New 3G TL owner coming onboard
 

Hey fellas. New member here and wanted to stop by to say hello. A co-worker of mine had a rod blow through the engine on the 2007 Acura TL and I will be purchasing the car for $750. Plan is to purchase an engine from either eBay or a local recycling yard and install it. He said the transmission has been replaced and I am obtaining information on those details.

Cars interior isn't too bad. the seats need replacement on bottom center portion, will probably throw on some covers at the moment. Exterior wise the car is in good shape.

I plan to replace timing belt, spark plugs, water pump, etc. Saw a great thread on here on process.
I have always worked on BMW and VW, so this will be a little different.

Anyone have documentation on transmission removal?

nice pickup!
i scored a used engine from a junk yard by using car-part.com....picked up the engine for $650

and wtf, how did your coworker do that? run through some water?

That is something I am not sure. He mentioned it just failed, didn't mention anything about water. Once I have the car i will look into throttle body to see as I did see an intake.

the j-series engine is very stout. only extreme cases of abuse will damage them.
in my case, a friend performed the money shift and over-revved the engine. bent valves. I tried to replace the heads, 1st timer...and forgot to install a pin in the crank and fucked the bottom end.

not many rod-through-block failures.

I am interested in what you find. pictures if possible!!!

with that being said...i knew picking up a used j-series engine wouldnt be a problem...since not many failures
currently running 100K+ mile used engine. :thumbsup:

money shift?

Whale come!!! :wave:

He has automatic trans so it couldn't be money shifted.

Get service manual. This forum and ~700Mb of pdf pages will be two best resources while working on that car.

Send me pm if you can't find it. Have one for 2007-2008 TL

PM Sent

looks like i cannot receive your PMs as i need to wait 15 days due to new member. I will be in touch!

Send me your email address if you don't want to wait.

I dont think I suggested his motor being money shifted...
I thought/was thinking water.
and i was telling about my experience, hence the phrase; "in my case" :tomato:

Hey everyone, this is in full swing now that I have moved into a new home with a garage.

Here is the damage from original engine. Looks like a nice size hole.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...b8a556d268.jpg

Also did some damage to half shaft mount, so that needs to be replaced.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...b9e4427264.jpg


Did some work today. Removed the front exhaust header, alternator, loosened a/c compressor and power steering pump. Took out radiator fans.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...c4c83948f3.jpg


Tomorrow i will be draining coolant, removing radiator. Removing half shaft.

Here is the new engine. I plan to replace timing belt at minimum. Not sure on anything else, funds are tight. It does need a new battery.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...11aa24e6d1.jpg

Welcome to AZ! You're in the right place. Good luck with your project. :thumbsup:

You should just do the whole TB/WP kit since its right here in the open. Save yourself some time from doing it again. How many miles are on the new motor? Inspect the mounts before bolting the motor/trans back in.

Subscribed!

New engine is 108k miles.

I order the Aisin kit and the shim. New transmission fluid. I checked coolant color in current car and it is a nice shade of blue so I will re-use that.

I saw the passenger side mount was a little torn, need to verify it once i take it out.

The plan is to swap the engine out as soon as possible and get it running, then we can change stuff after it. Daughter needs a car to drive for work asap.

Good luck! Hope the transmission isn't as badly abused as that engine appears to be.

I hope not also. The transmission was replaced in the past few years also due to the common issue they experience.

After watching several videos online regarding removal of the engine, i am deciding to keep the automatic transmission in the car and disconnect at flywheel plate.

1/19/2018 update

Last night i pulled car into garage to prepare it for this weekends transplant.

- Put on timing belt with water pump on new engine.
- Drained coolant from old car
- Removed intake manifold from old car
- Remove bolts from flex plate on transmission
- Disconnect all the wiring harness from transmission side because new engine came with harness that will plug right in.

This weekend the plan is to remove old engine and put new engine in. hopefully firing the car up on Sunday.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...a60f65045b.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...4899787ef6.jpg

Looks like a lot of work. Good luck.

Did a lot of work today.

Found out that front and passenger side engine mounts are toast. Rear is great. Transmission mount needs replacing within next 6 months. I will be purchasing duralast front to replace tomorrow because top of the front mount comes complete off. Duralast mount has vac source luckily. The passenger side mount is good enough for another couple of weeks until the OEM comes in.

End of day pictures.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...70e7352c9b.jpgOld engine out of the way!



https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...ff014ed59d.jpgHere is original engines hole in the block. Anyone need a lightly used highway miles block? lol

Wow, can you say, "Oil starvation?" Sure, I knew you could. :)

Love this post...
and wow, you are a seasoned weekend warrior...
this car is probably a breeze to work on in comparison to what you're used to.

lol. Something is definitely off. I drained the oil and it had some inside, probably not much but definitely not dry. Owner said he changed oil regularly and the oil which came out was fresh. Oil filter had plenty of fluid also.

I may open the engine up and try to figure out what caused it, as i need to discard the engine one piece at a time anyway since i don't want to go to a junkyard.

I enjoy this stuff a lot, but finding the time is difficult. The easiest car to work on is my '86 bmw 5 series. Plenty of room!!

This acura isn't bad though, there is decent amount of room.

Todays plan is to drop the new engine in and possibly get it cranked up!

I may have missed this, but how many miles on the car? Noticed that you’re in VA, which part?

car itself has 165k miles and I am located in FL.

Engine started up after a couple cranks. Couldn't let it warm up because transmission was low on fluid due to half-shaft not arriving in time :(.

I have old engine on a stand and will disassemble it, sell off what isn't damaged, etc. etc. Will try to show complete carnage inside engine lol.

Drove the car around and it drives well.
Old gas needs to be drained because i am receiving multiple misfires at WOT only. Gas is over 5 months old and unsure of quality when put in.

No heat, need to diagnose and ensure the HVC is operating and the motor actuators inside cabin are working.
No a/c. Was told it worked but not getting anything. will need to ensure clutch is kicking on.

Lots of noise in suspension, will have to replace that as time goes.

Overall this was a success as a turn-key swap. Didn't need to do anything besides bolt new engine in and start her up!

Can expect some minor fixes but happy to hear it was pretty straight forward!

glad to hear it went mostly well!

Nice! Glad to hear it's running. Good luck fixing up the other stuff.

Found issue with the heat. My Heater valve is toast. The metal slider piece which the cable attaches so spins freely and does not rotate the assembly inside. I assume it got lodged or corroded. New one on order. Will update when that is done.

Little update for everyone.

- A/c resolved. It was the common relay that was busted and swapping out for another relay fixed the issue.
- Heat is resolved. Replaced heater valve.
- Rear inner control arm bushing is toast. Causing noise when driving and turning steering wheel. Ordered just bushing and will replace it.

Here are the pictures of engine carnage. ENJOY!!

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...c3914ec2de.jpgOriginal hole that was visible from rear
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...70432b6593.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...6c5eeb25c5.jpgFound this under the intake manifold. Rod bumped internally and shattered it.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...b0fc0c6ea1.jpgDamaged under oil pan
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...bed36762b4.jpgThis is behind a/c bracket.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...df0791dd9a.jpgHere is snapped rod. Crank rotates without hesitation still, luckily.

I don't see anything wrong... :haha:

Crazy!

Broken rod in the last picture.

Nice job and extremely quick turn around!!

or lock up.. sheared right in the center. It looks pretty clean otherwise.

OP.. did your brosef buy back as a salvaged vehicle or clean record?

By "lock up" are you talking about hydraulic lock? Granted I haven't seen all that many hydro-lock engines, but the ones I've seen didn't have straight rods, hell, the rod from a Mercedes 6.0 liter V12 I worked on looked like a freakin' twisted pretzel. :ugh: