Hello all. I'm new to this forum. I have asked some questions and have got awesome help. I have a 99 tl with 170k on it. The car I got cheap and my wife loves it. We have put 40k on it and it's been pretty good. I've had a couple issues with overheating and hard hot start. With your help I have cured both of those issues. The ac condenser fan has been doing the work. The coolant fan gave up the ghost. Installed a new fan and it's been good. It has a clunking noise in the front end both pass and driver side. It only does it in take off acceleration and deceleration and bumps. Would this be possibly ball joints? Next and the biggest issue is fuel smell in the cabin. When it was cold it would smell horribly bad of fuel when the car would run to warm up with defrost on. Now in the summer being hot outside you only smell it when your driving if it's low like 1/4 tank. If full or half it doesn't do it. It has a new stant cap on it. Any help would be appreciated? Thanks

 

ahhhh, the defrost setting actually turns the AC on, which is great for the compressor to keep the seals conditioned but not for warming the cabin or engine- it turns on the rad fans!!
You also don't want to let the TL sit at idle to warm up in the morning
ck owner book- free download from acura Acura Owners Site | Exclusive Knowledge, Service, & Benefits

Yes control arm bushings/ball joints are a likely suspect and common wearout part
Look for broken rubber bits or movement- newly shiny areas etc
If your not confident in cking things- a private owner/small alignment shop is the place to go

Fuel smell in cabin likely comes from the engine area, there is a fitting right on the firewall in front of driver that rust and leaks- happened to member here who posted pics

You are probably way overdue for the every 75kmiles EGR system cleaning that requires removal of intake manifold from the engine to get inside an internal passage
Very important to the running of the TL

 

The car smells like gas towards the rear of the tank. It seems to do it stopped and at 1/2 tank and lower. The clunking I tried looking at the upper and lower ball joints they seem tight with no movement. I greased the sway bar end links and that didn't seem to do much maybe quiet it down a little. I have never pulled the intake. What is a tell tale sign the intake needs to be taken off to clean the egr passages? Thanks

 

the car has more than 75kmiles is the sign it needs egr cleaning

Its time for a shop to put it in the air as you don't seem to have floor jack

Can't think what might make a smell at low fuel level from rear unless a vent return line has a leak,,Im not familiar with every inch of the TL plumbing
Smells, like sounds = travel!

Have you done a search for fuel leak on here? or an outside search engine for gas smell or fuel smell + 00TL +acurazine.com

 

grease on the end links is not a fix! not even a diagnosis~
Again- shop needs to look at your car, a small alignment shop would be a good start