The car feels overall slow in the highway. Like a 4 cylinders
I did new plugs, oil change, air filter and tranny fluid Also
Did the ecu reset. Im using 93
Not sure if the previous owner was using bad gas. Any suggestions.

 

engine feels like its lugging?

please be more descriptive than "feels sluggish."

you mention it feels like a 4 cylinder...
my buddy was only running on 3 cylinders and still beat a 4 cylinder accord.
this means even running on 3 cylinders its still has enough power to over take a slower car.

also, if it was running only on 3 or 4 cylinders it would sound like a Subaru. Boxer engines for the win!!

 

Well I mean at regular speed it just feels like a slow car. I previously
Had another 04 Tl and it felt much faster. One thing is If
I floor it then the car pulls hard like it should.

 

How many miles are on it,got any CELs?

 

Huh? So when you are going 70MPH, it feels slow? But if you floor it, it runs normal? WTF? Troll alert??

 

I know exactly what he means...its a honda engine, no low end torque. It almost feels like its running one gear to high. My check engine came on recently for an oxygen sensor, im hoping once i replace it it will fix that same issue cause in my case it is really extreme where i have a problem keeping up with the traffic on the highway. Once the check engine popped the problem went away but the gas milage suffered some. Not that it was any good before that.

Lets see

 

yep that really helps my situation.

Bada$$VTEC it has 160k no check engine light engine is not eating
oil and it sounds healthy. When I floor it the car has power. the thing
is while normal driving it feels like wind dragging the car back. Its like
Im forced to drive it grandma style.

BukvaMan "problem keeping up with the traffic on the highway"
It kinda feels this way at times.

 

Bull, not sure what anyone can do on here to help you. Personally, if I have a reliable car that "has 160k, no check engine light, engine is not eating oil, and it sounds healthy" I'm calling it good!

 

Bullseye,

Have you checked the throttle body butterfly, intake manifold and intake runners for excessive buildup of junk? I had my intake manifold and runners off last summer and there was a fair amount of junk in the cylinder head ports, runners and intake manifold from the EGR. That was at 74,500 miles, so I am not sure how bad it could be at 160,000 if it has never been checked. It would also be a good idea to check the air intake filter as well and see what shape that is in.

Also, make sure your tire pressure is in spec. If the tires are severely low on air, you will notice a huge drop in MPG.

I hope that helps.

 

Hey thanks. I just checked the tire pressure and both rear tires
Were at 20psi. Put them at 34psi didnt make a difference in power, but Im sure it will def
Help the mpg. The throttle body I will clean this afternoon. Seems
Fairly easy to do.

 

my TL has 166,000 miles. When i do floor it(rarely) It is a sluggish, mine has had all kinds of service recently,timing belt, waterpump, trans service, motor mounts,coolant flush, tires, air filter, oil changes, and does not have any CELs. But the car is a bit sluggish id say, but im comming from high HP cars. I just chuck it up to a high milage motor and im using 5w30 oil instead of 5w20 b/c of the miles. Plus these cars just have no tourqe. sounds like its fine to me. Plus your gas mileage will go down in the winter time due to the winter blend gas. Id try resetting the ecu again and go from there. otherwise there isnt much you can do for having this particular issue, if its even an issue at all. Sounds normal to me.

 

Yeah you know you're probably right. its probably cause of the high miles and I am using a thicker oil. My old 04 tl with 95k just felt So much better.

 

more mileage does not equate to slower.
a little bit thicker oil does not equate to slower.
(and it is only a little bit thicker)

What year is your current TL?
04 TL's were the most aggressive because it had the most aggressive timing.
in 06 TL's received ECU changes that limits torque steer, they also retarded the timing.


Where do Honda's make their most power?
IN VTEC!
thats 4700-7k RPM.
if you're moving along at 1800 RPM at 70 miles per hour; thats like 100lbs of torque.
No wonder why it feels sluggish.
BECAUSE you're not making any torque.
keep the revs a little bit higher and you'll be in the correct torque range

 

id argue that point, higher miles means more gunk build up, im sure some compression has been lost also most moving parts have seen better days. This will in turn cause a slight loss of power. If you put a 04 TL with 50k vs a TL with 160k i do believe the 50k TL would have the advantage. Just my thoughts. hope we can still be frannndz

 

nope! gone are the days of loose tolerance!
a 160k car is just starting life!

and with premium fuel nothing should be dirty inside the engine.
my car has only 60k. my friends car is at 160k. we're both neck and neck.


unless throttle body butterfly is getting stuck.
or if the throttle body is FULL of carbonbuild up that there is no air going through...
or if air filter is blocked.

these three items can cause a slight dip in performance but nothing drastic.
and I bet once he opens up the throttle body; it'll be clean!


matter of fact, I got 20 bucks that says the throttle body isnt blocked at all.

 

Bullseye, have you tried resetting the ECU.
take the negative terminal off the battery for a few mins.
be sure to have your radio and nav codes handy.

this resets the pedal/throttle position

 

Yeah I did got better throttle response the first day

 

reset your ecu and drive it like you stole it for a little bit .. if you reset it and drive like you normally do its going to go back to what it was

 

20lbs in both rears? Thread title should have been "my car feels squirly and does not handle corners well"

 

its the lack of boost thats the problem ...

 

Hmmm good idea

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/car-feels-sluggish-bad-gas-milage-mid-fuel-cap-827474/
found this thread with the same problem. could be something as simple
as that. gonna remove the entire resonator just to make sure nothings
clogged up in there.

 

Justin,

While engines definitely have a hell of a lot better tolerances than those from twenty years ago (for example), this does not mean that things don't loosen up and crap doesn't accumulate inside the motor. I am not saying that carbon buildup is directly responsible for his loss of MPG or power, but it is a good place to start.

Also, the throttle body is definitely not blocked. However, you have to consider how old the parts which actuate the butterfly are and how much wear they have on them (in addition to any accumulation of crud). If the butterfly has so much as a few milliseconds delay compared to when it was new, this will definitely translate to sluggish response.

This is all, obviously, just conjecture. No one here can know what the inside of Bullseye's motor looks like unless he takes it apart and posts pictures of it for us.

Regardless of the fuel he uses, the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) system will put crud back into the intake manifold and, thus, back into the runners and then the cylinder head intake ports. How bad will this build up be? I don't know for certain, but I know it was visible when I had the IM and runners off at 75,000 miles. That is why I am suggesting he pulls the IM and runners to see what it looks like. If Bullseye doesn't want to go that far, he can at least pull the Throttle Body and see how that looks in addition to the intake side of the intake manifold.

Look, it's better than nothing and it's good maintenance to do on a 100,000+ mile car anyways. Worst case scenario is that he takes everything apart and everything is in great shape.

I am not trying to come off as an ass. I apologize if I am, but this is just my opinion based on what I have seen with my own car.

 

Ill have to agree with komet, although justin isnt wrong about tolerances not being as much of an issue these days, im more concered about the crud build up. Im assuming your not the first owner and the previous owner could of used bad low quality or low octane fuel in the car. Also take a peek at the plugs to make sure they dont look out of the ordinary. Plugs can tell you a lot about jow the car is running or the might need replacing ( just a thought) ur motor potentially has another 200k left on her so just do some poking around if your concered, do regular oil changes and tune ups and the car will treat u well in return. Also never use fuel additives like octane booster bc they can foul plugs and o2 sensors. All this being said, no codes being thrown and your not leaking/burning oil, i think your in the clear. Maybe just needs some sprucing up for better performance. Sorry for any spelling errors, i am typing on my cell phone lol. Good luck!!

 

Nvm about the olugs. Just saw u got new ones. What did u replace them with? How did the old ones look? Are you sure the plugs were gapped properly? Report back.

 

Yeah the old ones looked fine I replaced them with oem NGKs.
Well def right the throttle body was clogged up with so much carbon
Build up. Cleaned it out with throttle body spray cleaner. Then
I opened the intake and cleaned it up a little. Will drive the car
Tonight see if that worked

 

Replaced my front oxygen sensor and the car feels much better now.

 

this is pretty normal^

great news! o2 sensors that have gone bad can throw your AF ratio off and make your car run weird in all sorts of ways, glad it was a simple fix man!

 

sounds like somebody needs a 3 step decarb. throttle plate cleaning, air vaccum induction cleaning and fuel tank additive.

 

You guys are crazy for even entertaining the idea that carbon buildup will affect performance on these cars. All you get is a light varnish in the intake manifold from EGR mostly. Nothing that would in any way affect preformance. The valve pockets or bowls are perfectly clean from the injector spray pattern. Nothing in these engines carbon up enough to ever warrant a decabonization unless it's had some serious engine management issues.

Clearances have not changed since the '60s. Tolerances have gotten a little better but not much. Check it out for yourselves, look at the clearances for the bottom end of the TL then find a car from the 60s with a similar operating speed and similar rod and main bearing diameter and the clearances will be almost identical.

Average engine life being tripled is a direct result of fuel feedback fuel control. Precise fuel metering and spark control. Many makers added fuel injection to an existing engine design in the '80s and life double to tripled with no mechanical changes. I can always use my car for example, the turbo 3.8L typically wears slower than the naturally aspirated carbureted 3.8L even at quadruple the power level and they're identical for all intents from the heads down other than fuel injection and turbo.