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So I went out this morning to check the car out & to my surprise the serpentine belt tensioner pulley/bolt were just hanging off the motor. The bolt managed to somehow back itself out, I'm assuming from vibrations but not a comforting sight to say the least.So I pulled the tensioner out to see what's up and I find that the pulley was grinding on the tensioner itself which would explain that noise I heard yesterday. Thankfully I had my old tensioner assembly kicking around to compare the 2 pulleys & I noticed that the new pulley was intact a bit wider than the old one. Inspected the old one which still sounded fine, so I swapped it for the new one, installed the tensioner & no more noise and steering is back.
You can notice the difference in the pulleys..
So that was solved & I let the car run for a bit to bleed the cooling system. After a few minutes I realized that there wasn't any hot air coming from the vents & the coolant reservoir hadn't budged. I'm assuming the thermostat needs to be replaced? Top rad hose was hot as hell and the lower one was cold as ice.
So that was solved & I let the car run for a bit to bleed the cooling system. After a few minutes I realized that there wasn't any hot air coming from the vents & the coolant reservoir hadn't budged. I'm assuming the thermostat needs to be replaced? Top rad hose was hot as hell and the lower one was cold as ice.
I had the same problem when I changed my timing belt years back. The top hose was very hot and lower not so much. Turned the car off and did some serious massaging of the top hose with some insulated oven gloves (that's how hot it was) until I heard/saw some coolant bubbles churning in the coolant reservoir. Restarted the car, turn the heater temp indicator knob full cold than to full hot and finally found some 'joy' in the form of heat coming from the vents. The only thing I could figure was that there was a massive air bubble lodged some where that got worked out.
After some investigation, I noticed that the lever on the heater control valve on the firewall is missing. I'm assuming it was hit some time during the swap, that's an easy enough fix.
When you massaged the upper hose, was the rad/reservoir full & closed?
So I went out this morning to check the car out & to my surprise the serpentine belt tensioner pulley/bolt were just hanging off the motor. The bolt managed to somehow back itself out, I'm assuming from vibrations but not a comforting sight to say the least.So I pulled the tensioner out to see what's up and I find that the pulley was grinding on the tensioner itself which would explain that noise I heard yesterday. Thankfully I had my old tensioner assembly kicking around to compare the 2 pulleys & I noticed that the new pulley was intact a bit wider than the old one. Inspected the old one which still sounded fine, so I swapped it for the new one, installed the tensioner & no more noise and steering is back.
You can notice the difference in the pulleys..
So that was solved & I let the car run for a bit to bleed the cooling system. After a few minutes I realized that there wasn't any hot air coming from the vents & the coolant reservoir hadn't budged. I'm assuming the thermostat needs to be replaced? Top rad hose was hot as hell and the lower one was cold as ice.
I tried to replace the idler pulley on my 04 Friday night and ran into the same problem of it being thicker than the old one that came off.
Got one from autozone and Napa. Had to return both and reinstall the old one.
After some investigation, I noticed that the lever on the heater control valve on the firewall is missing. I'm assuming it was hit some time during the swap, that's an easy enough fix.
That could very well be a big part of the issue.
Originally Posted by teh CL
When you massaged the upper hose, was the rad/reservoir full & closed?
IIRC'ly, the cap was off the reservoir with about a quarter of coolant in it because it is that very small one CT supplies with the S/C'er kit. I left the radiator cap on. I was not taking that off because the whole system was hot, I was like WTF is going on? I left the reservoir cap off and started the massage, at the time the blower was off the car, so I was able to get a good hold on the upper hose. That S/C'er kit hose is not a straight shot from the water passage, it takes a sharp dip down under the S/C'er input shaft and then surfaces up at the radiator opening to attach. Then I heard the gurgle of the alleged air bubble.
One other question for you. Since the heads and cams on the TL J32 and the Ody J35 share the same part #'s, obviously a cam swap would not yield any gains; however, would the J32 intake manifold with the IMRC get you a 'little' more HP? They don't share the same part # though. I'm sure you test fitted the J32's before going with the J35's? Just curious.
Honestly, I just installed the J35 manifold & didn't even notice the IMRC was missing. Either way, I was planning to use the J35 manifold just because it looks way better than the stock J32 manifold.
The EX-L/Touring models of the 05-10 Odyssey use a different motor (J35A7) compared to the EX/LX models. The main difference being VCM in the higher models & I guess the IMRC as well.
I am going to be installing the IMRC top plate/manifold off my RL since the RL has a J37 manifold/TB setup.
I am going to be installing the IMRC top plate/manifold off my RL since the RL has a J37 manifold/TB setup.
Will they be 'plug n play' though?
The 05 J32 IMRC actuator doesn't share the same part # with the 06 RL IMRC actuator. I guess you could always use the J32 one. Not that it really matters, I know you've done all the appropriate home work and such.
I'm just making sure you can exploit all of the HP you can get out of your new J35, so when and if you ever find yourself down in Southern New Hampshire, you'll be able to 'smoke' a certain opinionated 'blue hair's' J32 6-speed.
All I read was, "engine in.....started....no CEL's.......ready to do a 3.5 swap in the spring, and since there will be 3 people to do it, it should be that much easier."
Allen, awesome, Brother, glad you were able to get it done with minimal issues!
Picked up a thermostat/heater control valve this morning from Acura which they actually had in stock. To my surprise Acura was actually cheaper than the local parts store. ..Anyways, swapped them in, bleed the cooling system and all is well & we have heat.. ... only on the outside vents ..I'll have to investigate why the middle vents aren't blowing anything at all.
Took her out for the first shake down and it was quite the success, didn't go to far since the front brakes need to be done & it has no plates lol.
As for the brakes, I got around to checking them out & only the rotors needed to be done since the pads have more than half the meat still left on em. Managed to snap a caliper bolt so now a pair of calipers are on route. It was unreal that both calipers had stripped threads/bolts, seems like it's a common thing from what I've read..
Next up is getting a safety for it, insurance & some plates. Oh and an alignment
Brembo threads strip out on these very easily. Get yourself a drill and tap set. Throw some time-serts in them and call it a day. Glad you got it running!
I bit the bullet and picked up a pair of calipers, cost me $200 bucks so it was well worth it plus some fresh bolts from Acura. Finally installing them tonight, then tomorrow she's getting a safety/alignment/winter tires & hopefully plated..
Most definitely, the driver side has 1 bolt snapped in the threads & I don't want to deal with drilling that bitch out. Except for that, the other 3 caliper bolt threads are partially stripped but they work otherwise.
It was eventful to say the least to get the car safetied & on the road. Took it in to get safetied & it needed upper/lower ball joints on the front which I wasn't all too surprised by. The surprise came when they went to mount winter tires on the wheels the came with the car. Buddy brought me into the shop to show me that both rear wheels were cracked, that wasn't the best part though. Best part was that both cracks had some sort of sealant and topped off with... duct tape .. I wish I had pictures of our faces, the whole shop came to a halt to witness the gong show.
Anyways, that curve ball sucked especially since I had just bought 18" winters since the wheels were 18". .. 18" wheels that aren't hideous are hard to come by and aren't budget friendly so I picked up at set of OEM 17's with stock A/S Pilot Sports. Not a fan at all of all seasons in the winter but I'll survive for now.
Except for that fiasco the car has been an absolute blast, shredding tire & hurting feelings on command.. ..I know the PCDs help but the pull at high RPM is just amazing, she just wants it all the damn time & who am I to refuse..
There is one issue that has been eating away in the back of my mind & it's from a clicking noise I've been hearing that is consistent with engine speed. From what I've research it could be the timing belt tensioner which of course is brand new.. ...any insight on that would be appreciated.
Hope everyone's holidays are going well & happy new year to all..
Dude, every time I drive my beater...it puts a smile on my face...
I had the cat cut out due to a rattle...and ever since then I can hear the turbo and exhaust note a bit...
damn thing is fun to drive...
there's something about returning to simplicity and driving something you aren't scared to beat up!
Same to you, my friend.
Teh Cl how’s the beater doing now a days? Would love an update!
We moved across the country last November but the TL unfortunately was the odd man out & didn't make the trek. Ended up selling it to my buddies brother for next to nothing & to this stay she's still going strong. Buddy's dad actually recently took over daily duties with it and is having a blast, has a few tickets to prove it...
Not bad for a $500 TL + a $200 junkyard J35A6 with unknown mileage..
Originally Posted by rockstar143
he beats his side piece up now
:wink:
Originally Posted by phyyr
great thread. makes me wonder why i paid $7k! hopefully op is still around.
I'm always around & I'm sure you have a great TL. Just remember, if shit ever hits the fan with your J32, a J35A6 is the way..
Just picked up a 05' 6spd TL (w/o navi) with about 185k on it for a whopping $500 . Couldn't believe the price and the fact buddy was planning on just scrapping it since he didn't want to dump anymore money into it.
The car is far from perfect, has little cosmetic flaws, some rust but the main thing was that it was misfiring on every cylinder, needed front brakes badly & shook ridiculously on the highway. Still baffled buddy used it as a daily till the day I picked it up..
The only question I asked him was "how does it shift?" & his reponse was the only positive thing he had to say about it, "shifts great, clutch was just done". He didn't have any idea of what work was done to it except for the clutch and rear brakes. I thought worse comes to worse, I can part it out and easily make my money back. Interior is black leather with some slight wear which was expected with 180k+ but no rips except for the driver door panel leather is slightly popped out.
I managed to get it home where it sat for a month. Finally get the time to move it to my new place and it won't start, not even with a boost. So I picked up a battery & it struggled to start but I got it to turn over. It was struggling to stay running & white smoke started puffing out from the timing belt cover.
Initially I sat in the driver seat like this.. ... ... . In those 5-10 minutes I made the decision to make the effort to give this TL another shot at life. I was planning on picking up a daily/winter beater so that the RL can get some love over the winter so I thought as long as I could keep it under 2k to get it into road worthy shape it would be a perfect candidate.
Anyways, I had a feeling the motor was toast & a compression test put the nail in the coffin. I only tested the front bank and the numbers tell the story, 30-30-90.. .. So the hunt for a motor began, J32A3's are dirt cheap around here & I found one for $400 with 100k. Almost pulled the trigger but after some more research I found out that the J35A6 out of the 05+ Odyssey (LX/EX only) is literally a direct drop in. The motors share nearly all of the same part numbers & the main thing was that the transmission bolts right up. Deciding factor was seeing the 7th gen Accord guys dropping it into they're cars easily. So the hunt turned to see how cheap I could get my hands on a J35A6 & to my suprise, I landed one tested good with 150k for $200.. The only catch was that I needed to pull it myself which I wasn't thrilled about but to my luck the whole front end was torn apart but the engine sat there untouched, who wants an Odyssey motor right? Took me and my buddy a Saturday morning & went surprisingly well.
Once that was settled it was off to order parts & rockauto saved me a solid $300 instead of buying local, just had to drive 45 minutes to jump the border to pick up the parts. List of parts came to $700 CDN & included:
- Both front axles
- Front pads/rotors
- Timing belt kit
- Serpentine tensioner/belt
- 2 rear wheel sensors
- 6 NGK plugs
Also spent $250 at Acura on a rear main seal plate and a bunch of gaskets. So with everything so far I'm about $1200 into the project, minus the price of the car. I'm sure there will be a surprise or 2 and I'll get right to that 2k budget.
Sorry for the short story ... Finally got it towed to my new place this morning, tear down starts tomorrow, should be an eventful week..
12-03-2017, 11:21 AM
..Anyways, swapped them in, bleed the cooling system and all is well & we have heat.. 
... only on the outside vents 
. In those 5-10 minutes I made the decision to make the effort to give this TL another shot at life. I was planning on picking up a daily/winter beater so that the RL can get some love over the winter so I thought as long as I could keep it under 2k to get it into road worthy shape it would be a perfect candidate.
.. So the hunt for a motor began, J32A3's are dirt cheap around here & I found one for $400 with 100k. Almost pulled the trigger but after some more research I found out that the J35A6 out of the 05+ Odyssey (LX/EX only) is literally a direct drop in. The motors share nearly all of the same part numbers & the main thing was that the transmission bolts right up. Deciding factor was seeing the 7th gen Accord guys dropping it into they're cars easily. So the hunt turned to see how cheap I could get my hands on a J35A6 & to my suprise, I landed one tested good with 150k for $200.. 
