Khemnis

In June of last year I bought my '99 Acura TL. I LOVE MY CAR!!! She's so beautiful and it's the absolute greatest vehicle I've ever owned. I just had to start by saying that.

I've had my CEL come on several times and after discovering this community I am very relieved to see that I'm darn near 100% positive that I need to have the EGR Ports cleaned out.

So here's my question. Is this something that can wait a few days? I have to take a trip this weekend to my state capital. It's about a 2 hour drive there, I'll be there 3 days and then a 2 hour drive back. Do I need to be concerned with my car dying on the side of the turnpike? The car seems to be running fine except for the CEL light coming on frequently.

I'm really asking this because I've had horrible luck with cars for the past 20 years and in the midst of having the CEL light coming on frequently I was left stranded on the side of the road when the Ignition Switch basically melted. So now all I need is someone to tell me - using their best educated guess - if I can drive my car this weekend without any real fear of it dying on me.

Khemnis

myron

iTrader: (4)

my CEL light has been on since I got my car in september, and I had the code read and it was EGR valve, but I still havent cleaned the port and it drives just fine. it was too cold to do it but I didnt notice any problems so far. but to make sure get the code read to make sure its EGR and not something else.

Khemnis

Well the light has been on a few times and I've gotten several different codes. The first time it came on, after I bought the car, the code showed three different items, a possible bad 02 sensor, a possible bad egr valve or a possible weak catalytic converter. I got the codes cleared and my mechanic said to drive it again and bring it back when the light came on again. The light came back on and this time it showed up as a bad egr valve so we replaced it. The light came on again and within a few days my ignition switch melted. I replaced that and the CEL came back on the other day and it's telling me I have a weak catalytic converter. From all the research I've done it seems a clogged EGR port will continously give you the egr valve, the bad 02 sensor and the catalytic converter codes. So I'm going to have the ports cleaned before I replace the converter. It's a cheaper fix and seems prudent to do prior to dumping all that cash on a manufacturer catalytic converter. I'm pretty secure with my plan of action, just didn't want to get stranded. I'm a little like an abused dog from all my bad experiences with cars. I just was hoping for a little peace of mind while driving to watch my son compete in a robotics competition.

01tl4tl

Spend 2 hours or less doing the proper egr port cleaning
Read the DIY on Thermoblock install/egr cleaning
You need to remove the intake manifold to get to the passage that is plugged.
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=156252
If your mechaninc wants to keep replacing parts without doing this, you are at the wrong shop
With private owner (not dealer) honda acura specialist is most towns, take it to someone who knows these cars
Including the fact that 99s have a RECALL on the ignition switch!!
If you had it replaced somewhere else in an emergency, you can send the bill to Acura corp for reimbursement

How do you learn about recalls?
register with acura https://www.ahm-ownerlink.com/login.asp?brand=acura and
1-800-382-2238x5

Khemnis

Thank you! I had already read several posts on the EGR port cleaning, including the thread you listed. I called my mechanic and he is more than happy to do it my way (he's my father so no concern there). My dad was actually relieved I'd found some information because he hadn't had a chance to do any research himself. My dad's shop has a very good Honda guy and knows several mechanics at the Acura dealership. I wasn't surprised no one at Acura suggested this because I'm finding that dealership isn't honest. It involves the ignition switch, I'll explain a little below.

Thank you again for the recall information, I'll definately register there. As for the ignition switch, it had already been done on my car and was outside the replacement warranty.

The Acura dealership said I could have the car towed there and they could possibly get their Acura rep. to replace it for free, but he couldn't guarantee that. Since I'd already had it towed to my dad's shop, the cost of towing it to the Acura dealship wasn't worth the risk of them saying they couldn't replace it for free. The risk not just being the money, but also being these guys lied to me about several things. When I learned the ignition switch had burned we knew there had been a recall. It's something I knew about from researching the car prior to buying it. I called the delearship that sold me the car and they said they didn't do it, but their sister company (the acura delearship) probably had. I called them and they told me they did not do it, but that they knew it had been done, and that there was no way they could find out by who or when. I knew that had to be a lie. So I pulled out my car fax from my research on the car and found out my car's life started in Kansas. I called the 2 dealerships there and one told me the same thing and the second guy turned out to be a good guy who told me not only could he tell me when and where, but exactly what was done and what they tested and how the tests turned out. Turns out it was the Acura dealership I'd originally called. The good guy also told me it was outside the warranty on the work. I still called the original dealership back and told them what I'd found out and that's when they told me I could bring it in and possibly have the rep replace it for free. I hope that makes sense, but if it doesn't it boils down to the only Acura dealership in town seems to be a lying back of **bleeps**.

Thanks again for all the great info! I'll definately be sticking around and learning more about my car.

01tl4tl

dealerships cant diagnose over the phone- they need to see the car, then talk with the regional acura rep
dealership are a private business out to make every penny- the economy is tough all over.
I dont have a 99 so have to guess- the RECALL on ignition switch should not have a time/miles limit affeting any car still running.

The way you find out about your cars past is to register with acura.com, AND their customer care number 1-800-382-2238 x5
where a human (not necessarily an acura owner or a car person) will log you as the owner for notification of things. Acura recently sent a notice about the SRS extended warranty, I already knew about it thanks to a really good person helped me when I registered.

Khemnis

Yeah. I know they can't diagnose over the phone, but I knew what was wrong with the car and by then I knew the recall work had already been done. But they wouldn't even talk to the rep about doing the work again for free unless I brought the car to them and they could show the rep it was the ignition switch.

My understanding is once the recall work has been done they put a warranty on that work. Are you saying they'll pay for the ignition switch a second time since there's a recall on the item?

01tl4tl

That is my understanding of what other member have experienced. Because it was a RECALL, if the repolacement quits working- you get a new one

Warranty parts have their own warranty - but recalls are to FIX a problem

They have to see the car to know whats wrong before calling acura rep- thats just procedure
Call acura at 1-800-382-2238 x5 and see what they think,you may get a non-car type person who cant help you,- if so hang up and try again
Some are actual retired techs or car guys who know how to look things up in special books.
The rest read from a script-like: you car is not covered VIN on the transmission so no warranty sir.
Then you go to the dealer and they get approval for free trans- so 800 number is not the last resort- its a stop for information on the way to the dealer.

Luke7

I also have 99 and cleaned my EGR Port (at 80K) and the throttle body/upper intake manifold. Had to do that to pass the state vehicle inspection here in NC. It was 3/4 weeks out of the warranty and Acura would not cover it. Cost me 12 bucks in Throttle body cleaner. (3 Cans) The Acura dealership wanted $557.00. Took me a little over 2 hours. There are instructions from Acura with details on how to clean egr port. If you need them, let me know. I smoothed out the intake ports with a dremel tool. I can email the PDF file to you. I also cleaned the Idle contol valve on the throttle body. Car runs awesome now! and hey=I didn't let the stealership rip me off for $546.00.

Luke7

http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SB/B00-004.PDF
Here's the instructions. I did not install the pipe kit. In another year or so I"ll just clean it again.

elchente

Will it hurt the engine if it is run with clogged EGR for a few days?

myron

iTrader: (4)

no it wont