pzhoward

10 - 4. I wasn't too keen on the idea but I thought I would ask.

01tl4tl

nooooo as in DO NOT USE any stuff in the TL trans
this is not a beater old chevy 350 to experiment on

have fun working on your baby (under supervision-thats cool),
read the diys and it will go easy
Use the air compressor to dry the manifold after final rinsing-must be dry dry dry before install

pzhoward

I want to do the whole EGR (EGR< TB< IACV)shi-bang.... where can I get the spacer kit... like today?! What do I ask for? I plan on taking the TB apart from the manifold. But if I don't - what gaskets and what not do I need in case I don't. I'm going to the garage tomorrow.

Shopping List
colored dots ( or something ) to help me remember what connects back to what
razor blade to scrape of gasket - do not scratch aluminum
coat hanger, tooth brush, wire brush to get gunk out
lots of carbon cleaner - 3 cans minimum to clean EGR, TB and TB plate, IACV
some seafoam (1 16oz can for crankcase, 1 16 oz can for intake vac, 1 160z can in
gas tank
oil & filter for oil change 30 minutes after seafoam treatment to crankcase


I'll do the EGR stuff in one step and and then the seafoam the next day or later that day once I'm sure there are no issues to deal with in how the car is performing.

Given the tranny issues... do you think it's ok to go for that "spirited drive" after the seafoam treatment? Or should I wait to do the seafoam after the rebuild?

01tl4tl

unless a local performace shop has a spacer kit in stock you have to order from the east coast Outlaw Engineering or P2R are the makers
After you do this job, you can go back and quickly drop in the spacers at a later date- they run $100-150 for set

NO!!!!! on the seafoam use NOW, except gas tank
1 can in just under half tank= 8 gallons, for a seafoam `max cleaning dose` of 2 oz per gal of fuel--thats ok to do now

after the trans is fixed and tested for a few days- (I think breaking it in a little, make sure its ok is a good plan)
then you can do the spirited drive
would be a total bummer to blow the trans out halfway thru the spirited drive and wait for a tow in the heat

print out pics from diy- use masking tape, write with perm marker- letters or numbers on it to the hoses, and write match on pics,,,dots can fall off rubber hoses,
masking tape wrapped around the hose and onto itself so it has a `name tag tail`
on each hose, has been used for decades

If your guy has a solvent tank, thats way better than carb cleaner for manifold.
somewhere in the diy is the acura bulletin showing how to flow cleaner thru each and every port with the manifold mouth up- then down and draining out as you rinse more cleaner thru it..that softens crud so you can poke at it--thru manifold not just the ports and end area
otherwise 3-4 cans carb=carberator cleaner will be plenty

What exactly are you calling `Carbon Cleaner`

gaskets from dealer or parts stores- TB to manifold $4, and the `upper intake manifold gasket` $? (comes with spacer kit)

the lower one- under the actual manifold- is metal, and gets reused as long as you dont screw with it

for oil and seafoam,,add 6 oz- just under half can to the oil and drive 30 minutes as you test out the egr cleaning
some trips into vtec gets cleaner to moving parts in there that like to sludge up

On return to shop get the drain plug out within a few minutes,,dont let it sit 20 minutes turned off,,left running is ok-
object is to keep crud hot and liquified, cold it turns back into sludge and sits

01tl4tl

a can of DEEP CREEP is seafoam in aerosol version- much better control when doing vac port method and the perfect cleaner and lube for TB air plate and its hinge

Can make your own with a plastic spray bottle too, but that wears out hand fast!!

01tl4tl

its ok to leave seafoam in the oil for a week or more, if you drive with it more-- it cleans more!! If oil looks realllllly bad now- throw on a cheapo filter and drive 100+ miles with seafoam, then change oil and filter

NOTE
Super dirty engines could potentially overfill the filter and it goes into bypass mode- letting crud circulate,,have to be really bad engine for that to occur but err on the side of safety is my motto

If you run out of time or energy and foam is in the oil- thats cool
Ive gone 200+ miles with it, seafoam says indefinite use with monitoring of oil sludge buildup on the dipstick. Diesel trucks run it full time in low dose

01tl4tl

you DO need to seperate the TB and manifold- (just not before removal from car- lower rear bolt is pita when on car)
get that gasket and the upper manifold, tell the parts clerk what you are doing- `removing intake manifold and TB`
they know what you need

the cleaning, turning and rinsing with WATER of the manifold would be bad for the TB

remove it- flip over on the workbench- remove small cover plate for IACV and clean internals

01tl4tl

just saw in other thread you can get away with only the TB gasket

if you can obtain a top one ok -but if careful you can reuse

Then order the spacer kit later, as it comes with new gaskets

pzhoward

Carbon Cleaner = Valvoline Carb & TB Cleaner or Gumout Carb & Choke Cleaner. yes?

I'm using Seafoam on the TB air plate and hinge as you suggested but I'm not sure I can find Deep Creep. What I found looks more like a can of WD40 (Seafoam with a straw). What cleaner do you suggest for the EGR and IACV assuming I don't have access to a solvent tank?

ganja

nice info! i'll be doing this soon when i get my moms 2000 TL. btw, it has 198k miles on original trans (did go in for recall but they didnt replace trans)

01tl4tl

it looks as described- white can red letters seafoam DEEP CREEP
Ask your parts stores in town, one will have it, most have the regular liquid even walmart!

you are looking at `carb cleaner` with those products, not carbon cleaner~ honda makes a special spray cleaner for their bikes thats a `decarbonizer`

generic carb cleaner- get 4 cans for cleaning everything from TB - IACV to egr crud

doesnt sound like you read the diy yet P!

01tl4tl

ganja- welcome- and never talk of the transmission and how well its doing again~
that starts the azine curse!!

pzhoward

All i did at work yesterday was study study study. The one DIY says all that was used was TB cleaner and then the Acura EGR recall instructions just say clean it... doesn't say with what. Then I saw a guy on youtube doing it with a can of Gumout. What's a gurl to think???

01tl4tl

that everyone but ziners are fools?

pzhoward

pzhoward

We have success!!!! Got it all done! No issues, no problems, only lost one screw! I have some pics but don't know how to post them.

The only advice I can offer from my experience is to make sure you order a TB gasket ahead of time coz nobody is going to have it in stock. I lucked out and was able to get one today by mid afternoon from Jacksonville. Otherwise I would have had to wait until tomorrow for one to come in and that would've really been a downer since I had made arrangements to take today off from work to make this happen.

Transmission next... then Seafoam! Yay!

TOM! I really want to thank you for being an inspiration and giving me the confidence to do this. YOU are AWSOME! Your guidance and advice has been a tremendous help.
I'd like to ask you your opinion on something. From a mechanic/shop owner perspective... what would be a nice gift for my mechanic that helped me out today? I don't know of many people he would let use his tools, his business, his wisdom/experience/knowledge, and his time for free. He did this once before when he let me change my spark plugs at his shop. I thought about two fat steaks but he has a freezer full of meat. I thought about alcohol but he is diabetic. I would really like to send him a nice thank you.

totaledTL

Very thoughtful... find out what he likes- Fishing? New pole. Likes going to the movies? Movie tickets. Restaurant gift card... just some ideas.

01tl4tl

thats great Pam! bet its running better now~ imagine when everything is done and the trans will handle the power!! vroom vroom

Good tip on the preorder TB gasket, I meant to tell you that,
figured saying what is needed would prompt pre-purchase, doh! on me~
(noobs please note red type means good natured sarcasm, not to be taken personally by anyone)

for your tech buddy:
A hand written thank you note is always appreciated

ask someone close to him what restaurant he likes
When you run a shop, the time to go out and have any dinner is scarce
but
a gift certificate in hand makes it a lot easier to justify the time~
Oh, I better take the spouse and use this!!
50-60$ --whatever dinner for 2 cost in your town-- would be appropriate,,thats less than an hour shop time,
OR
a gift certificate to whatever tool company he uses, snap-on, mac, matco,etc.
so he can get a new tool- every techs favorite thing- new power tools!!
maybe a gasket scaler or something you need on your next job there lol

again congrats on tackling this project--it was easier than you thought right?!

01tl4tl

if your budget is lower on the thank you- find the diabetic candy shop in town-
gift cert,,or actual hand picked $10 assortment would go over well

pzhoward

01tl4tl -

I contacted the tranny guy this afternoon to let him know I was ready to begin the transmission overhaul and to let him know I found a CAT for a much cheaper price and that I wanted to hold off on replacing the CAT when he does the tranny rebuild b/c A) i wanted to have the CAT and the O2 sensor tested first before replacing them and B) the CAT I found is half the price of his.

He didn't seem too happy. He said he already ordered the CAT per my instructions and he can't send it back. He said he would try to meet the price on the one I found. In the mean time, he's going to place a call to see if it can be sent back.

I told him that right now, all I wanted to focus on was the transmission and apologized to him if I caused him any inconvenience. He repsonded that it didn't cost him an inconvenience... just money. So now, I feel like crap. Is this just a ploy to get my money?

He never did any tests or inspection on the CAT or O2 sensor and just went with the 0420 code to determine the CAT needed replacing. And then, he only suggested replacing CAT... never mentioned the O2.

He is giving me a great price on the tranny - and i don't want to piss him off, ya know? However, he needs to convince me the CAT needs replacing and if so... I want to pay the better price that benefits me. I have no idea what makes his $400.00 CAT so great but the one I found is from Excelerate.com - Random Technology Ceramic CAT bolt on for $218.43.

Do I need to tread lightly or grow a pair?

pzhoward

Problem solved! He was able to send his CAT back with no problems.

01tl4tl

doh! wrote a great thing and computer wiped it

Im sorry to tell you P, basically you have blown it -but I feel its for the best

the cat was their 300 dollar profit machine after a lowball estimate on the trans,

Now their attitude has changed to `where is that profit coming from?`--trans must need more parts than in the estimate!!! about 600 dollars more I do reckon`

And what are you going to do --the trans is in 1000 pieces--pay the pissed off piper whatever they demand

add the non diagnosis of 400$ cat, when the FED govt requires muffler shops to complete a form indicating `type of failure` reason for failure, or other reason for cat replacement (owner request is ok) so some testing must be done

are you really feeling good about this? you seem much smarter
cause ahh as a former insider to the industry----
Go talk to the other shop again

pzhoward

I walked in this morning to drop the car off to begin the tranny rebuild. First thing I said to him was that "I owe you an apology!" He was very nice. I asked him to please amuse me and go thru the procedure of checking the CAT before replacing it with a new one. He seemed to understand my concerns and said he might come down on the price if in fact it does need replacing.

And no, our original coversation was private... not in front of staff or other customers.

.... stay tuned! I didn't mean to f* up! Forgive me!

01tl4tl

I am only looking out for you in this,,

but if you want forgivness,,, I do happen to be a licensed Minister
ALL is forgiven -you noob~

pzhoward

rvanvorhis

Having just had this happen to me (TCS light on), I cleaned my EGR port. Presto the problem went away.

01tl4tl

good job!
goes to show, these warning lights are random in their information,
and codes are clues,, not diagnosis

smartypants

Hi PZ :

I just read your thread and was totally impressed that a woman (I hope I got that right ?) would clean out an EGR port. Good for you ! I hope you found the task simple and straightforward so that you might want to tackle other jobs as well.

With regard to your trans and CAT situation. I'm not surprised he was able to return the CAT, as the auto parts suppliers are typically very accommodating to their commercial customers. As for the trans rebuild, small shops don't typically don't perform the rebuild but get a third-party to exchange yours for one they have rebuilt. Your shop will probably only do the remove and replace. This is a good thing because the re-manufacturing business is now very sophisticated and they have impressive factories that are similar to a car assembly plant, producing very high quality rebuilds.

Let us know how you make out.

01tl4tl

Pam is a real woman (we spoke on phone) and she rocks-- tackled the egr port cleaning herself at a friends shop- pics in album,
and is about to seafoam it after vacation.

The trans appears to be good rebuild, the shop was bs'ing about the cat being ordered already, and found a good one to match excelerates price,
replaced some other needed parts while it was in the shop (motor mount) and generally tried to fix her up.... after figuring out some men were helping her behind the scenes

It did get a sudden problem where engine revved to 5000,,towed back to shop and they fiddled with something -said they reset the idle?? and its been good.
guess a wire wasnt correct and they did an, ooops --there you go- its fine now!

intake spacer and valve adjust are on the diy plans

and I cant get my wifes kids to ck their oil level or tire pressure!!
1.5 qts low on oil--is that bad? I put oil in it 2 weeks ago
did you ck it afterwards?????
No,,
So you have no idea what the oil level was? and the coolant?
huh?

pzhoward

Yep, surprise! Imma gurl

The EGR port was pretty easy but I must confess... I did have a lot of support from 01tl4tl and had my regular mechanic looking over my shoulder (I did it at his business) to make sure I didn't screw up. I look forward to doing it again (in my own yard) next time.

I think the shop did the actual overhaul. They have one guy that does the r&r and another guy that does the actual overhaul kit but it was all done at the shop. So far, other than the sudden high rev issue that 01tl4tl mentioned, it's been driving ok. Keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way!

This weekend - change oil and SEAFOAM!!!!!!!!! <insert smiley doing back flips here>

01tl4tl

Hi P
foam the oil drive it 30 minutes or more- a couple days is ok- change with oil warm
vac port anytime,,you just cleaned the TB so thats good to go
1 can in half tank of gas

ck seafoams site for the 2000 rpm method, I like to do part of mine that way and at just above idle

pzhoward

Status update... had the tranny overhauled a few months ago. Car seems to be running ok for the most part but I have noticed that the car shifts a little hard going into second and this seems mostly evident in the mornings with a cold engine. Doesn't seem as harsh with a warm engine. Been keeping an eye on it to see if it progressively gets worse before making a complaint. The tipping point came this afternoon when I was coming back from lunch. I was sitting at a red light and when I went to accelerate... the car shifted to second really really hard and at the same time the maint. req. light came on. Once the shift was complete... the maint. req. light went off. As I was cruising at about 45 - 50 mph... the car shut off! The engine cut off completely! I pulled over and turned the car off and started it back up with no problems. My regular mechanic said take it back to the guy that worked on the tranny and that it might be an issue with the solenoid. I am presently not getting any CEL or TSC lights but I am going to have the engine scanned for codes anyway. In the mean time... anybody out there have an opinion on this? Thanks!

pzhoward

It is now believed that there is an ignition switch failure. Acura web site shows that there was a recall regarding this issue but it reports that my car has met the recall = status fixed. I hear it is an easy DIY so I guess I'll be addressing that issue ASAP. In the mean time... i don't think the car cutting off is related to the hard shifting and maint. req. light that I experienced but rather just a coincidence.

totaledTL

It will shift a bit more harshly when cold. The maint. req'd light is just an oil change reminder (mileage counter).

pzhoward

I understand that the maint light would come as a reminder for oil change but when that happens the light stays on until I reset it. In this particular case that did not happen. It came on as soon as there was obvious hesitation in the shift and then went off as soon as the shift completed the transition. This same scenario (minus the engine cutting off) happened twice before I had the tranny overhaul which was the first indication to me that I was having tranny issues.

01tl4tl

Hi Pam--was thinking we hadnt seen you in a while!
forgot you had a 99

replace the ignition switch back/electrical portion-with part from auto parts store-
see diy section for install- you can do this easy-

acura appears to have used the same garbage part on the recall replacement~ so its on you the next 3 times it fails in the cars life

Note the ign switch prob is in other years too- just not so many to make a recall!!

with its loss of power to the ign and dash- false codes and warning lights will occur

go ck the diy list and call a few parts stores--iirc its 35 to 50$ for the part, and not much time to replace,,, after acura did it before

totaledTL

Then the '99s maint. req'd. light behaves differently. Mine will flash a few times for a while after startup, then go off. If not reset & after more miles accumulate (I forgot how many) it will remain on after startup, until reset.

01tl4tl

the MAIT req light/oil change reminder blinks at start when you get close to 7500
it gets more insistant -how many flashes- the closer it gets, and finally comes on solid

she may have seen a CEL but in her excitement--`mait` got typed
a cel would appear with ign switch prob

pzhoward

It was definately the maint. light.

01tl4tl

Im sticking with false light from dash power being flashed by bad ign switch
the car thinks you just turned the key on and lights may operate