Augustow

Here are some of my tech tips I posted in teh past on a different TL forum.




My tech tip #1

In order to maintain solid feel of your brake pedal, it is paramount to have your wheel lug nuts torqued to the proper torque specifications as called for by the manufacturer.
This cannot be achieved using an air gun! You have to use a torque wrench (A good one can be obtained at the Home Depot). Moreover, the proper tightening sequence of the wheel lug nuts has to be followed, where the lock nut is tightened last, and loosen first. For the TL, which has 5 lug nuts per tire, you want to torque every other nut, this configuration will give you a "star format" of tightening your wheels.
In the 10 years of experience with working on hondas, I found that it was the improper torque on the lug nuts which would cause warping more so than water on hot rotors.

Tech Tip#2

New Motor Brake-In


Use 5-30 standard crude motor oil without any detergents and a Honda filter. Stick with the one originally provided by the Acura. DO NOT use synthetic motor oil for break in. Make sure that your new car does not have the synthetic oil. If it does, drain it and replace it with regular motor oil, like Pennzoil.
If you're rebuilding your engine, I also suggest that the cylinder bores be finished sufficiently coarse enough to seat rings. High-end European engines also have considerable run time on them prior to shipping, so the break-in process has already begun. Make sure the fluid levels are where they should be.
Moreover, I recommend running your rebuilt engine statically at 2500-3000 rpm for 20-30 minutes to let the valvetrain components get to know each other properly. Once the time's on the engine, the idle can be set to "normal" limits. If you bought your car new from the dealer, that's already done.
At 0 km, start it up and keep the engine at 2500-3000 RPM for about 20 minutes. Make sure there are no leaks, or mechanical problems. (again, this is for a rebuilt engine)
Before doing the schedule, remember that running the engine at steady RPM (like cruising on the freeway) is not good for break-in! That means no HIGHWAY driving! It is paramount to fluctuate RPMs from 0 to maximum specified RPM interval during this time. The only idling will be for setting the timing.

The following RPM rages are for 1999-2001 3.2 TL

0-200 miles.
Try to keep the highest rpm under 3000 rpm. That means, DO NOT TAKE THE ENGINE over 3,000 RPM during the first 200 miles of operation. Every 15-20 miles, zing the engine to 3500 RPM in first and occasionally in second gear.

200-400 miles.
Try to keep the revs limited to 3500 RPM. Raise the "zing" RPM to 4000 with the same frequency as above.

400-600 miles.
Go to 4000 RPM for driving limit. Raise the "zing" to 4500 - 5000 RPM and include 3rd gear pulls, same frequency.

600-800 miles.
4500 RPM driving limit. "Zing" it to 5500 RPM and include partial 4th gear pulls.

800-1K miles.
5000 RPM limit with "zing" to 6000 with some pulls all the way through 4th and partial fifth gear pulls.

Now, don't misunderstand me on the zings. You don't HAVE to scream the engine religiously at the prescribed intervals. If you don't have the space to run the engine up in the selected gears, don't do it. Just know that you can, and IF the opportunity comes around lay into it. Don't over-do the procedure! Zinging can be simply "blipping" the throttle in neutral, or running the engine at WOT briefly to the recommended rpm in the lower gears, where the stresses are low, as is the time to rpm.
I recommend that the oil be changed at the 1K mile marker. If the spark plugs are looking good and if the compression's (and leak down numbers) good, switch to Mobil 1 for life. Use 5W30.
After the first oil change, you might want to reset the valves if you're serious about your car's engine and from that point on, drive it the way you'd normally run it.

Little note on the Acura dealer claimed "Special Break-in" oil. It took me over 6 months to get to the bottom of this. The break in motor oil provided in the new TL and all other Acura's and Honda's is nothing more than standar base crude oil 5W20 without any detergents.



Tech Tip#3

In regards to the oil filter that cames with the TL from Acura, this filter is made by Honda as you all know. It is cheaper at Honda. I bought one for 94 civic Si and it fits my '01 TL.


Tech Tip #4

K&N filters. They won't void your warranty. If interested in increasing HP in the lower RPM range, K&N that fits the OEM filter box is your ticket.
If interested in gaining some HP in the upper RPM range, a cone type K&N replacement should be used on your TL.


Tech Tip #5


If you've been driving your TL for some time (20K miles or more), it's time to clean your fuel system. Try REGANE, The Complete Fuel System Cleaner (A Gumount product). Item #7727. It is also available in Canada under Penzoil label.
You'll be very surprised with the results. This product works not only on injectors but more so on the valves, ports and piston tops!

Tech Tip#6

Just in case you want to play with VTEC activation point, here are some facts.
With the 2001 3.2TL, stock 205/60/16 wheels, shifting at Red Line (6300 RPM) will yield the following RPM drops and Speed:


Gear....RPMs drop to after upshift @6.3K... Speed(MPH)
1..........0...................................... ....................42
2..........3800................................... .................70
3..........4100................................... ................105
4..........4000................................... ......calculated @ 166.59
5 .........4500..................................... ....calculated @ 231.45

TLBaller

damn, thats dope!

Fiddler

I thought most fuel additives were a crock .. and i've read several articles saying they do more harm than good... can u elaborate more on this?

liutang

This should be in the faq if it isn't already. Especially the part about engine break-in routine.

eujinc

Good tips. That's a pretty elaborate break-in process. All I did was baby mine till the first 3K miles oil change, replaced it with Mobil 1 and then checked to see if the rev-limiter worked . How did you find out that the break-in oil was 5W20 without detergents?

For oil filters, I get mine on-line in bulk. The filters and the drain-plug washers are the same for most Hondas and Acuras. So I use the same filters on my TL and my relatives Prelude, Accord, CRV, Integra and Civic. Btw, I do believe Fram makes the Honda oil filters.

Augustow

Regane suggested is not a fuel additive, but a fuel system cleaner and more importantly, a top piston surface cleaner. If you're serious about getting the most out of your car or b4 going to a dyno, I suggest you run Regane (drive off the full tank), then change your spark plugs, and go do your tunning.

The person to clue me in at first was a very experienced Acura mechanic. With time I found some one in Acura headquarters...
Can you imagine Acura paying for such an early oil change? That would be 1. a big inconvinience to the owner 2. brining the car this early for service is not good on the customer's psychi...etc.
I hope you get the drift.
So, they are all told to say keep the oil for 6000Km (I'm in Canada), as there is this STATE OF THE ART additive in the oil. They also have a lot of other customer scare tactics like all teh fluid have to be from ACURA, Parts have to be ACURA...

2001TL4KCdude

Good tip, thanks

lushgrass

re tip 5, using fuel system cleaner
use it every 20k? or only the first 20k?

what exactly does the fuel system cleaner do?

Augustow

I would not use REGANE mentioned above if you TL have more that 100K miles.
Use it every second oil change. Read the label when you get it. It's around $5.00 in US and $15.00 in Canada.
What I like about it is that it cleans your piston tops. No turbulance in the flow, but what do you guy care. Most of this board seems to be about looks...

Yaron2

pretty interesting ....

Seotaji

honda filters are produced by filtech.

they are not as good as JDM honda filters, but what can you do?

if you would like nice filters, try HAMP (green) filters.

they are produced by Honda and are of higher quality.

You can find them on ebay.

Beason

almost a year old yaron, check the dates, please