beutesth

Hi there,

I am looking into getting our car into tip/top shape, but I'm in need of some advice. I am wondering whether it is really worth maintaining or if I should be shopping for something newer. Here is the story on my vehicle.

I own a 2003 Acura TL-S. It has 170,049 miles on it and is in need of quite a bit of maintenance.

battery
oil change
timing belt
tires
AND one random issue: We have, through terrifying experience, found that in stop-and-go traffic in hot weather (and even cold if the traffic conditions last quite a bit of time) the car's engine starts revving (the rpm shoots from 1-2000 up into 4-5000 range). This makes it difficult to brake the car for very long and the brakes become very hot and incapable of working correctly... Result: We nearly rear-ended a vehicle while in a traffic jam because the engine pulled us forward and the brakes were too hot to work. (My husband believes this is a transmission issue, any ideas?)

Car Maintenance Record: miles date
Timing Belt Replaced 85000
Oil/Filter change and new air filter 131700 09/15/09
Resurfaced all rotors and new brake pads 133000 11/11/09
Oil/Filter change 138600 05/10/10
Oil/Filter change 148000 01/07/11
New air filter 149250 02/17/11
Tire Rotation
05/10/11
Oil/Filter change 155031 06/20/11
Oil/Filter change 160775 10/28/11
Oil/Filter change 165665 09/28/12
Tire Rotation 166340 11/29/12
Replace rear calipers & rotors+left brake pad 167957 05/09/13

Also, please note that we only put about 4,000 miles on it per year. We take a 250 mile trip nearly every month and only drive a about 100 miles the rest of the month.

Nicks2001tl

Welcome beutesth!


Your major issue is with revving rpm`s, that should get resolved first. It can be as simple as something sticking open in your throttle body. If you are mechanically inclined I would start with cleaning the throttle body and lube the plate hinges in the TB. Next would be to clean the springs next to the throttle body and lube them up good. Hopefully something is just gunked up.


You probably can hold off the timing belt but if you are concerned have it checked out by a professional.


Lastly, get tires and replace the battery both very important parts to keep the car driving safe.

3.2TLc

Welcome Beutesth !!!

Are you the original owner of the car ? Was the tranny ever replaced ?
By the sounds of things, the car has served you rather well up to this point. Things like the battery, tires, oil change and T-belt are regular PM items and will enable your car to perform well for several more years, IMO.

The random issue of the motor revving could simply be due to the Idle Air Control Valve sticking. Have it checked, then clean or replace the valve as necessary. There has been "DIY"s and other threads on this subject.

If you can have all the basic PM done and the tranny is good, then the money spent would be considerably less than getting tied into another car payment, IMO.

3.2TLc

How random are the "high revving" occurrences ?

Sorta reminded me of all the Toyota issues with revving motors.
Make sure that the accelerator pedal isn't obstructed and check the throttle cable linkage on the motor. It could possibly be binding or sticking ?

Whatever the case, this revving issue needs immediate attention !!!

03TLS4me

The IAC valve may be the culprit, at that mileage I would replace it if it's the original one. Also check/clean out the EGR passages, there are threads posted regarding this procedure. These cars build up a lot of carbon inside the passages over time and cause idle issues.

Also check that the small gray vacuum line coming out of the rear of the upper manifold has not come off. It leads to the switch that controls the engine mount vacuum. Recently I replaced my spark plugs, and accidently disconnected this line while changing the rear plugs. When I started the car, I experienced erratic "up down" idle due to the line being off. Once reconnected all was good again.

Any idea when the plugs were replaced? If not recently I would add that to the list of items to check.

Hope this helps...

Yikes

A quick tip: if the car ever suddenly revs up and goes forward, just push the shift level into neutral. It won't hurt the car.

beutesth

I'm not the original owner. My husband's parents gave it to us when we got married and they were the second owners.... However, I do believe it is the original transmission. The car has worked wonderfully well. However the transmission is starting to pull harder when we shift... I'll look into the DIY sections and see if I can find a solution! Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone, this is a great tool!

cincinattlguy19

170K? She's not even broken in yet!

If the tranny was replaced under recall, the bolt heads will be painted blue IIRC.

I had the Idle Air Control Valve (IACV) issue with random surging of RPMs and I took it apart and did a thorough cleaning and it works like new now!