So I've been reading Acurazine for a while now and I recently started posting here and there. I think the time has come for me to introduce myself.

I bought my 2005 base AT in November 2013 and I have to say I fell in love with her pretty hard even though she has caused me 1 or 2 headaches as of yet. The car is currently sitting at 190,000 kms (around 120k miles) and is up to date on maintenance (atf 3x3, timing belt and water pump, ball joints and bushings all over the place, anti-rust treatment, front pads and rear pads and rotors). It's been a blast driving this car especially coming from a 2000 base impreza barely giving 130 or 140 hp.

Ohh yeah and about me. I'm a 21 year old student from Montreal Canada with an interest in DIY projects (nothing complicated, I let the pros handle that.) I have found this site to be really useful and filled with people of great taste, I'm looking forward to getting to know you all!!

Vince.

 

Here she is

 

Welcome and congrats Vince!

 

Welcome. What headaches did the car give you?

 

Well the only problem remaining on the car is a smallish issue with the engine. What we first thought was a valve tick is actually a slight piston slap. After consulting several professionals we figured the engine still has many miles before it goes to crap. I'm currently trying to locate a small block from the exact same year as mine so we can have it installed. A rebuild has been considered but in the end a quality used engine is apparently a better option.

 

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure you can use any 3.2L small block from an 04-08 TL interchangeably. For sure 04-06, but I'm sure others can chime in and confirm nothing changed on the 07-08s either.

Finding a replacement block should be super easy. There was tons of these TLs produced over their span.

 

I'm almost positive that some things changed on the 07-08. You are right for the 04-06, they should fit right in, at least that's what I've been told.

 

"almost" is the key word.

07-08 got an updated transmission but not an updated engine

 

I'm no expert on the matter! All I've heard is some hoses might not be in the same spots or something. My engine knowledge is kind of limited. For all I know you might be right friend!

My info comes from a guy a couple towns over who operates his own garage and does Honda/acura work exclusively. He did not say anything about the 04 or 06 engines being different than mine but I'm pretty sure he advised against getting an 07-08. I might be totally wrong though, as I said, engine talk can get confusing at times

 

It never hurts to get a second opinion