it's very $$$ to repair the engine if any thing fails related to the timing belt)

for being out of order, but WELCOME to AcuraZINE (Azine for short)

 

Hey out of curiousity how much does the 105k cost at the dealer?

 

So today, I had the Iridium IX plugs installed, hood support shocks, throttle cable, new front brake pads and an oil change with Mobil 1 synthetic. All in all, not a bad days work. The tires were also rotated. Strange thing is, the SRS light came on for no apparent reason. Not sure what was done to affect the airbags. I found in this forum info about how to reset the system to make the light go off, going to try that and see if the light comes back on later, indicating a real problem. It could be just a false alarm.
Mechanic did mention all 4 struts were shot, so I'm now looking at the KYB GR2 struts on ebay because they're cheap and the general consensus from the forum and reviews is that they're slightly better than stock. As long as their not complete junk I'm good.

Any ideas on the SRS airbag problem?
Any ideas on why both front seats won't recline but they do slide back and forth?

I checked the fuses inside the car and nothing. I checked the fuses underneath the hood but no mention of SRS there. Trying unplugging the battery for 15m and reconnecting it but no luck.

 

Sticky throttle problem was solved by replacing cable. Sweet. $15 for the cable from Honda eStore.
Trunk Eject Button on driver-side door problem solved by finding that switch inside the glove-box, thanks friesm!
How to repair the linkage in the wipers? Just tightening or does parts need to be replaced?

 

could be a number of reasons why SRS is on. If you mess with electricals, sometimes that triggers it. Mine came on cause of a faulty passenger buckle that was replaced by acura for free.

Just reset the light and hope it doesnt come back.

as for the reclining seats, the motor might be out. Are they broken on both sides? check the fuses first for those, but I think you already did that.

I was quoted about 1500 from my acura dealer for 105k with valve adjustment.

800 at honda dealer for labor only with valve adjustment.
but they did mention there was a 650 special for 105k (no valve adjustment) with parts and labor. Im gonna look into that.

Right now I bought about 450 bucks of honda oem parts and a very qualified tech is charging me 650 for labor plus valve adjustment. the parts is a complete kit, meaning timing, ac, power steering belts, idlers, adjusters, cam seals, spark plug tube gaskets, etc...
I will be doing plugs myself, which were 40. All the fluids im doing myself as well.

 

Interesting that Honda would do it cheaper than Acura. Wow that's a nice tune-up, I'm not sure I'm going to go that all out. Is there somewhere that lists all the things done in a 105k tune-up from A-Z and/or all the parts that came in your kit?

153k miles is a lot but I just don't feel the car needs all that work. The timing belt and water pump, and shocks are my next immediate concern.

I read it could be as much as $100 just to get the dealer to read the code on why the SRS light is on. So I'll definately give the reset a shot first. My reasoning is, it wasn't on before, the airbag system worked fine, and we didn't do any work on or around the airbag system, so maybe it's just confused, in which case a reset should fix it. I'm really hoping to not dish out a lot of $ just to read the code, let alone fix it.

My mechanic friend said for 152k miles, my car is in great condition. He found very little problems with it.

So it may be good for some of you to know that our cars age gracefully.

 

I could give the list of the parts i ordered but basically its a combo of 2 lists on here. You can find it in the FAQ thread.

only reason im doing it cause if anything happens between 105k and 210k involving one of these engine internal parts, then you would have to pay the 5 hours of work to open it up again. I'd rather do it once and not worry about it for another 105k miles

 

np

for the wiper:

need #12 (76540-S0K-A01)(~$25) if it is only the driver side that does not know where to stop, but normally it is both of them that don't know where to stop in which case you need part#11 (76540-S0K-A01)(~$20)

go out to your car and move the wipers manually (like there normal swipe) to see if they got play in them, they should not want to move any when you try to move them manually

 

Yeah, there appears to be play. I can pick up either arm and move them about 6" back and forth. A mini-wiping motion. I guess I'll pick up both arms. I have to say, the parts for this car are a lot cheaper than I had anticipated. My brother has an '01 Lexus IS300 and parts seem a lot more expensive for his car. Even after market parts like cold air intakes.

 

if you can move both then i would say you need only part #11, especially if the two arms still move in sync together
just buy the new arm/linkage, pop the old one off, then pop on the new one and you are good to go, first you have to get access to it though

i think part of the reason prices are higher on lexus is cause people think of lexus as a higher end car, and assume owners have more money then acura owners so they try to ripe you a bigger one (dealers included, try a 01 rx300 rear hatch/door struts over $300 a piece and only available from lexus, any other car it be like $20-30 a piece MAX from an auto parts store like carquest, napa, etc.

 

Figures! I just found the thread about the SRS Light staying on due to the OPDS sensor and the warranty was extended to 150k miles, and I have 152k miles, that's just great. Well I'm hoping resetting the SRS Light per the procedure I found in another thread will fix it. I really don't recall that light being on earlier but after all the maintenance I did, it suddenly came on. I really hope it's not an OPDS issue otherwise I'll have to read through the other forum threads and fix it myself manually, hopefully it won't cost an arm and a leg.

 

HOLY CRAP!!! $1,500?!?!?!??!?
Looks like I need to start saving NOW for it. I am at 94k right now but 105k is right around the corner. Is that Valve adjustment really needed?

 

I just had an oil change done, Mobil 1 Synthetic w/ a Mobil 1 filter, and the computer told them 5W-30 so that's what I got. Well I just read a Acura Service bulletin somewhere here in the forums and it mentions 5W-20. So did I put the wrong oil in? Any danger?

My Car overheated today. Overheated bad, on the way home at 90mph on the interstate I suddenly smell antifreeze. I had to pull over, let the car chill for 5-10 minutes. What was interesting was the radiator cap wasn't even hot, I opened it and there was no bubbling liquid or anything. But I poured in 2 quarts of anti-freeze and when I did that, then I saw smoke coming out of the radiator and some bubbling liquid. I made it 10 miles or so before it overheated again. I tell you though, when I restarted the car, it was running ROUGH. Threatening to cut out, it was idling rough, it just sounded 'sick'. It did get a little better when I picked up some speed on the road and gave it some throttle. Long story short, I had to stop every 5-10 minutes for 5-10 minutes to let it cool down but I managed to get it to a mechanic's who found that a hose had sprung a leak and he was able to replace that hose with a generic hose he had in the shop. I guess the diameter was similar. But there were several times I ran the car hot, I even learned the needle can go higher than H. I did my best to minimize this and go easy on the car, etc. and while I don't suspect there's permanent damage, I mean the car appears to be running normal now but I can still smell anti-freeze for some reason (probably residual on the motor/tranny/undercarriage) I'm just wondering what damage I may have caused and what I should look for?

In the next week I'll be purchasing a timing belt, water pump and 4 KYB shocks for the car to have it all installed. I'm wondering if there's anything else I should do while he has the motor somewhat apart as he works on the timing belt? I need somewhat simple/cheap(er) parts and/or ideas. Cash is getting a bit tight but if there's some good obvious things to change that are relatively cheap, then I'm game for it. I gave him the 'big tune up' list I had compiled and most of it he said was fine and about some things he said the computer would throw a code and there were no codes from the computer.

 

^ you might need a new head gasket if it has not failed, it will shortly. should have stopped right there and towed that car home or to the shop. overheating a car like that is bad news for your HG oil and trans fluid

 

Well I'm having the timing belt and water pump done. How much extra work to change out a head gasket? I was told by the previous owner he never overheated the car once, so it's not like the engine has been through hell. This is the first time and I did my best to minimize the time it ran hot. It's running ok now. Any way to tell if a head gasket is on the way out? I was thinking of having the entire engine degreased so we can spot any new leaks.

Is this a head gasket?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=130342636996

Looking at:
http://www.drivewire.com/vehicle/acu...ad-gasket-set/
It appears the one on ebay is missing parts.

I wonder if this is something that should be done anyways due to the high mileage.

As far as transmission oil, I have considered changing it out when I do a complete fluids flush. But doing anything at all with the transmission scares me due to all the transmission issues I've heard about this car. A mechanic once told me that changing out transmission fluid in an older transmission can sometimes create problems.

 

HG is removing intake and everything else attached to cylander heads and then removing them and changing the gaskets. will have to check head for squareness and correct if it is not

 

It also would never hurt to do Seafoam in it. It worked wonders on my sisters TL.

 

seafoam? I had the timing belt done, it took a couple of dealer-only parts to complete the job, and what should have taken 5 hours the mechanic said took 16 hours. But not to worry, he'll discount it to 13 hours for me... anyways, new timing belt/alternator belt/belts/water pump installed. Now the KYB struts are being installed. I hope that's all the car needs mechanically for now.

 

16 hours for a timing belt did he remove the engine to do it

 

just wondering if you ever got your alarm to chirp? my trunk suddenly won't close today and of course, the alarm doesn't chirp. i used a screwdriver to put the trunk latch in the 'closed' position, and tried the alarm again... no lights flashing and no chirp, but the doors lock. is this because the trunk latch is malfunctioning? thanks

 

16 hrs! WTF??? And he charged you 13 hrs! What a RIPOFF!

Obviously, this guy has never worked on a Honda/Acura V6 motor or read a manual to learn the correct procedure! Personally, I won't have him work on my car ever again!