NJMelissa

Hi. I am a new Acura owner (and lover!). I just bought a 2000 Acura 3.2 TL (143 K miles, new timing belt, water pump and replaced trans @ 89 k miles due to recall).

I paid $4,650 so hopefully I got a good deal! I have a few questions so please be patient with me,. I am trying to learn as I do not want to be an uneducated in the Acura world.

Here are my questions:

1. From what I have read, this Acura transmision is different from other cars. I was previously driving a 1998 Mazda 626 so that's all I know the feeling of. I can usually SLIGHTLY feel the transmision shifting in my Acura when I am in D5. Is this normal? And does this trans just run on low RPMs?

2. My factory stereo's CD player and changer just doesn't work (keeps ejecting any CD I put in and won't even let me select CD mode). I want to have the HU replaced with a decent sony I have and also my Sirius Sporster. I read that I will lose the Bose Amp. I also read there is a way around it. Should an exepericned car audio installer be able to handle it? And if for some reason it doesn't work how will the stereo sound without the Bose amp??

3. My rotors are shot. I assume this because when I slow down from a speed of 40 mph or more the car shakes (no other time does it do this). Can anyone recommend a rotor/pad combo that is good but inexpensive?


I really appreciate any help you all could give me. This forum is pretty awesome and I look forward to interacting more with you guys!

- Melissa

PS - Is anyone on here from Southern NJ??

fsttyms1

Welcome to the forum.

Yes our trans you can usually feel the shifts on. They arent designed to be Cadillac smooth. If you are feeling a rough gear engagement from park, you probably need new motor mounts. These mounts are typically good for 40k or so.

As for the stereo dont worry. On the tl the amp is built into the headunit and isnt very strong to begin with. Most aftermarket headunits will supply a better sound. The thin you will loose is the factory sub when the aftermarket HU is installed. There are a few DIYs on teh forum to show how to get it to work with the different radio, its pretty easy.

As for rotors, you have many choices, many like rotora rotors, or the racing brake. Both are available from our vendors Excelerate or Heeltoe. Others like the Brembo blanks. If you get them thru the parts store get the premium rotors as they are usually made of better material

ANC297

iTrader: (2)

Well that just about covers it.

01tl4tl

register with acura as the new owner 1-800-382-2238 x5
Have a read thru the main thread titles and specialty areas for what parts are good,,like for brakes at the lower price end
napa or kragen can fix you up with decent units for basic driving, later you may want to upgrade and have more fun with the car~

keep the trans fluid changed- 3 qts once a year will help preserve its lifespan

Check front motor mount- look up at it from laying under the car- will be a dirt trail or oily substance on mount- they are fluid filled and will cause other probs when fail- some are vacuum boosted and when broken cause engine roughness

Welcome! you have found the resource site on your TL

01tl4tl

there is a ziner meetings thread for all areas of the country- ck Off Topic link

totaledTL

EBC rotors & pads have worked well for me so far, over 6K mi.

ChampionFiyah

NJMelissa the cd player in our cars dont play cdr's aka bootlegs that well, after doing some research I found a solution that works well for my tl. I got the Blitzsafe HON / M-LINK1 DMX V.1 wich is basically a ipod interface that allows you to connect any ipod or iphone directly to the factory head unit via the cdchanger port on the back. I have a 16gb ipod nano and I've never looked back, you wont need to mess around with cd's or a changer again and you will get cleaner sound then you would from any cd

here ya go
http://blitzsafe.com/catalog/honda/h.../prod_188.html

Vman159

also check out the black market thread thats where i got my blitzsafe and very happy with it