shimbo519

My cousin has a 2002 TL-P with about 4000 miles on it. Recently she has been having trouble getting the engine going right away. She says that she has to turn the key for an abnormally longer time to get hte engine going then when she first bought the car. She went to Park Ave. Acura and they asked her what kind of fuel she uses. She told them Exxon Supreme and Mobil Supreme. They told her that the 2002+ TL's have a problem with these brands of gas. She was like wtf I can't use the only brands of gas in my area???? They were like tough luck. WTF is this!? She has brought it in twice to get fixed, but neither has done anything to improve her situation. She is bringing it in for the third time. Is this a known issue??? I mean I've been using Exxon for the past 3 years, and not supreme all the time, and I have no problems. Are they BSin her? Thanx for any info.

BlackAc3.2

Bro - I have the same problem. I have a 2002 TL-P and i only tank up Mobil and Exxon Supreme (93 octane). I noticed that when i start my car , its not a solid start. It takes a lil longer then usual. This happens occasionally and pisses me off sooo badd. Sometimes Acura pisses me off.

ThinMan

Mobil = crap

It caused my car to not start many times and after talking to the dealership, the 2 Acura service managers told me NEVER use Mobil.

This is in an 00 TL.

They also added that the TL will NOT PASS EMISSION TEST if you run Mobil gas (as of 5 months ago we no longer have emission tests here but damn)

doopstr

Never had any issue with Mobil. ????

TypeSDragon

I use mobil all the time. No problems here!

therockshow

that's funny! my friend will never get exxon or mobile either, he only get's amoco; even though it is generally more expensive. i go with the flow personally; but to each his own.
-david

VTEC Animal

Makes you wonder if something is being done differently at one refinery than another, say a different addative/detergent......

jdone

When I had my BMW the dealership told me I could only use Shell SU-3000, the most expensive gas available at the time.

stiletto

If she takes it in for the third time and they still can't fix it... hmmmm... I would say that is a good excuse for a lemon lawsuit... right?

this is me

Mobil all the time. No problem either.
I think it just the dealer's bs.

FirstgenTL2.5

i use mobil also... no probs with the car.. i say the dealer is bsing her and they are being *******s like most peepz at dealers

BigNard

Yo stiletto I was thinkin' the same thing about the lemon law thing. This can't use Exxon or Mobil thing sounds like a bunch of bull isht to me. What, is Acura in bed with some of these other gas companies or what? I have never heard of any car not being able to use any type of gas other than leaded.-Nard

ncbuckeye

Good Luck on the Lemon law, my car had a bunch of stuff wrong with it. They had it 20+ days in 4 months. Acura told me the service tech cant figure it out. So they said you can try the lemon law or My dealer was willing to buy it back and Acura gave me free accessories. They were the worst to deal with, at least my area manager.

shimbo519

what i can't understand is that this happened at PARK AVE ACURA. There has been nothing but praises from this site and the other site about PARK AVE. I have had only positive experiences with them as well. Is this a sex discrimination thing? I just dont get it. I had such high expectations from Park Ave. but after this, I am beginning to question their service dept. Btw, the service tech that told my cousin this was Tom for those of you who know Park Ave. ppl.

bigman

i use 94 octane from sunoco, the 94 octane from there costs as much as 93 and 92 from the other stations around here, sometimes cheaper. Also i doubt the guys at Park Ave told her "tough luck".

jean

Sometimes a cold hardstarting engine requires a good fuel/injector cleaner... my .02c worth.
J

Tom Blasing

O.k. For those of you with hard starts using Exxon, etc. does your state require you to use the oxygenated fuel?? It could be a possibility.

killercalf

I had similar problem with my '02 TLS, I took it to dealer twice. First time they told me to use different type of gas to make a comparison, second time they checked my charging system. It turned out to be there was something wrong with the battery charging system, so you might want to ask the deal to run some diagnostic on charging system. But that's my opinion.

Good Luck

Professor

There is no difference in gasoline brands. I had a few problems with Phillips 66 on my '03. It's better now after 9500 miles.

If I can get a digital camera I'll post picks of the distribution center in Spartanburg, SC at the Camp Kroft center... All brands are piped into these huge tanks... there isn't a separate one for Exxon, Mobil, Texaco, etc. It's all in the same massive tank. The delivery trucks, no matter the name on the truck, pull in and fill up. They do have different lines from the same grades.

This concept is much like electricity... depending on the market conditions, you may or may not be getting power from the company you are paying your bill to.

99LagunaTL

Exactly! The tanker delivers to all gas stations.

rhizopod

That's partially correct. After the gasoline is refined, all brands travel together in the same interstate pipeline system to their destination. They end up in these tanks that you talk about. However, after this point, each gasoline company does something different (i.e., they add their own additives). Whether these additives differ significantly among brands is up for debate. However, although it is correct to say that all gasoline is the same, the additives are not. And it is probably the additives that are causing the problems discussed in this thread.

JayDawgs2000TL

I think the dealers just don't want to deal with the problem... And that's the problem nowadays... The dealers won't stand up and service the vehicles they sale... So how in the hell do they expect return business?? After 2 or 3 tries to fix the same problem, I would be sitting down with the management and telling them that they need to get this fixed or they will lose business by word of mouth and that if they don't fix it, the BBB is gonna get involved... Just my .02

Strannik

If the manual specifically does not say which brand of gas to use, then you can tell the dealer to go kiss your behind, and then demand to fix the problem. You can start by asking for a new ECU, and then maybe a new engine... They just may decide to give you a new car for free... (Yeah, right. But we can dream)

SilverUA5

That explains it, Exxon is using the same oil they spilled in Alaska

Seriously though, my car had simular problems when I first bought it, but after using Chevron supreme for the last year, it starts up right away.

2007AcuraRL

the only comment i will add to this thread is that i use ExxonMoibl gas and I get a sulphur smell from my TL catalytic converter when i accelerate hard under load for a long period of time (like when on the highway going up a steep grade). I have had the issue since the car was practically brand new. I took it to Acura and they checked the O2 sensor and other things and find everything is fine. I think it might be the brand of gas becuase my last car (not even an Acura/Honda) did the exact same thing and it too was checked out and everything came up functioning.

The only reason i still use ExxonMobil gas is because i drive 600 miles or more a week and i have a company corporate gas card. I dont want to pay for gas out of my own pocket when its about $2 gallon, so i just live with the odor and open a window when it happens.

and NO, its NOT coming from my own body!!!!!!!

acur8

This topic brings to mind that our owners manual says to use at least an 89 octane gasoline.That's like a mid-grade. For the last couple of years I've been using something called Fuelon. You add an ounce every fillup and I've found I get better performance and mpg than even premium (!) and it costs a lot less per gallon than buying premium if you buy in quantity.

Tom Blasing

My manual says to use at least 91 octane and the fuel filler door sticker says to only use premium fuel (03' TL-S).

Comet2404

QuickTrip all the time for me! If something goes wrong with your engine and its gas related, they'll pay to fix it! Its CHEAP gas too... big old chain. I love it!

unlemming

Good luck proving it's gas related and/or their fault
Seriously though, I guess it depends where you are. Supposedly in CA all the gas is essentially the same due to the communistic laws they have. And here in AZ we get our gas from them, but I still won't put Arco in my car