Hi All,

A week or so ago my mother was driving her '05 RL when all of a sudden it died. She had the car towed to our mechanic who is Honda certified and has provided us with great service over the years. He told her that the engine is blown and has given very little detail about the whole thing. My parents even drove over there again to talk to him and still didn't get much.

Any thoughts on what the problem(s) could be? It's very unlike our mechanic to be so tight-lipped.

She is now looking to trade the RL for a 2011 TSX but first needs to find a replacement engine. My uncle says he knows a guy who can get a replacement Acura engine. That make anyone else nervous?

I want to try and figure out what could have happened to the car and what her best options are. I'm currently abroad so I can't go down there and talk to the mechanic myself. (Or easily talk her out of letting my uncles friend replace the engine)

By the way, the car was bought used in winter of 2009 with 45,000 miles on (a Florida car) and had about 70,000 when all this happened.

I don't know who owed the car before we bought it, but I'm shocked that a Honda product would have trouble with its engine. Anything but the engine!


Thank you for any guidance you can lend.

 

I know you're trying to help out your mom and all but how are we supposed to diagnose this? The mechanic gave your mom no information, she gave you no information and you are now giving us no information. Maybe your mom ran through a big puddle and hydrolocked it. Maybe the timing belt was getting old and worn and snapped on her. Maybe the car bottomed out and ripped a hole through the oil pan, all the oil drained out and the motor seized. Who knows. I suggest you call her mechanic and get some more information.

 

I agree with BDogg. We need more info to advise you.

I can tell you that J-series engines are generally bulletproof. This is the first RL engine failure I've heard of. Something unusual happened to your mom's car.

The mechanic is tight-lipped. Might it be his screwup from the last service? Maybe putting no oil in the car accidentally at the last oil change? It seems to me that he is trying to prevent your mom from finding out about his malpractice. Just saying...

 

&

What Bob said. There is no reason for him to hold out information unless he is worried about something.

 

yea i agree you need more info or if you know a friend who works on cars that has some knowledge behind them about those cars have him or her check that shit out bc i know some one who just said a engine was blown when it was the timming belt that snapped and he took the engine when it was a simple fix and he sold the engine!!!!

 

Yes, very rare to lose an engine. I would think a new one would cost about $10K with install. If mine ever dies, I'll probably just leave it where it sits. Probably be a long time before that happens. I have 70K on mine and the engine runs like new. If it died of "natural causes", Honda of America should know about it. This sounds a lot like my moms old Mercedes 300d turbodiesel that died at 100K miles.

 

After a night of thinking about it....run away from that mechanic, tow it to a dealer, have them diagnose the problem. The more I think about it, the more I think the mechanic is hiding something.

 

$10K?!?!?! this engine new is around $5k and labor shouldnt cost no more tha $2k at the dealer. I doubt anyone would get the engine new or have it installed at the dealer. I've seen this motor used in good condition from $1K-3k and a good mechanic should charge no more than $1500.

I do agree it is very rare to lose an engine. Something is up with this mechanic.

 

Sounds like the mechanic is a huge liar. J series engines just don't go out like this especially at 70k. The timing belt might get worn and snap at 120k+ miles but unlikely. Hydrolocking is unlikely with the splash guard, and it would be hard to hit something that would rip the oil pan without ripping the bumper and other things.

Sounds like the battery went dead and this mechanic is a prick.

 

I LOL'd too, when I read $10k.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/06-07-08-ACU...ht_2844wt_1185

http://www.ebay.com/itm/05-06-ACURA-...ht_2844wt_1185

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ENGINE-MOTOR...6b055d&vxp=mtr

More on there as well.

LL

 

Thank you everyone for your great responses.

I'm going to try to get a hold of my mother today and see if she's gotten more information since we last spoke. I'm also going to ask her to get a second (or third) opinion.

Hopefully we'll be able to sort this all out and it won't be too painful an experience. Last time we had an engine blown in our old Subaru it was a nightmare (as you can imagine). Would really love to avoid that again.

lland, thank you for those links. You just opened up a world of options to me.


Cheers,

RFH

 

What misfortune *cousererrorugh* do you/your mom encounter to have so many blown engines? Japanese cars are built much better than your track record lets on.

 

Someone needs to jack this knob.


And holy hell!!! Did this car roll off a cliff?!?

 

$7K isn't far off. I was being a bit dramatic as this is a very high tech engine. I gauged that response based on the price of parts on this car which so far as just as much as Mercedes and BMW parts, which is excessive. But go by the dealer and get a quote on a new engine, they won't touch a used one off ebay.

 

I'm gonna call on Acura parts costing the same as German parts.

I suppose you didn't click on any of LL's links that showed you can get RL engines for less than $2k fairly easy. You can get a brand new block from the dealer for $4,158.30. GENERAL ASSY., CYLINDER BLOCK

 

Oh, that's a bargain! I'll take two!

Some of you guys bought new at $50K, many of us did not, that's why we are here. Maybe a $500 motor mount and $4000 engine assembly is not expensive to you guys but to the rest of us it can ruin Christmas. I have budgeted for expensive repairs plus I have an extended warranty. I do not expect to drive a flagship sedan for only $16K but I don't expect to be taken advantage of either. I have family and friends with European cars and parts on the RL are pretty much on par unless you have something like an AMG, S class or M series.

At the pics of the wrecked RL:

Wow! And I felt bad about my dent and small rust bubble.

 

Take off the oil pan and see if you see anything broken. I work at an Acura dealer and about 2 months ago, an RL with about 75k miles came towed in for no start. We removed the oil pan and found that one of the rings gave out and got stuck between the crank. Unfortunately the motor was seized and the block had to be replaced.

 

ouch, I guess anything is possible. I love how mechanics talk about things like removing an oil pan like it's an oil change. It's not easy without a lift! Well maybe it is, but most of the time it's pretty tight working off jack stands or ramps, an most of us don't even want to turn a bolt on the engine, although I would not be afraid of this if I could reach every bolt and had an OEM gasket and a torque wrench.

 

In for updates... i agree the mechanic is hiding something and this needs to be taken to an Acura dealer to be diagnosed. Worst case scenario they say the engine is blown for whatever reason that is not the fault of your mechanic and you take it back to him to have a used engine put in. May cost a couple hundred to diagnose at Acura but peace of mind is priceless.

 

where did you find these pics. I STILL really want a wood shift knob and STILL havent found one. moar deets PLEASE!


edit::

wait, nevermind - i thought about the previously posted links afterwords. oo7spy, go go quote powers!

 

You can always buy the TL knob and drill it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Acura-TL-CL-...06c43d&vxp=mtr

 

Or buy it new...
http://parts.sonsacura.com/products/...2-SJA-200.html

 

$134.73 with shipping!

I suppose when you are the only online dealer with some left in stock, you can do that.

I picked up my TL knob for $53 shipped on eBay.

 

Back on topic..... Hopefully the OP will come back with more details.

 

When I bought my RL new, I just kept the wood knob from my 2001 TL I traded in.

 

As for the OP, could it have been a premature failure of the timing belt?

 

So it turns out my mom has already swapped in another motor and traded the RL for a 2011 TSX. I have no idea what sort of costs she incurred or where she had the work done, but hopefully this new car will give her a better track record.

Thank you all for your comments, information and opinions. It's communities like Acurazine that make car ownership enjoyable, whether dealing with bullshit or discussing the love of ones automobile.

 

What a shame we never got any more info. My brother in law had a blown motor in his TL a few years ago, but a rock hit the radiator and the motor overheated. Watch your guages! Fortunately it was under warranty. He says a guage never came on. I guess if the sensor is sitting in dry air and not hot water. IDK.

 

 

My thoughts exactly. This is what I have been talking about, maybe somewhat fearfully, in so many posts.

I think, unless you have a huge car budget, that you have to become an expert on this car to own it economically. Most people are not, so they get stuck into a corner in situations like this and take a bath financially. I try to become an expert in anything I am interested in, it allows me to afford much nicer stuff than my budget would otherwise allow if I spent my spare time watching sports or grass grow like my neighbors. (no offense to sports fans or lawn freaks)

Can you at least find out what she paid for the motor and install for us? We would love to know. And was it a new or used engine? And was it done at the dealer or elsewhere? Then this thread will have some useful information for future readers.

 

It feels like a Rick Astley song is in order...

 

Hopelessly or Cry for help?

 

It should have been 'Never Gonna Give You Up'.

 

haha

 

I was thinking Never Gonna Give You Up...... cuz we got rick rolled!

 

well played Disbe

 

Sorry, I am just a little slow. How did we get rolled?

 

You mean other than the fact that we click the link to see/hear about internal combustion carnage and all we got was non related carnage of other wrecked cars and the RL was traded for a TSX.... yeah I guess this thread was a win.