Hello,

I was looking at my 1999 Acura 3.2TL, and I just noticed what appears to be a missing bolt. I am wondering if someone in the community can help me identify what should be here.

This hole is on the right hand side of the engine (when looking at the windshield from the front of the car) behind the throttle control.

 

did you look for something loose, with a threaded end?
my car is in shop so cant go look -sorry

 

I searched high and low, but couldn't find anything with a threaded end. Hopefully someone will take a quick look under their hood and let me know if theirs is empty too.

I am getting all of the symptoms and codes indicating I need to replace the IAC valve, but I want to make sure that the problem has no relationship to what goes in that hole before I buy the IAC.

 

Hey Prpmcandrew, just looked at mine......Sorry man, couldn't see anything that even resembled what your pic shows. But, ya have the "oddball" '99 model, so ya may need someone with a '99 TL to help ya.

It appears to be behind the IAC and not part of it. How long have ya had the car ? Did ya just notice the empty hole ? Any vacuum ? Any recent work ? How's the car running.....any codes ?

Have ya attempted cleaning the TB intake and EGR passageways yet ? The '99 models are notorious for getting clogged up with carbon.

 

Both of my engines have nothing in that spot. Also if you look at the head to the right of the Fuel Pressure Regulator you will see another threaded spot as well with nothing bolted on.

 

Thanks for the response. The hole is actually on the head itself, so not connected to the throttle body at all. The car has been in the family since it was new, but I got it about 20000 miles ago. I am having some issues with misfiring, Codes are 301-306, 300, 1399, and 505. I originally thought that it was clogged EGR passageways causing the problem, but got those all cleaned out and got the sam codes. I took the throttle body out, cleaned it really well, and put it back in, and still no change in the codes. Spark plugs and leads were changed out three months ago, and checked those, they appear fine.

I sealed the hole with some tape to see if that was the source of a vacuum leak, but it didn't appear to change anything. So, I am guess it is time to buy a new IAC. Just want to make sure there is nothing important that should be in that bolt hole.

Thanks for all the tips.

Also, it should be noted that the left side of the picture is the front of the car. I took the picture from just in front of the driver side rear view mirror. Thanks for the help!

 

Thanks for this answer. I really appreciate you taking the time to take a look!

 

I went and looked at my 99 TL, and it is identical to yours. There is just a clean threaded hole in that location. If you look closely, there is also another similar hole about 8" away towards the firewall on the same part of the engine.

 

Your codes indicate a misfire, could be a coil on the edge. If ya cleaned the TB intake and EGR passageways, try some Seafoam through the next tank of gas as it may be a dirty injector ??? Reset the CEL and see if the codes come back. May want to buy a coil and check for a bad coil causing the misfire. Did ya use NGK plugs when replacing the old ones ?

If the empty hole bothers ya, find a bolt to fit and seal it off. Don't buy a new IAC just yet.