I'll start off by saying I'm new here and new to Acuras. I'm working on the inlaws 2000 TL with a 3.2 and it's in desperate need of help. She brought it to my with a check engine and tcs light on. The car idle was bad, and would stall when in gear at times. When I pulled the codes, it came back with an EGR issue and all cylinders misfire.

I had read about the egr dirt buildup, and went ahead and replaced the egr new, and removed the intake manifold, cleaned everything and cleared out all the debris, it was very bad. I also replaced the lower plenum, both sides and top gaskets with new and also the throttle body gasket.

I went ahead and replaced all spark plugs while in there as well. When I finished, the car idle was great, and it seemed to work fine upon first startup. But after some driving around, the tcs light came back and the rough idle did as well. Also there is sputtering when under a load. I tried to disconnect each coil pack to see if there was one not working, but each one makes the idle worse if unplugged.

Any thoughts?

 

Hi,
Do you have an OBDII code reader? If you are are doing any work on these it helps. The TCS is the traction control system, the light comes on when the button is turned off (TCS is turned back on every time you restart the car) and when the car loses traction. It can be related to the speed sensors on the transmission/ torque converter. It may have been set off by the "sputtering under load" . As far as the idle is concerned this is where the code reader comes in handy, I will hazard a guess that the idle air control valve (IAC) on the bottom of the throttle body has a problem. Get a new IAC and throttle body gasket, pull the throttle body and remove the IAC valve and clean it out. This is not always successful but you about a 60/40 chance. The IAC valve is expensive. DO NOT BUY the cheap ones from China. I know... I have tried. Took the old OEM one and 2 cheaper ones and made one unit that worked for me. This is one part I would buy OEM if I have to do it again. Good Luck,
Jon

 

2000 Acura TL
Parts you might need.
#5 Gasket, Throttle Body
16176-P8F-A01
#10 Gasket, Rotary Air Control Valve
16456-P8A-A01
At worst case
#2 Valve Set, Rotary Air Control
16022-P8A-A03

Please go to an Acura parts site and confirm the part fitment using your VIN number.