I have 2001 tl, timing belt had been changed before I bought it but apparently the tensioner was not replaced because it has jumped time. Before I go any further on this project was just wanting some real world numbers on what I am going to be into this to get it back running so I have an idea if it will be remotely close to worth it. I don't have to have this car, we just bought it to save miles on the 4 wheel drives in the yard when the weather is good. that being said the car has less than 160000 miles on it and I thought for sure that it would make it a lot farther. I can do all of the work myself but just don't know the extent of the total damage and the likely hood of it just being some bent valves and maybe valve guides or if the 3.2 always damages the piston and or rod bearing also. It jumped timing when the engine was shut off and then obviously cranked after that several times. It feels like there is only one piston making solid contact with valves, hard to roll through by hand.
Is this car worth the tear down to find out the extent of damage or just look for a used engine and try again. Don't rely on this car for anything but it sure is fun to drive.

 

car repairs is based off of "visual intelligence" , meaning; You have to look for clues to determine what is wrong...
we certainly can't do that on the internet, as we dont have the engine sitting in front of us.

if you dont want to tear into it to find the clues, then it's best to let the car go.
if, however, you do want to tear into the engine....then you'll have first hand knowledge of what is wrong and dont need us to tell you what happened, as the clues will be there

sorry that we cant be of more help, as we simply cant diagnose something that we dont have in front of us.

 

My car mechanically over-rev'ed.
When I tore into the engine, I had found that the pistons kissed the exhaust valves. The pistons themselves were fine, slight knicks, but still good. no scoring in cylinder walls. The exhaust valves were bent.
I decided to buy a set of used heads to replace, instead of sending my heads to a machine shop. Voila.

 

My question is if any of you have had timing belt failure in the past with this engine have any of you torn them down and repaired them and how far did you have to go? I know I have had piston valve contact in at least one piston while cranking the engine but none at engine running speed. In these engines will it just bend the valves or will it destroy everything-ie-piston, rod bearing, and the head? I plan on retiming the engine and performing a leak down or compression test on all the cylinders and taking the valve covers off to see what can be seen as far as top side damage. Do they usually bend the valves or the rocker. These motors have been around for a long time and this is a common end for these engines, surly some one has rebuilt a few and could at least tell me the chances that I will or will not need to go through the whole bottom end as well or if replacing the heads is common or if everybody just junks the motor and gets another one.

 

Just an FYI, if you decide to go the route of changing the J32A1 engine in your base 2001 TL you probably could install a salvage yard J35A3 from an 01-02 MDX with a few engine component swaps from your junk J32A1 to make it compatible. The extra displacement / torque down below would sure enhance the 'fun to drive' aspect of the car.

It all depends on what's available and at what cost to you, in your rural neck of the woods, versus just rebuilding the heads to get it back on the road.

 

IT ALL DEPENDS. a


one has to investigate the damage...
it's not a one size fits all kinda thing

 

That is kind of what I was wondering. So there is a chance that it isn't destroyed. Some vehicles have those certain problems that when they occur it is always or at least 90% chance of the part being destroyed. Can't find anything on the clearance between the valves and pistons in these motors yet and was just wondering before I begin. Sound like it is best to just tear it down and see then go from there. Thanks everyone for your help

 

Right, visual intelligence... Or the act of investigating to see what is damaged.
If you dont want to tear down the engine, you can swap a used motor in. The choice is yours

 

Anybody can tear it down and see what all is damaged and replace it. I was coming here for answers from experience. If it was any of the domestic vehicles in my yard I would already know my chances. Chevy 350 would likely be no damage. Ford 5.4 would be lots of damage and hard to rebuild for less than reman block. But it's fine, I can do my own research and tear it down and add up the cost of parts and decide to rebuild or replace. I thought there were some people with actual experience with these engines on here and thought it wouldn't hurt to ask. As always a few helpful and a few captain obvious responses. I have the tools and the time so I'm going to tear into it, may not be till winter but could have saved some time just starting by pulling the motor.

 

There ARE some who are extremely familiar withe these motors and the answers given to you are about the best you'll find anywhere online without at least pulling the plugs and getting an inspection camera in there and reporting to us what the damage is. These are interference engines but without knowing how far out of time it is then it's anyone's guess as to the extent of the damage and therefore any recommendations as to what to do next.

 

We dont have the engine in front of us..
How can we tell you what has happened to the engine?

AT best, we can give you anecdotal examples.....But that wont mean it will be the same for your car...as EACH scenario is different.

 

I mean, perhaps we could tell you a lie...

"sure, it's fine...there's no damage at all!"

 

There is damage. I can feel the contact when rolling the engine over by hand, Front cam is one sixth of a revolution off as in lined up at 4 instead of one at TDC. The rear cam is just a few belt teeth further off. I was going to reset the timing and do a leak down on all the cylinders but I already know there are bent valves. how bent? Who knows. I am going to just pull the heads and see maybe next week. Was just fishing for percentages. Apparently there is a chance that I can just replace valves and check the heads out and it will live again. If not I will wish I had just pulled the motor to start with. Jumping the timing belt apparently hasn't killed them all so tearing it down is really the only option at this point. Sticking a camera down in there may give some idea of what is damaged but will not tell you if the bottom end will be ok. I know it is an interference engine but by just how much? With the piston at TDC what is the clearance to the closed valves? Some engines are so close that a bent valve means something else has to give such as a rod bearing or the piston all though that is usually when the damage is done with the engine actually running. The max the starter is turning is 200rpm which if the bottom end is fairly stout and the valve stems are pretty small then the result could be just bent valves and maybe valve guides. All just speculation and guessing but a total rebuild may cost more that the whole car is worth.

 

Now that you are at this point, could a salvage yard engine be had near your rural location? Just for giggles & grins, plug your zip code into car-part.com to check and see if there are any 'cheap' J32A1's available near by or a J35A3. Maybe you'll get lucky and bring your '01 TL back to life.

 

Skeptical about the transmission surviving with the j35a3.

 

So, along with your broken engine you also have a failing transmission?

The individual @Iggy in post #10 has one in his 02 TL-S, maybe he will chime in on his experience thus far.

 

The transmission hasn't showed any signs of weakness yet but these are the ones that tend to die the horrible death and I would rather not tempt fate. We don't use it as a race car. Fun to drive as fun to run around in and not at get 5mpg. And not relying on a car doesn't mean I don't expect it to get me home. The other fun to drive in the yard uses significantly more fuel.
Was wondering if the J32A2 would work in this model. I know the heads are different and wouldn't work on this block but haven't found anything yet that said the whole engine would or would not work.

 

Small town, you are a lot of work in overcoming indecisiveness in order to convince.

I completely understand and figured as much, thus the question on 'transmission problems' to clarify. With that said, using a slightly more powerful J35A3 or a J32A2 over the original junk J32A1 should not affect the transmission as much as how you apply your right foot on the gas. IMHO

The J35A3 will not turn your car into a race car. It will add a little more of a torque(y) feel down below with the same mpg or slightly less (2-7mph) depending, once again, on the application of your right foot. IMHO You are using a Honda J-series engine. If you can find a decent replacement, dependability should not be a concern going forward.

This was one reason why I suggested ADDING the J35A3 to your 'search pool' for engines. There may not be an adequate supply of J32A1's proximate to your location to convince you on rolling the dice on a salvage yard engine; therefore, if you included a J35A3 this may increase your odds at finding something nearby. In addition, a J32A2 will mate-up to your 'tend to die a horrible death' transmission (there's even a solution for that problem, as well ). Once again, the J32A2 increases your search pool further. Just an FYI, the J32A2 is better suited to run with the Type-S ECU to capture all its available power. Since this is not a priority for you than it is a moot point; however, it should work, just like the J35A3 with running an '01 TL-P ECU.

If, on the other hand, you cannot believe a word that I'm stating, you WILL find all the information I provided above, here on this forum, using the 'SEARCH' function.

If it is not to much to ask, please provide your general area zip code. For grins and giggles, I'd like to see what is available (J32A1;J32A2;J35A3) and for how much to your vicinity.

 

I live in the South West corner of Colorado which kind of messes up a lot of searches, the zip code is 81321. but really I'm about 5 hours from Salt Lake city, Utah and Albuquerque, New Mexico, and 7 to 8 hours from Denver, CO and Phoenix, AZ. I can go get parts from a lot of places out here but some times it takes a while to make the trip depending on work and family.

 

Small town,
If anyone here knows what he's talking about, it's Zeta!

I did a quick search for your area and it might be worthwhile to give fast Eddies or any other salvage yard in your area a jingle to see what he can get delivered rather then driving.

The J35A3 is typically is more abundant with a good price with very little modification to make work..
The J32A1 would be the easiest direct replacement but are less easy to find.
The J32A2 is even harder to find and pricey. Not worth it IMO as you'd never realize the true HP gains due to your non type-S ECU.

Good luck. Keep us posted
.

 

@Small town, what folks are trying to tell you, and apparently failing, is, you are over-thinking things. By far, your best bang for the buck is to source a J35A3 motor, drop it in, and call it done. If, or more likely when, the transmission goes Tango Uniform (regardless of which engine you have in the car), find yourself a good low-mileage transmission from a 2006-2007 V6 Accord (nick-named the AV6) with a BAYA manufacturing code stamped on the case, and replace your transmission with this unit. Problem solved.

 

Small Town, thanks for the zip code. I performed a search on ALL of the following engines, it literally took a few minutes on car-part.com, and found an ample supply for your multi-state rural region. Not knowing your budget, it's difficult to nail down what would work for you. With that said, I would not go back any farther for the year than your 2001 model:

J32A1 (base 99-03 TL-P and base 01-03 CL-P)
J32A2 (2002-2003 Acura TL Type-S and 2001-2003 Acura CL Type-S)
J35A3 (2001-2002Acura MDX)

You are going to have to determine what mileage interval is going to be acceptable for you, as most of these engines are going to have over 100K on them.

Another option, If you desire, is to search car-part.com just for your J32A1 front and rear cylinder heads.

You already know this; however, it's worth mentioning, nonetheless to name a few. When dealing with salvage yards, if you decide to purchase an engine, it's prudent to build-in safe guards for your purchase, for instance:

1) Always use a credit card, this allows you charge back recourse if you are not satisfied and the salvage yard starts to throw shade your way. It's been known to happen with some of these characters, irregardless of their location.
2) Get any warranty terms in writing for the purchase. If possible, have them email or fax them to you ASAP before purchasing.
3) Literally, tell them, upon delivery, as far as you are concerned, the transaction will only be FINAL when you have completed a thorough inspection and compression test on any part / engine you decide on. If they don't agree, move on to the next one that will be more cooperative.


Good Luck!

 

Looks like there are several decent options I just haven't had the time this week due to work to even search for any parts or do any work to the car. Thanks for all the help every one. hope to tear into it this weekend and hopefully start talking to some of these salvage yards to see what the deals are.

 

I would always remove head rather than buy used engine. In my neck of wood I go to U-pull and bring head from there. I do not think would look only for valve. Head is 60$ here. Edit head is 42$. Never did understand engine route. If you open yours engine you can check if it is good.

 

I would just change the valves if the head is ok because I don't have a pick and pull close by. I have bent valves in 5 cylinders but until I get a chance to clean them up and take a closer look at them none of them look like they were badly bent. Can tell on tops of the pistons where valves hit but just enough to knock the carbon build up off. Just barely got them off before I had to go back to work and now having to work over a couple of days so haven't got to check them close yet. May just take them to the machine shop and let them go through them depending on how the next couple of weeks fall apart on me. Number 3 is the only cylinder that really has me concerned because while performing the leak down test before tearing it all apart I was getting more air than I like out of the crank case but I don't see any signs that the piston rings are damaged in the cylinder so it may need valve guides. Or I may be looking for a replacement for the back head.

 

There's a video on YouTube from South Main Auto where a lady brings in her Honda Pilot (J35) that was "running rough" after a timing belt job. He's pretty sure the dealership tech realized the timing was off after hand-cranking the engine and reset timing but the damage was done with a slightly bent exhaust valve on Cyl 5.

Long story short Eric O brought the head to a machine shop and had it rebuilt. The car ran fine after that. Valve stems bend very easily and so you're more likely to damage valves than piston heads. If the timing is extremely out of whack then valve guide damage probably comes into play but that's all moot if you rebuild the heads anyway.

Just go that route and call it good.