I just purchased a 2000 TL, base I believe, it has 168,000 miles on it. I was able to check by VIN at the dealers website that the transmission was updated to the newer style, so not worried to much about that.

My worry tho is the timing belt/water pump. The original owner took it in to the Acura dealer for maintenances up to 118,000 miles, the 2nd owner has absolutely no records from CarFax or from papers left in the glove box.

Carfax doesn't say if the water pump/timing belt was ever changed. Should I assume with the mileage this has on it that it has been done, or should I plan to get them replaced ASAP?

Thanks for any info you can provide. Is there something I can look at on the car and tell? I don't really want to have to remove the cover if I can help it, but is there any other way to tell?

The engine runs good, shifts fine, temp gauge never goes higher than 2-3 ticks below 50%, MPG wise, 60c/40h driving gave me around 21mpg, so I was kinda disappointed about that. Hoping that will improve after some basics, spark plugs, etc.

BTC

 

You should be getting a little more MPG than that. I'm not aware of any method to check if the timing belt has been changed, without actually looking at it.

 

the 2nd gen TL TM service is 105k? correct?
if the original owner has it serviced all the way till 118,000 miles then I would assume that the timing belt was done at the dealership as well.

I never looked at history/service records from the dealer before, would the paper work indicate that the TIming belt has been changed?

 

if you know the original servicing dealer- they can pull up the records based on VIN

if typical older owner who used dealer for everything, it got a good 105 service

look at the bolt heads on covers- any loss of paint or appearance of having been removed?

may have got plugs then if not earlier, but pull a front to ck for wear

Seafoam in the tank, 1 can to half tank- twice...super cleans everything and is tune up in a can that really works

 

register with acura care 1 800 382 2238x5 ask if all recalls are taken care of
and with owner.acura.com you can see the cars warranty and recall history there

the prior owner may have logged maitenance in that section too!!
you can safely store radio nav security codes there as well
good site, everyone needs to be registered with,,they send discount card for nav disc

 

I registered on the Owners Acura site, it didn't mention anything about the recalls. The dealers website did tho with the VIN. It showed two recalls and both were listed as "Fixed".

Does that mean they replaced the trans? or that they installed the jet?

Unfortunately there are no Honda/Acura dealers within 100 miles of me, in fact the only foreign car dealership is a Ford/Toyota dealer.

My local mechanic says he has done several repairs on Hondas and felt comfortable doing anything that I might need done. He was my Dad's best friend in high school, so I get a pretty good price on stuff from him.

How much labor is involved to getting to the belt where it can be checked.

I will try calling the dealer on Monday and see if they can give me more info than what CarFax gave me.

Thanks,

BTC

 

on the owner site you look in the Recall section for that info
Fixed can mean oil jet kit installed
Do you have that unit on top of trans, or does the trans have a bunch of bolts with blue paint on the heads (warranty units)

Dealer can only access repair records for work done at its own shop,
but CAN tell you if the trans was actually replaced- their system is better than the 800
If carfax has that dealer info you are a phone call away~

remember carfax only knows what it has been told

 

Just tried calling, turns out they were hit pretty hard by the storm, said their computers will be down until Thursday.

BTC

 

carfax should list the date/miles it was in for service and the dealer name

 

That was who I called, the dealer is in NJ. Their website had something on it too about the storm causing them some issues.

BTC