Hey guys, I'm new to the forums but I've been reading around lately. I sold my 05 TSX to get the 05 RL this weekend. After reading the forums before deciding what Acura I wanted to go with next, I fell for the RL. Reading the "Favorite thing about your RL" thread had me so excited to go pick the closest one I could find. (270 Miles Away). I drove almost 5 hours to Ohio from NY and my RL from Prestige Auto Mall in Akron. Upon entering the car for the test drive I noticed that the Nav system was locked out and needed to be activated by calling Acura. After getting the code I drove it around for a while and it felt good. Well great actually, coming from the TSX. I bought the car and started my way home around 7:30 pm. Around 8:45pm the check engine light came on and all these messages from Acura popped up on the Nav system. All the red flags that would have stopped the purchase only appeared just after I left the lot. After driving another 30 minutes the worst happened. The engine blew on Interstate 90 and when pulling over the engine sounds like a rock in a drying machine at idle. I'm thinking maybe a piston or something is making the noise and its escaping through a broken cylinder or gasket? Anyways I'm fighting for a refund but the sale was "AS-IS" so I need all the help I can get. Is there a way that I can prove that the battery was unplugged right before I drove? I know it was but since the RL is so confusing to learn and even worse, Its stuck in PA so I cant even see it . I have the Acura maintenance messages that weren't visible when I test drove on my side but what else is there that I may be missing? Does the car log anything shady that the dealer may have done? I'm stuck with a Beautiful $12,000 paperweight

 

So sorry to hear of this.. I am not that mechanically saavy to help you with your question but maybe filing a complaint to the BBB or State of Ohio AG could help get you started..

Here's the link..

http://www.bbb.org/akron/business-re...s-oh-142314636

 

Wish I had an answer for you as to proving the vehicle had problems beforehand. That sucks man.

 

Sorry to hear about the apparent hoodwinking that just ruined your car. Some places will go to great lengths to cover up problems to get a sale and then worry about the fallout later. Unless it was a huge coincidence, there may be codes stored within the navi unit. All you need to do is get into the diag mode...car in on position, hold down the MENU+MAP/GUIDE+CANCEL buttons at one time you can access the XM HIP ecu and any uncleared messages will be stored there.

First thing you need to is get the car somewhere and figure out exactly what happened, and what is needed to fix the car...then you can start pointing fingers. I would honestly call the service manager where you bought it and tell him what happened and have it towed to an acura dealer in PA. Good luck man.

 

Another ejected plug?

OP, pop the engine cover off and make sure all spark plugs are accounted for. Sorry to hear this.

 

OP,

Sorry to hear about your mishap. I hope everything works out for you.

As for as the battery being unplug, you did say that your NAV was lock out. How about your radio? Did you need to enter a code as well? Did your windows roll down the way it should. Just wondering because you would need to reset your window and enter your radio code if the battery is disconnected for a period of time.

 

Why do you need to reset the window? I've never had to do that when my battery had been unplugged, just had to re-enter Nav and radio codes.

As for OP, I thought there was a three day period in which you had to undue the deal? Also, sounds like you bought a lemon, check out the lemon laws in your state. Was this a reputable car dealer?

Did the car have service records? Too late now, but you probably should have had a PPI done since it was "as is."

 

The window issue may or may not flare up with a disconnected battery. Also, a lemon is a car that has numerous or repeated issues. A single event doesn't really mean lemon. I do agree about the 3 day window, but I think that is up to the dealer.

 

interested in finding out if spark plug ejected or if timing belt

 

My guess is TB, if it's original, it's two years overdue (and yes, they go by time or mileage) I don't think ejected spark plug would make the sound he describes, car just wouldn't fire right, lose power and run rough. If it's the TB, the engine is toast. Not sure though, why engine light came on first. Can engine sense a bad belt that maybe is distorting the timing? Or, maybe belt was done, but incorrectly.

 

if TB, the car would not idle
I'm betting ejected plug as I had this happen

 

Ejected plug accounts describe the sound as similar to a helicopter. Think of how it would sound if your cylinder had a huge hole in the top of it and the piston was still going up and down.

 

Yours was the first of any car I have ever heard of this happening. Seems very remote, hopefully op will cone back with diagnosis.

 

one of the first RL's that was documented here, but not the first of the J-series engine.
google J35 spark plug ejection

 

is there a known cause for this?
my car had all recommended service performed

 

Under-torqued plugs in a soft aluminum head.


rlerman, I was in the same boat as you before getakey posted about it, but there are pages of accounts where it has happened. I'm pretty sure I read one person say that Honda quoted the failure happens in 1/600 motors. To them, that doesn't justify a recall. Still, think about how many V6 j-series have been produced.

 

wish we had some answers.

some speculation of the factory not torquing the plugs right, as it calls for 13lb/ft and it should be somewhere in the 20s

 

I had the plugs changed with the timing belt. so if it was under torqued, my dealer did it
the plug went at 185K, timing belt done at 105K

 

from a thread on the TL side from 2012

TL;DR
- proper torque value is 13ft/lbs with anti-seize
- common on high mileage J-series

 

Sorry to hear about your car. I hope the dealership will rectify the issue for you.


If there's one silver lining taken from this, I guess it would be best (based on what I've read) to change your spark plugs more often, especially after the first big tune up/timing belt job.

I'm glad I went ahead and had it done, even though I'm only at 92k.

Anyone have any recommendations on how often they should be changed for high-mileage cars? Should I go ahead and do it at 45k miles (past the recent timing belt/tune up), or more than twice the recommended interval?

 

Plugs should not come off, rather than change them more often, just check them at 50k if there is a concern. I'll be doing my plugs in about 7k for the first time. I'll torque them to maybe 15-18 given what I'm reading here.

 

instead of buying the NGK plugs that are meant to last for 100k miles, i bet we could get away with putting in a cheaper plug and just changing it more often, like lets say 40k miles.

rlerman, i checked my plugs a couple of months ago, just checking the the torque on them and i'll have to say; if you go through all the trouble of checking them, might as well change them! lol
the prep work was much harder and longer than actually checking them, lol

 

Thanks for all the feedback guys. After running around a few hours away from home yesterday and numerous calls to the dealership, it looks like I'll have to take legal actions. The dealer states that the car was in good condition when I left the dealership and I made it outside of Ohio so they don't think there was anything wrong with it when I left. Also they "only return cars in extreme situations". I wonder if they believe their own BS? But yes the cars navigation had to be reactivated when I first got in the car for the test drive. The manager at the dealership tried to pressure me to do that after the test drive but I wanted to make sure the navigation system was working correctly and was accurate during the test drive so I waited. I know I should have walked away then. Cosmetically the car was beautiful and in way better condition than any other ones that were in New York for similar prices and I couldn't see the engine under the plastic covers. The mechanic that it was towed to said the diagnostic code was for a rocker arm error. I'm told it could have popped off, and may be a slight replace/repair or the engine may been completely ruined if it was broken and running that way. To make things worse, that mechanic is not certified to do engine repairs by the ASC warranty company that covers the car. I had the car towed to Ray Laks Acura where they will be diagnosing it today. I'm a lot more comfortable with the car there. Im going to go after the dealership for Fraud and Unfair practices. The battery being unplugged before my arrival was clearly stated by the salesman but he tried to cover it up by saying it was to clean the ground connection. Also I was promised in front of my cousin who can serve as a witness "I promise the car is in great condition, I would never sell your something you couldn't make it home in. I know you came all the way from NY". The battery being unplugged put my life in danger because the acuralink message stated that the airbags may not have been properly functioning due to dead/ low voltage battery. Does anyone have any legal experience/advice that I might be able to benefit from?

 

 

Call a local (Ohio) attorney who deals with business fraud. There are a number of criminal law attorneys who frequent Acurazine, but their expertise is not appropriate for your situation or location. Good luck, and keep us updated on what the dealer finds.