Original member of Audizine. Bought daughter a TL today. Just wondering what potential problems that could occur.

She has 20th on the dial. Car runs smooth, Feels brand new literally. New timing belt, lower ball joints and a few other items I can't remember.

Just need advice on future problems the car might have that I need to watch out for.

Thanks in advance

 

202000 miles. Not 20

 

Not exactly the most reliable transmission, but hopefully you won't have any issues while you own the vehicle.

At that mileage, it must have been replaced at least once. If not, then probably soon.

 

Be ready for a transmission swap in the near future if you don't have records of the car.

 

I went onto the Honda america site and pull the recall list per VIN number. It showed that there where 3 recalls for the year model.


Description
1999-2003 3.2TL; 2001-2003 3.2CL Automatic Transmission Warranty Extension
Type
Recall Customer Letter
Status
Open
Description
2001-2003 3.2CL; 2000-2003 3.2TL; 2004 TL Automatic Transmission 2nd Gear
Type
Recall Customer Letter
Status
Fixed
Description
2002-03 TL and 2003 CL Driver Airbag Expansion en Español
Type
Recall Customer Letter
Status
Fixed

2 of the three where fixed. As for the transmission replacement it wasnt fixed and is way out of the miles given.

When we looked at the car today I looked for signs of the battery being disconnected to reset any codes. which far as I know it wasn't because there was 641 miles on the tripometer. Unless Im wrong and the ECU stores the mileage when the battery is disconnected. The SRS light is on. I have researched issues due to a bad sensor or the seat belt sensor click thing or whatever. I plan on taking it in to Honda or Acura this week and get that scanned and taken care of.

As for the tranny.... We had to drive it 75 miles back to the house and it felt fine. no slips or sluggish. It was rough at first when it was cold but smoothed out per what HOnda america said on the recall as a normal operating transmission.

Another thing that happened was that my girlfriend had driven it on the highway and was in triptronic and she thought she was in D5. Well she went about 5 miles in 2nd at redline. She noticed that the steeering wheel got stiff as it was 1950 steering on turning. She pulled over and let it sit for a few minutes. She got back onto the highway and the stiffness of the wheel went away back to normal.

There is a new power steering pump, but could this be due to the fact that she was in triptronic at redline and the engine compensated pressure or whatever for something else? ( she has never driven a triptronic car so lets keep the blonde comments alone....lol )

 

Miles on the Trip don't reset by unplugging the battery.. And those Blon.... oops haha nah power steering should not be affected by Redlining as is speed sensitive not Torque sensitive like TL-S.

Since you don't have a replaced trans then we can only hope the previous owner/s rebuild the trans on a private shop.. Thing is how long has been there?

 

I guess time will tell on it then. She will not be driving the car but maybe 30 miles a week right now. I have a whole laundry list of things to do to it tomorrow as it is. If the tranny blows then it is what it is. I guess a new one will be in order of just sell for scrap.

I had already planned on going to the dealership that it was purchased from and getting all the maintenance history on it tomorrow. I ran a VIN check on it before we bought it, but those never are detailed as they should be. I usually do a full research on any car I purchase, but this one was a steal. The owner had other priorities with a truck he needed to get fixed and the TL wouldnt hold up that well in the country with gravel and dirt roads over time.

 

lower ball joints done? lucky, almost done with my passenger side. Total bitch for a simple thing.

 

Welcome Sinistervii !!!
Most of the common issues for our 2nd Gen TL's are documented and well covered in previous threads.

A good place to start reading would be the "DIY" sticky. The biggest concern would be the tranny's condition. Good luck and enjoy researching the TL's problems on this site !!!

 

Here is a few things to think about.
~Timing belt
~Pull the cover off the top of the engine(10 bolts) If it is plugged up with a lot of carbon deposits it needs to be cleaned. And bet the egr valve the iacv valve and the throttle body most likely have the same issues.
~Check the brakes and brake fluid
~Check the battery
~Check the radiator fluid


Enjoy the car! If its your daughters first car she will love it. Keep up on the maintenance and it will last you for a while until she asks for a Porshe.

 

iming belt is new. I checked myself before purchase. Plus paperwork backed it up.
I took that plate off the top of the engine yesterday. The Was build up but got it out for the most part. This weekend I'm going to take the whole manifold of and clean it up.
Flushed radiator yesterday.
Brakes will be changed this weekend with fluid flush.
Changed transmission filter yesterday. Bought fluid but I've read that you need to do a 3x flush. So ill research more into that.
New rotors front and back.
Went with botch platinum 2+ plugs. Car feels fine still on acceleration so I guess they're good. Old plugs where autolite. Where very clean when I pulled them out.

The only problems the car has is some oxidation. And the previous owner destroyed the hood. So that will be bought en soon. Other then that the transmission is my only concern. I read on another thread that the jet oil kit or whatever it's called is connected to the fluid top plug. Which I don't have. It says ATF. should I call acura? Is it a lifetime warranty or being at 202k is way past the time? Far as I can tell it's the original transmission

 

I don't think it's the original transmission.

From post # 5:

Description
2001-2003 3.2CL; 2000-2003 3.2TL; 2004 TL Automatic Transmission 2nd Gear
Type
Recall Customer Letter
Status
Fixed

The recall instructions were to inspect the transmission interior for overheating - second gear. If no overheating indicated, they added the oil jet. If there was a problem, they replaced the transmission. At some point, they updated the case so no oil jet was needed.

 

Well I guess that makes me feel a little but better, but still going to have to put a new transmission in the budget just incase.

 

Botch, huh? You'll be back for NGK's.

And Autolites?! If only that car could talk, the stories it would tell....

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the tranny was eventually replaced by Acura under the extended warranty. The dealer should be able to provide the maintenance history. Still, these trannys are problematic so it's smart to budget for a replacement at some point.

 

I only had bad experiences with Bosch plugs on the TL.. They gave me MPGs but the car felt a lot less snappy on the throttle, Installed NGK never looked back..

I used BOSCH IR Fusion for the record.

 

As of now the throttle feels a lot better. But might do NGKs. I run them 9th my audi. Didn't even think of that at the time.

 

Go to your local Acura dealership's service dept. and with your VIN#......they will be able to tell ya if the tranny was ever replaced under warranty. Ya could also try calling Acura's 800 # for recall info. Look for "blue" paint on the tranny's mounting bolts underneath. The tranny was most likely replaced by Acura if so.

 

You should register your car with myacura.com(it`s free). They will have transmission recall info on there and a free downloadable manual.

 

Cool, will do today. I think that I need to get NGKs and replaced the bosch soon. I can feel a low vibration at idle and before with the crappy autolites I didnt notice one

 

ngk ... bosch are pretty much bottom of the barrel, at least in hondas. but i would say to seafoam through the tb vacuum line before changing plugs just to be safe with the new plugs, although youll be just fine seafoaming after new plugs as long as you do the proper 15-20 min spirited drive in the seafoam process. check if youre engine jumps any more than 1 inch also with a 2k rev with ebrake and foot on regular brake in drive - if so, most definitely at least 1 broken motor mount. and cant believe it hasnt been mentioned yet, b ut if tran replacement becomes a reality MOST DEFINITELY replace with 06/07 accord transmission. plenty of members go that route