TVL65

I'm just wondering because I know that during the development of a vehicle it goes thru serious testing, cold weather & hot weather testing included. How could they have missed the heat soak issues with the TL & TLS? Isn't all the data in the vehicle computer downloaded & reviewed? My 07' TLS suffers from severe heat soak, it seems as if the car's power is reduced by 30%, floor the gas pedal & it's DEAD, barely gets out of its own way.
I'm annoyed Acura would proceed with releasing the vehicle knowing it has issues with heat. They knew about it & ignored it. My 98' Accord V6 doesn't have this problem or has any other vehicle I've owned regardless of brand. I have to keep my TLS, I have no choice $$$$ but when it gets to 90 degrees out I know what kind of a day I'm going to have driving. I honestly believe the computer of the car is reducing the timing/power of my TLS when it's hot out.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

all cars get hit with heat soak.

have you tried removing the plastic paneling under the hood?
have you tried the UCM?

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

This topic is discussed regularly. Search for "I hate cars"'s topic on this. He replaced his battery and it signifigantly helped during the hot summer days.

Also you can modify your car, example, Ultimate Cooling Mod.

lucnex

iTrader: (3)

What is search?

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/those-lack-power-surging-hot-weather-859713/

jonmizu

Tbh I had 2 ap1 s2000 they were even worst when it got hot out the car would physically "buck" almost uncontrollaby and you'd have to put it back into neutral to stop it but even then you can still see the revs jumping I'm sure it has something with the newer engines and emissions etc. that ended up getting fixed with I vtec. Iirc the v6 accord was only 200hp under the old hp rating system where as the v6 tl is 258 under the new hp rating system

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

lucnex, thanks for taking the time to find that.

lucnex

iTrader: (3)

^ not a problem....it was a tough one to find actually...ended up having to click all the way to the second page of the Third Generation TL forums...

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

Woah dude

UA6

TVL65

I knew about the threads covering this topic. I'm NOT going out & spending $300 on a battery that "Might" stop this from happening again, because I know it won't.
My thread was about the Acura engineers obviously overlooking the heat soak issue of this car or refusing to confirm there was/is a problem. So, I spend nearly $40,000 on this car & now I'm supposed to go out & buy this/that, spend my money & try to fix a problem which is surely a design defect? No, I don't think so.

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

Ramblings ----->

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

all cars get hit with heatsoak, not just this car.

lucnex

iTrader: (3)

If you prefer maybe you can design your own car....this way you know not to overlook extensive heatsoak testing. Let us know once you conquer the problem!

TVL65

No, sorry, No can do my friend. But maybe you should invest $$ in a battery company and give all us Acura owners a nice discount huh?

ZOMGVTEK

It feels like the car starts a bit harder when its hot, but I don't really notice any major power issues. Then again, I usually shift before 2K anyways.

My 02 Accord V6 had a serious heat related starting issue, so I could just be a bit sensitive to that kind of stuff. It's a similar engine design, so I almost expect it. After sitting 10-30 minutes on a hot day with a hot engine, the car appeared to have vapor lock symptoms, making it take 5-15 seconds to start, and often having what appears to be misfires while cranking. Once it was running it was fine, and never had any power issues, but that engine ran cool. I had a low temp fan switch in it, so the coolant never really went above 184-186ºF, Mid 170's were common, and the engine bay was only 'warm' immediately after killing the engine. Most of the plastics were removed, the openings were large, and it had no insulation, which probably helped. Even towing beyond its rated capacity with an auto without a cooler and A/C on, it ran cool.

The engine bay on the TL is quite hot after even a short drive, but NOWHERE near as hot as some GM vehicles. Most of those things run lava hot engine bay temps. High engine bay temps tend to SUBSTANTIALLY increase vehicle efficency, so its understandable why it runs a bit warm.

Does anyone know when the fans turn on? Do both turn on a 'low' setting, or just one? Is there simply a mechanical temp switch near the tstat that triggers the fans?

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

IHC put that battery in by choice, and IF YOU READ, he says it's more than likely not necessary to put in that bad ass of a battery.

lucnex

iTrader: (3)

Ive got an interstate battery in my car which cost me like 100 bux and I have only very little heatsoak unless temps are 100+

Either way I would hardly consider a 300 dollar battery which will last you 5+ years an expensive investment....you gotta look at thing from a TCO perspective and not a one time cost....

BukvaMan

I had very similar issues as "I hate cars" and what this sears die hard platinum did for us was that it eliminated the surging problem in heat soak. The car would hesitate as if you would not apply any gas. It also greatly improved in regards to heatsoak but it didnt eliminate it. I still think that the TL suffers much more from heat soak then any other car as the OP stated already. But in our case it was so bad that now with the new battery its like night and day, i tried all kinds of sensors and parts and the only thing that made a huge difference was this battery. So for me its a normal heat soak... Maybe the TL pulls so strong in cold weather that when it gets hot it becomes such a drastic difference. One other thing i think is that since hondas dont have that much low end torque from the start and you add heat-soak to it, you kill it completely and thats when you especially feel it . Although even in heatsoak if i get into peak torque range, she still pulls pretty hard. So far im very happy. I had that problem for so long...

Jackass

I have no real issues with heat-soak. Not sure it is a major issue suffered by a large percentage. I'm sure there for sure is a percentage that have more issues than others....just like any other issue that crops up for any car.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

I've never experienced this problem. Is it specific to the auto? I have heat soak like every other car which is probably a 10% drop or so in power. But nothing like 30% or surging problems. I've gotten rid of a lot of the crap in the engine bay including ALL plastic paneling, bottom and top and have implemented the full UCM. But even before that I never had this issue.

J35A8

I removed my engine cowlings the second week of owning my type S, it's obvious that the panels trap heat in the engine bay.

bigteninch

I get a kick out of all the mfrs putting a crazy amount of plastic shields and covers all over the place - I guess the object is to reduce noises ultimately, but it HAS to contribute to the high temps. I really am not worried about absolute hp and heat soak but the longevity of the electronics HAS to be reduced.

I removed all my shields and covers for that reason alone - luckily with no perceived increase in cabin engine noise.

gwiffer

iTrader: (7)

If you know anything about engine thermodynamics, you would know that engines are most efficient when they are allowed to run at the hottest temp possible before causing material/part failure. There's a safety factor engineered into this, but pair this efficiency strategy with Honda's use of close-coupled catalytic converters (pre-cats) and you end up with "heat-soak." This is the transfer of heat from the engine/exhaust into the intake air stream, which then causes the ECU to pull timing. Combine this with the already higher temperature of the intake air and you will experience a noticeable decrease in torque.

I was following thisaznboi88's thread on water/methanol injection, because it sounded like it might be the answer to our summer heat-soak problems. However, I think the project has been suspended since he is moving across the country.

Sotiris

lol

pohljm

Heatsoak is a by product of a more important goals like aero and noise reduction

hondaacurapro

I am not sure if symptoms being described are ”heat soak”. Heat soak means the engine temperature is increasing after the car is turned off. This happens to every car. It happens when it is hot or cold out. Look at ect numbers on a scan tool after a car is shut down, the temp goes up. That is why there is sometimes a caution by the electric fan. The fan can turn on after the car is shut down. It is to keep the car from overheating after shutting it down, ”heat soak”. Early 90's integras fans turned on,almost every time they were shut down. Heat soak does not cause hard starts, and it does not cause cars to run bad. If your TL hard starts or runs bad in summer it is not heat soak.

TheChamp531

iTrader: (3)

Don't worry life is perfect. Every company is perfect. Every car is perfect. You're perf... oh wait...

pohljm

Heatsoak for matters of this discussion occurs when the intake system, top end becomes "soaked" with heat that is stagnant in the engine bay, as there is not enough ventilation to keep the engine "cooled". hotter intake air equals retarded timing and loss of power.

Healingduck

I've noticed this only a handful of times since owning the TL. Definitely not the only car I've felt this in so I don't know why the OP is complaining.

pohljm

OP is really wondering why the heatsoak issue was not seen as a factor that should be addressed by the designers of the vehicle. The design of a vehicle is a series of compromises and the heatsoak phenomenon is an acceptable compromise when it helps improve many more important issues to consumers such as gas mileage and NVH

vshengr

iTrader: (2)

hmm interesting, I can't say I've noticed too much difference in the heat and i still have the factory covers on in the engine bay. '08 Type S with auto but the highest temps I've driven the car would probably be right around 90F.

for one thing, if you've got the AC on which most of us would when it's scorching out, that will drain your power significantly, I've read people claim up to 30% on some cars. I can't say I've noticed much difference at all on mine.

maybe there are other factors in play as well? altitude, humidity, how high are we talking in terms of temps? I'm no expert so maybe someone with more knowledge about that stuff can chime in. I haven't really noticed much change in normal driving up to about 90 degree weather, have not driven the TL-S in anything over that.

last week we had a heat wave in the Philly area, temps hit around 100. I drove my 350z for the most part. Once temps hit over 80 degrees with AC on and fan speed around 50% the 350z engine actually sounded different compared to same conditions but under 80 degrees. sounded like I had a cold air intake on the 350z which I don't, made the engine sound much more aggressive with a '2nd' tone/growl around 3500 rpm. There was enough of a difference that I could feel the change in power whenever I switched off the AC and then back on.

but with the TL-S I hear no difference in the engine at all up to 90 degrees and my butt dyno can not feel any substantial power loss when I flip the AC on or off.

just wondering if there's something else at play? like someone suggested replacing the stock battery. if you notice that big of a power loss, perhaps it would be worth it to replace the battery and give it a shot. I know I'd be frustrated as well if my car suddenly felt like it lost all it's power. hope you figure something out!

I hate cars

Not exactly. You want as much of the fuel's power going into mechanical energy, not out of the exhaust or through the radiator. Sure, hot oil, hot coolant, that's fine as long as it doesn't contribute to detonation. But we're talking intake air temperature which you want the coldest, densest possible for best power.

Let the TL sit for a while with no air flowing over it, everything heats up. You start it and you have a couple of big fans blowing 220 degree air over everything with the AC on. You've crossed that line and you're now in detonation territory from the combined heat in the engine's core and the intake air temps which is made worse by the 230 degree intake manifold.

What me and BukvaMan experienced was a 50% or more loss of power when hot and surging/bucking, not normal heat soak. In both of our cases it was cured by replacing the Optima battery with the Diehard Platinum. Mine still loses power like any car when hot but it's a normal loss and it drives normal. My car did not have the crazy loss of power when I bought it new, this happened somewhere around the second or third summer with it which was right about the time I got the Optima.

KzooTL

Yeah it is a design flaw, i agree with this. The engine bay is and stays excessively hot on summer days. Didn't someone say it pulls more timing and thats what causes summertime surges and no power?

I wouldn't go replacing your battery if its tested good anticipating a fix. We need a new front bumper, grill and vented hood, fenders, something! LOL I know its frustrating not having any passing power during hot days, and at night it feels like i'm driving a race car. I want a consistent driving experience, this car is not tuned for hot summers.

I hate cars

Read my thread before saying not to replace the battery. It has the conditions in which replacing the battery might be beneficial and in which case it would be useless. There is normal heatsoak which you will never get around and there's the point in which you lose half your power.

KzooTL

I don't know i kinda skipped over it, i've had my battery under the hood and now i have it in my trunk. The heatsoak is a real problem.

I hate cars

It's not about a hot or cold battery. It's not about normal heat soak. You guys need to define normal and abnormal. If the car surges and loses half of it's power to where you nearly have to floor it just to keep up with traffic, that's not normal and there's a chance the battery and/or grounding will help. If the car just gets a little slow in the summertime, there's not a lot you can do short of the UCM. More than likely it's slightly low voltage causing ECU issues once the weather is hot, issues that show up worse in the summer such as a lean condition.