abusoos32

I used to have a 97 tl and I loved it I found an 03 at 200000km for 3200$. It has one rust spot and the back rotors pads and brake lines need to be replaced. What do you guys think is it worth it? Is there any trany issues I need to worry about?

Thank you

Chojun

At 200k m / 124k mi your car will need to have had some maintenance done. Most notably is the timing belt change at 105k miles which is very expensive if a dealer/mechanic does it.

Pop the hood and take a look at the transmission - if it has BLUE bolts on the tranny (warranty unit) then go for it - you should get some reliability from it. If NO blue bolts then yellow flag - you may potentially have transmission issues in the future. Ask if the transmission has been rebuilt or replaced. Most transmissions shiz the bed around ~90k miles (it seems from what I've seen around this forum).

Take the car on a drive and get it up to temp. Punch it in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears and watch for any flaring. If any flaring and/or shudder on gear shift then see if the dealer will go down $1K as you'll need a rebuild (or better yet, replace with '06 '07 Honda AV6).

Check for power steering leaks.

Otherwise it seems like a good price, if a bit on the low side (if you're talking US dollars).

01tl4tl

whats wrong with the rear brake lines? the rubber part or the main metal is rusted?
A set of SS brake lines for 4 wheels run 100-125 USD and make a big improvement.
Better figure on getting rebuilt calipers too, rears often fail first when brake fluid is not flushed every few years.

do the 0mph- full throttle thru the automatic shift into 3rd gear and stop
Repeat 10+ times, if there is any clutch wear issue that will make it show up
= slips like a manual trans clutch does when dying,,,rpm up but no increase in forward motion speed

replacement of failed trans with a used trans from an accord runs about 1500 USD for parts and labor (50/50)
It cost way more to attempt rebuild of current trans, and dealer wants $5000!!!! for a rebuilt trans that comes complete in a box.
You can buy that same boxed trans on the internet - direct from the place honda has rebuilding them!

Failure can come anytime from 50kmiles on, most get 90-120 or so, some 200,000 miles
Keeping up with the trans fluid changes helps, but is not a fail-safe.
Its a design issue with the oil cooling to clutch pack leading to early wear-out

It may still be using the OLD formula zr-1- discontinued for about 5 years~
The new stuff is called Honda DW-1

DO NOT BUY a gen2 TL unless you have 1500-2000 dollars spare- on top of what you already know it needs for certain,
for repairs that will definitely come up.
The 105kmiles service gets timing belt, water pump, spark plugs etc- the first major service
for the car after 12 years is an easy $1000-1500!!
Add known rear brake problems $400
Trans failure $1500-2000

A few years ago the word around here became- Much as we love our TL, unless you can DIY the heck out the things,
big money repair items rule out the car as an economical and viable choice
Besides the poor gas mileage in town

If I looked at any car with rusted brake lines and bad rotors
I think: This car has NOT been cared for in any way- many things are wrong under that nice shine the seller recently applied.

01tl4tl

Did you see our Member Cars For Sale section? see top of page for links
I am guessing you are in Canada, we have a lot of members up there.
One may be parting with their TL to upgrade to newer, or they know someone who is!
Use the new member introduction section and contribute a hello to a few threads = to gain needed post count
(see the rules section) then you can put up a Want To Buy ad.
The rules on join time and post are to cut down on spammers overwhelming the site.
The for sale threads are for us- not giant resellers

abusoos32

I could ask for more Info thank you guys. Yes I am in Canada so cdn currency. The transmission is stock I checked it and I was able to get the car for 2800. I'm not sure what's wrong with the brake line but I'm pretty sure it burst you have to tap really hard to slow down.

I well check out that buyers section for parts, thank you I wouldn't have thought there's a lot of members in canada.

01tl4tl

introduce yourself in the new members area and the fellow Canuks will come out!
If you put your location in your bio so it shows up to the left of your post- that will generate some new friends too!

Brake line- are we talking the rubber part that goes to the caliper?
those are easy DIY and upgrade to the MUCH better SS lines for ~100$

or the metal line that runs the length of the car?
any break from rust in them is a deadly serious issue! BUT can be fixed with a new section of line.
Requires special flare tool and experience- a pro brake shop can handle that,,
Canadian Tires maybe? or do you have brake specialty shops up there in the great Cold North??

$2800 Canadian- score - if it last a few years you did great, if it needs a trans- so what

With hood open look at trans- any bolts holding things to trans- or bolts holding trans to engine have BLUE paint on them = warranty replaced trans

01tl4tl

Who has the phone # and website for Honda of Canada?

register with both of them, need cars VIN- dealer can run your VIN to make sure all recalls are taken care of. Drop by and ask parts or service desk- its free too

Newer ones on airbag issues may still be OPEN = needs repair FREE!-
doesnt matter if 1 owner or 10, only the VIN matters

01tl4tl

spend some time scrolling down this main area, and the section Problems and Fixes
Read threads to see what items to inspect and watch for

The owner/operator handbook is avail thru the owner website- free!! lots of tips in it!
If no one here provides the contact info- dealer can get you the #s

abusoos32

Thank you I'll definitely update my profile. Ya today I went to check the transmission it had blue bolts, I'm definitely happy about that.
I'm not too sure whats exactly wrong with the brakes. For the car to slow down you have to keep tapping the brakes hard to stop. I'm taking the car for a safty check, they should be able to tell me exactly.

01tl4tl

when you tap the brakes 2 time quickly- does the pedal feel firmer on the 2nd pump?
Thats often just air in the lines

OR the pedal goes away while holding it down?? and repeated taps are needed to remain stopped?
thats master cyl failure,,, no biggie to DIY replace

How does the fluid look inside master cyl res? ugly grey or near clear? Full to the top?

If thats a required safety inspection, you want to find out whats wrong before going in and failing on brake lines!

abusoos32

I'll check the liquids, I don't have possession of the car yet. What I do know is when I drove it you have to stomp a few times so it slows down hard periodically. When I was parked the brake pedal go in all the way. There's no pressure at all.

I'm actually thinking of getting it checked out then buy the parts online and do the work my self. Rotors, pads and the lines. Any suggestions on which ones. I know others suggested as brake line im going to get those. But I'm not sure about rotors and pads.

Chojun

Here are the latest recommendations from the group (on a thread I started - I need to do my brakes as well):

https://acurazine.com/forums/second-...ations-936434/

abusoos32

I looked at most of those parts on eBay and multiple other website but most of those parts won't ship to canada. Any suggestions??

01tl4tl

Canadian Tires for parts, and look in the section on here for meets- find locals to give you better info than we can
The duty on items is crazy, better to drive here for a weekend and pick up- install and drive home

NO pressure in pedal is probably bad master cylinder, or lost all the fluid
IS this a private sale or from a licensed dealer of some sort?
How can they sell a car with no brakes?

DO NOT DRIVE it until you have brakes

02tljj

Hey, if you want to stock up on used brake calipers, master cylinder, etc, go to Standard Auto on Saturday. All you can carry for $50. You can check the car inventory on their website, scope out the place before you go on Saturday. You can even go a further step is remove all the parts you want and hide it in a trunk of a car somewhere and go back on Saturday to get it. hehe... I never been there on Saturday but I hear the line up to get in is pretty crazy.

Or just rebuild yourself if you buy a rebuild kit for about $10. I watched a few youtube videos and it appears to be quite easy to do. However, what you are describing doesn't sound like brake caliper failure more like air in the brake lines or something wrong with the master cylinder.

I had a seized rear caliper on my car and just found one for $30. I even picked up some mint rear rotors for about $13. Overall, cost me under $100 to replace caliper, used rotors and new pads to fix the rear brakes.

As for brake lines, you can fix them very cheaply yourself with a Princess Auto $40 double flaring tool. It's really hard to get a good flare with that tool and I'm about 50% successful at making flares with it no matter how well I prep the brake tubing. Even with the ones I made, I had to tighten the flare nuts on super tight to stop the leak. The brake lines on my 2002 is basically rusted out to s@(* and eventually, I will have to replace all the lines. I ended up buying a Mastercool hydraulic flaring tool. It makes perfect flares with ease. I wish I just spent the extra dollars in the beginning. It would pay for itself after replacing two entire brake lines and the huge head ache it caused.

If you're into DIY, give it a shot.

abusoos32

I totally forgot about standard auto. I lived in Calgary for a wile just moved back to mississauga. Definitely will check them out for what parts I can get. I do have a set of tools I should give a try doing it my self all I need to get is Jack stands.

02tljj

If you plan to DIY a lot, I would recommend a low profile 3 ton quick lift floor jack too. For months on end, I find myself jacking up the car on a weekly basis. I wish I done it 10 years ago. I used those standard cheap $50 pump jacks before and I can never go back. It's huge with big wheels and sturdy and was able to use it to remove and install the tranny with relative ease. I just had to cut a large piece of plywood to make a platform to lower the tranny.

02tljj

BTW, our TLs are indeed nice cars if it wasn't for the tranny. Other than that, I find it to be quite reliable and easy to repair. I mean, something liking removing untouched 13 year old rusted out bolts only to find out it was quite easy to break free. The head of the bolt may look like crap but the rest of the bolt looks good!

abusoos32

The Jack is a great idea and yes a year ago I boughtt a cheap Jack and I never ended up using it because I never felt safe enough to go under the car. The one you mentioned is good and worth the investment. Also, that's exactly it 03 tl is an amazing car. All my friends drive bmw 3series. There nice but I don't know there not the same comfort with the luxury. I also feel that acuras in general if there's a problem it's fixable and one can figure out the issue, with bmw it could feel like like one thing but turns out to be completly different. My friends tell me I'm crazy but I keep feeling that I'm choosing the right one. And the trany I'm not to worried about it. Blue bolts were on so I'm hoping I still have a great amount of life left in it. Sucks though as clean as my car is, there's only one rust spot that will definitely cost money will probably fix it a year from now.

abusoos32

Do I need to worry about the timing belt? How long do they usually last? And is there a way to check the condition of it?

Thank you

Chojun

Honda recommends that they be replaced at 105K miles. From what people have said around here and what I've heard people say elsewhere, you can push 150 or more on them. Personally mine has 165K on the original belt. I've heard of people going into the 220K range.

BIG HOWEVER though. Unless you garage your car, have no fluid leaks inside, don't live in a salty/wet climate, and treat your car well, I would NOT push it past the 105K recommended change interval.

It is a very expensive maintenance

Chojun

I should clarify my previous statement.

Everyone really ought to change their belt as close to 105K as possible. If you lose your belt, it's game over for the engine in these cars.

With that said, it's pretty rare that I've seen for these belts to fail, which means the vast majority of people get them changed within a reasonable amount of time.

You can inspect your belt by removing the timing belt covers. If the belt looks cracked, dry, or worn at all then it's time to get it changed.