Hi guys, last Saturday I bought a 3rd gen Acura TL 2008 with 100k miles on it. The dealer that I bought it from replaced the timing belt and not the waterpump. They said 'since they last so long, they aren't needed to be changed.' I am planning to do a transmission fluid change (should I flush?) and 3rd and 4th transmission pressure switches replacement. Should I do the waterpump as well?
If I seem naive, I am new to the Acura community. I apologize.

 

It's 'not necessary' simply because they were too lazy to do it. To GET to the WP, you're basically removing the Timing belt anyway. That's why people do it at the same time as the TB.

 

Thanks, so I guess I will be okay without the $1000 replacement? That's what my Acura dealer quoted me.
They quoted $270 for transmission fluid and $250 for the pressure switches replacement.

 

DIY.. it's so much cheaper. There are guides for both Transmission fluid and pressure switches in our garage.


The $1000 price tag is due to the labor intensive nature of tearing down the engine to get to it. I wouldn't pay them to do it, you can also DIY that if you are so inclined

 

They said it's not necessary to replace and then said they'd charge you $1,000 to replace it?! RUN from that dealer, and ne'er return!

 

No, this is a different dealer. The dealer I bought the car from had the timing belt replaced, not the waterpump. When I asked them why, that's what they mentioned. The Honda dealer in my area quoted me $890 and the acura dealer 45 miles away quoted me $1000. Now the question is, should I replace it or not, $890 is a lot of money...

 

If the belt has been changed but not the waterpump plan on doing it in the next 50-60K miles. Waterpump is replaced bc they can leak, and if it does leak you'll pay the whole labor over again which is what makes the job expensive (6-8 hrs labor)

If you want to spend the money, certainly you choice. I'd wait it out until a leak starts or when you have to do the timing belt service next time.

 

Thank you, I really appreciate it. I just bought the car and I am planning on doing the transmission stuffs ASAP, so it would be really hard for me to do right now. I will start saving from now and will do it in the next year or so.

 

If belt is already done then I would just wait. Maybe it won't leak and then just replace it if you ever get to the second interval. And make sure that you have a receipt for timing belt job that dealer claims they did. I've seen couple occasions where some service was "done" without any paper trail.

 

Agreed, even with minimal DIY experience this is very easy to do. You’ll feel great putting some elbow grease into your new ride and save a lot of money in the process. Took my less an hour in the garage with a buddy while we drank.

The trans fluid service seems expensive, I’ve never paid more than $120 at the dealer. They may be quoting you wrong. Every time I went to a new dealer (moved a few times over the last couple years) they always thought the TL was all wheel drive and quoted me incorrectly. Clarify with them, since our trans is only a drain and fill it should be much less.

 

whoever told you its ok to skip WP as part of TB replacement should get drag into the dark room and get beaten.

$270 for a ATF (1x3)? I can do it for half price lol
$250 for a pressure switches replacement? I would love to have the old part back.


As for the water pump, just leave it for now.


bottom line this is indeed a stealership. Don't walk, please run out there asap.

 

Wow $1000 for replacing the water pump, must be one of the most expensive ones I've heard. Getting to the water pump doesn't take that long, with electric ratchet. It's about 30 minutes to get there to get everything off. They quoted you perhaps 6 hours of vaping and standing around.

 

Yeah, I would recommend finding an independent Honda/Acura speciality shop for your maintenance needs. Even better if you can find one that will let you bring your own parts.

 

I've done the timing belt 2 times in the past on 2 TLs. Both water pumps were still great looking when they came out and has the Honda stamped into it (vs the replacement). The only thing I can say is a weakpoint is the gasket, which itself also looked in fine shape but most likely hardened. I wouldn't worry though.
Dealer probably didn't want to make a coolant mess over a low profit margin item, or wanted you to come back to maximize said profits.

 

The weak point of the water pump is the actually the bearing, it will sometimes start rattling after 100K miles. I have 2 old water pumps in my garage, 1 OEM and 1 Aisin. Both gaskets are still in excellent and never leaked. The OEM one's bearing got a little harder to turn, the Aisin one started rattling. When the bearing starts to fail, it'll start weeping coolant out of the top and bottom weep holes, of course, I never let it get to that point. That's why Honda recommends replacing every 105k miles while you are already doing the timing belt. It's a real waste of time if you go back a second time to change the water pump since you need to remove the serpentine belt, belt tensioner, side engine mount, crank pulley, 3 timing covers again. That's how you get a timing belt job for $800 at some dealers and shops because the water pump isn't replaced. Don't get tricked into doing a $800 timing belt job again. They literally do just that, change out the timing belt and nothing else. Sometimes they don't even change out the tensioner pulley, idler pulley and hydraulic tensioner.

 

Just thought I'd add, at 103k I did the job, replaced everything and 3k miles later the new water pump let go, so had to do it all over again.

As stated before, just ride it out and if it goes get the job done, but hopefully it will last until the next scheduled change, or close enough that all could be replaced at the same time.

 

Is that an aftermarket water pump or an OEM?

I've never had an OEM water pump let go on me.

 

No, it wasn't OEM.
Long story short, did some work for a friend who had a new T.B. kit, non OEM, but
all parts new, lifetime warranty, so did an install, then when the water pump went, did the job again
6 months later with OEM parts.

 

A brand here would help. Gates water pumps have several reports of failure, they are chinese made.

 

Had to do some digging, but the water pump was U.S. Motorworks.

 

Chinese rebrand?! On the OEM water pump, you can read the "NSK" print on the pulley, it's the bearing's brand. I think spending a little more on an OEM pump is always a safe bet.

 

Company is in California and actually manufacturers their product citing ISO 9001 certification, what a joke, but manufactured outside U.S.
Couldn't give you any more info as no longer have the pump or any of the other parts that were installed.

 

t-rd, did you ever, by chance, break down the 'rattling' Aisin water pump to see who made the bearing? Just curious as to whether it is Japanese.

I'm going to go with the $184 Aisin TKH-001 kit, for my CLS6, from RockAuto because I can't justify paying over $400 for OEM Honda components.

Thanks in advance.

 

As others have mentioned, the quotes you've shared seem very high. Not sure where you're located, but ask around to find a reputable mechanic who works on Japanese cars and compare their prices to the dealers. There are plenty of DIY threads on this website, but there are also a ton of great videos on YouTube. Just for grins, search YouTube for "acura tl pressure switch replacement" and boom, there will be a video showing you exactly how to do it. However, be advised that sometimes the videos won't be for your exact model so you'll want to cross-reference parts on places like https://www.oemacuraparts.com and look at service manuals (someone on here can point you to the links for them).

I'm not mechanically inclined, but a couple of years ago I decided to try and tackle a few DIY things. Through the support of many on this forum and YouTube videos, I was able to do things I never thought I'd be capable of. Hell, I even replaced a rack using only hand tools and jack stands. Now that was a complete PITA, but I did it and learned a ton along the way. And I used a portion of all the money I saved to buy tools (many trips to Harbor Freight!) so now I'm ready for most any job that comes along. In fact, right now I have an '07 TL I bought for my sons that's halfway through a timing belt and water pump replacement on the side of my house. The Aisin kit with all the parts for this is under $200 delivered. Most shops will charge you $500 for these parts and another $500-700 in labor if they can get it out of you!

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask these forums for help. Most of what you'll ask will have been answered before, so first try to use the advanced search functions. If you still can't figure it out, many people here will be happy to jump in.

 

Aisin also has NSK bearing on it, it's printed on the middle drive shaft area. But I believe Aisin's problem is not mounting the water pump propeller all the way in like the Honda Yamada pump. This causes some undue stress on the drive shaft then that stress transfers to wear out the bearing. Top picture is the Aisin pump's propeller not pressed all the way in, bottom picture is the Honda Yamada pump with propeller pressed all the way in.

 

^
Thanks for the response and pictures. When I get the Aisin TKH-001 kit, I'll look for that on the pump provided. Hopefully, it was rectified in the manufacturing process since that particular WP was made.

 

Just curious and one more question. I can't really tell from the pictures; however, is the clearance distance on the Aisin WP, from the back of the impeller blade assembly to the WP case, the same for the Yamada? Get what I'm saying. If so, than would it not be pressed on the required distance and thus be OK, even though it appears, from the shaft, to not be pressed on all the way?

 

The Yamada pump's propeller has very little gap against the aluminum body of the pump. That same gap is very noticeable on the Aisin water pump.

People always say Aisin is OEM but it's NOT anymore. Aisin has not made a water pump for Honda OEM since between the years of 2003 to 2005. You can find an Aisin water pump from a 7th gen Accord V6 between 2003 to 2005 but you'll find a Yamada pump starting in year 2006.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'll be sure to check and report back for this when I receive my Aisin kit.

 

Here are a few pictures of the Aisin water pump from my new TKH001 kit.



This is what the 'gap' looks like relative to the WP housing.


It appears the impeller has a dimple used for when they press it on the shaft?

 

^ quality has improved!!!

What do you see on the bearing's driveshaft? You should see little print of the bearing brand, hopefully it's NSK

 

The center of the shaft, on the side driven by the TB, has 'WS-38-88' stamped into the metal; otherwise, there are no further indicators to determine the bearing make unless I remove the impeller.

 

My old Aisin pump used for 100k MILES has the print NSK on it, same bearing used in the OEM pump. Whatever it is, hopefully it lasts, install and please post a review here. The most important thing is that it does not leak.

 

I hear what you are saying, though I'm confused as to exactly where on the WP 'the print...of...NSK' is located?

If you mean it is on the bearing itself, located on the impeller side, then it could only be visualized if the impeller were removed and thus, looking directly at it (the bearing) it could be seen as it sits imbedded in the WP housing.

Is this what you mean?

 

Ran 2 Gates water pumps (installed by me) the full ~110K miles, zero issues. Third Gates pump going in this week or next (~325K miles)....

 

It is printed on the middle drive shaft where the pulley is pressed onto.

 

I understand, the 'WS-38-88' is what is stamped on the middle drive shaft.
I'm going to take pictures of the OEM TB components I remove, as well.
This kit will be replacing 17 year old factory installed TB components on a S/C'ed automatic '03 CL-S I recently acquired, to flip, with 50,900 miles that I'm returning to stock. It will be interesting to see the condition of the timing belt after all these years.