Ive got a 99 TL with 70K miles on it that recently had the 60K maintenance done n it at about 63K miles. I also had the EGR valve and ignition key interlock recalls done on it not too long ago as well.

While I was stopped at a red light earlier today, the rpms all of a sudden either dropped or something went awry with the engine/transmission to the point where I could feel the car shaking. When the light turned green, the rpms kicked up more than usual while I was accelerating normally. At the same time, the TCS and the MIL indicator lights also came on, and remained on through the trip and back home. My first thought, knowing the tranny problems a lot of TLs seem to have, was the transmission failing. A friend of mine said it could be the timing belt, but at only 70K miles it seems pretty premature for it.

I'm going to take it to Autozone and have it scanned with their OBD tool to see if they can pull anything up, but in the meantime, any ideas as to what the issue could be?

Thanks!

 

if it was your timing belt your car wouldn't be running anymore and your engine most likely would be toast because its an interference engine. Get the code scanned and tell us the trouble codes your getting. it actually sounds like an ignition problem, but could be an IAC valve problem too.

 

Total of 6 codes, 0300, 0302, 0305, 0303, 0306, 1399

Multiple cylinder misfires and some kind of engine speed sensor code it looks like. How much am I looking at here?

As I mentioned also, I had the egr replaced and a tune up not too long ago, so not sure how I can get these codes so soon.

 

and I guess the most important thing is can I safely drive the car for a day or two until I can get it fixed, assuming I keep it at moderate rpms and mph?

 

when was the last time you changed your plugs? no 0340 or 0352 makes me think its not a cam or crank position sensor whoch can cause misfires and shitloads of other driveability problems. is your car bucking badly?

 

I bought the car only 2 years ago, but I havent had the plugs changed on them in that time. I had the 60K maintenance done on it but I dont think replacing the plugs was part of the service. The car does buck ver noticeably while at idle and while accelerating.

 

Ignition Coil(s)

 

either spark plugs, coil pack or cam or crank position sensor. Change your plugs first as you need to anyway and if problem persists then have it diagnosed at the dealer and tell us what they are before getting ripped when it's probably a sensor or a bad coilpack and very easy to replace. the 1399 is a wait to start lamp circuit which I believe is part of the ignition system and quite possible a blown fuse if the culprit.

 

The mechanic finally called back and said I need new ignition coils (which I expected due to FuriosSam's post) but also said I need new fuel injectors. When I balked at the price he quoted, $1795, he said he'll knock the taxes off and that they have financing options available. I told him I'll have to think about it, but no way in hell am I going to take this "diagnosis" for fact.

Even given the car's like 9 years old, it only has 70,000 miles on it. I would think FIs don't need to be replaced this early, do they?

He's faxing over an official price quote, but I plan on taking this to a dealership a buddy of mine works at and see what they find.

 

Heres the breakdown he sent me:

6 Ignition Coils replaced: $505 ($84.26 each) plus labor $258 ($86/hr x 3 hours)
6 Fuel Injectors Replaced: $786 ($131.10 each), plus $215 labor

Total: ~$1874

 

btw, is the car ok to drive for the next couple of days for short distances? I'll have to see another guy on Saturday at the earliest

 

here's some help for you... i don't know y you would need to change your injectors, that's probably so they can just rip you a new one... from the sites name this should be OEM parts and it looks like it's coming from Acura of Peoria. I pretty sure you can easily change this yourself. I put in the whole URL but it's not showing... i think the site was www.oemacuraparts.com

ignition coils = $40.50 each/6 = $243
http://www.oemacuraparts.com/partloc...layCatalogid=0


fuel injectors = $61.73 each/6 = $370.38
http://www.oemacuraparts.com/partloc...layCatalogid=1

 

ok. Here is what you do. Replace all the spark plugs. Buy 1 coil and start working around the engine till the car runs fine(resetting the ECU between each attempt). When we get multiple missfire codes its always just 1 coil thats bad. No need to replace all of them. I wouldnt replace the fuel injectors, that seems to be a waste of money

 

^ I agree, no way all 6 coils went bad at once. Get some fuel system cleaner too as your injectors may be clogged and a good treatment could be the cure for that.

 

Thanks for the info fellas, if I had been patient for responses, I couldve saved $172 on the diagnosis this guy charged me

I'd like to save all that money on new coils but to be honest, I don't know much about cars at all. I'm sure if I tried I could probably do the simple stuff, but theres always that worry in the back of my mind that says if I screw something up here, I'm looking at a few thousand in repairs.

That said, do you guys have a link or something on how to go about replacing the coils and/or plugs?

Thanks for all the help!

 

coils are very easy, Take the plastic engine cover off, unplug the coil, use a allen head to remove the bolt holding it inplace pull out reverse order for install.
not much of a DIY but it will help
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/184466/12

Get a spark plug socket, a 3" and a 6" extension and remove the plug. Put some anti-seize on the threads.

 

just to put it out there, I always used premium gas in my car, except once a couple of weeks back when I put in regular unleaded. Could this have aggravated the issue at all?

 

no

 

whats the ECU and how do I reset it?

 

The ecu is what controls the engine and trans. Its what stores codes to read when something is wrong. You pull the clock backup fuse for more than 10 seconds

 

Problem is fixed! Picked up 6 NGK Iridium plugs, and 6 Niehof coils. I was going to attempt to do it myself but a good friend of mine recommended a mechanic at his work that I went to. This one was actually honest and fast with the work he did. He replaced all the plugs, and showed me the wear on them. There was one that was compltely burnt out, which may have been the issue as well.

He replaced all 6 plugs, tested, but the issue was still there. He then started replacing the coils until we eliminated the 1 bad one. The car was good to go then! I took the 5 I didn't need and returned them to the auto store with no problem, saving me about $341

I gave this guy $100 for helping me out with this, he worked on it off and on for about an hour.

 

btw, thanks everyone for giving me the right info on this. It's amazing how without even looking at my car you guys gave me the right answer while that jackass at the garage took 3 days to tell me what the issue was, and on top of it, said I needed all of them replaced, along with the fuel injector. And to think I had no choice but to pay $172 for this "diagnosis".

Thanks again, next time I'll come to you fellas first.