05TL A-Spec SSM

My 2005 TL seems to be running sluggish. Almost as if it is running on 4 or 5 cylinders but it does not have a miss and idles smooth. The outside temps have been around 75 degrees “F”. It has an automatic trans. Just turned 41,000 miles. I have always used Premium fuel in the car. The car has no performance modifications. The last couple of weeks, it seems to be down on power. I do not drive the car hard. I would venture to bet, it has never been about 4,000 RPM’s. When I accelerate, it seems to fight to get going and when I get to the speed, it holds it OK but if I try to increase my speed, it downshifts from 4th or 5th gear but still does not want to accelerate with power. I know the car is no speedster, but the car seems to be running with less power than it actually has. Sometimes it feels as if it has a Carburetor and it is loading up. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Mike

BukvaMan

I had the same problem with the car until i replaced the IAT Sensor (intake air temperature sensor). My car would go into u sluggish mode as soon as it heats up a little, i tried a lot of things but when i did replace that sensor i never had a problem again, unless it got really really hot like long traffic standing and so on and on but then again that is normal for any kind of car.

That sensor is really easy to replace and its about 35$.

NE14RoxCJ

Wow, just minutes after your post, I posted about my similar issues. I'm not saying that it IS, but it sounds like what I fixed with the EGR valve. It could be many things, but you described the problems my car was approaching. I wouldn't say my car had gotten THAT bad yet, but I could see it coming. I hooked up my Snap-On scanner and didn't see anything strange and no codes. I went off of two Honda tech's experience and swapped out the EGR valve. FIXED!

I got the kit from Honda for ~$85 with tax (there was a little buddy discount in there too). The P/N for the kit is: 06175-P8C-A01. It comes with the EGR valve, gasket, a TB gasket and an orifice tube that they replace on the Hondas. We only need the EGR valve and gasket for our TL. The valve is VERY simple to change. Twist the three fasteners on the intake cover and lift it off of the intake. The EGR valve is the 3" round canister just forward of the throttle body on the driver's side of the engine. It has an electrical connector on the top and two nuts that hold it to the intake. Bust your nuts, remove the valve, clean the surface a bit and install the new valve and gasket. Put the rest back together and go drive your new, more powerful TL.

Of course, if this isn't the fix for your car, don't blame me. I'm just a jet mechanic who hates to pay monkeys to give me the run-around.

HTH

Beau

05TL A-Spec SSM

Thanks for the responses and suggestions. One question, since my car is still under the factory warranty, shouldn't these items be covered? I am taking in my car for the Power Steering Hose recall next week. If not, sounds like I have 2 small projects to work on this weekend.

Regards,
Mike

BukvaMan

it is coverd but i remember a lot of guys used to have this problem and whoever tryed to go to trough the dealership they just had a hard time proving it. Since its not a consistent thing as i said with me it came as soon as i drove for half an hour of city driving...when she heated up a little i guess the sensor was puting it into some kind of safe mode to protect the engine but i guess it was reading wrong.

Will Y.

Also, the EGR parts, and possibly the IAT, would be covered under the emissions control equipment warranty, which is 80K miles/8 years or thereabouts pursuant to federal law.

NE14RoxCJ

I can hear them now... "We hooked it to the computer and didn't see anything wrong. That'll be $75 for diagnosis and another $75 for an hour of labor. Add in another $5 for shop supplies then 8.75% tax." I have NO faith in stealerships. Maybe you'll have better luck.

Just like Bukva said, mine wasn't consistent and would have never acted up enough to convince a dealership that it had a problem (if I had decided to let them touch my car). I trusted years of experience from seeing these problems and it worked out for me. If it's something that you can easily duplicate and show the tech what it is doing, then you will be miles ahead and hopefully get it covered under warranty. If not, I'd try the cheapest part first and DIY. If that fixes the problem, try to get the dealer to reimburse you for the part.

Either way, let us all know what you find.

NE14RoxCJ

Oh, yeah, wouldn't limp-home mode set a code and/or a CEL? I have driven my car in extreme (100F+) heat and sat in traffic for long periods before and I have never had any problems taking off again. Is it really normal for cars to do that? My Blazer gets hot after pulling the boat with a load of people and supplies and running the A/C on "freeze" after I come to a stop and sit for a few minutes. I can see that as being normal since is has a few mods (including a TPI 350 that thinks it is a '92 Z28). Just wondering?

Trew

iTrader: (1)

Good call, Will. One thing that will help to determine if there is an imbalance of air/fuel is to check to see if there is any black smoke coming out of the exhaust. EGR and IAT failures usually result in rich fuel mixtures and not all the fuel gets burned in the combustion chamber. This produces black smoke from the tailpipe.

05TL A-Spec SSM

I thought if the stealership would be easy to work with, I would have them fix it. If they put up any resistance, I will purchase the parts and fix it myself. I have not seen any default codes at this time. Thanks again for the part numbers.

I checked the exhaust tips, and there are no signs of running rich (black residue) on them.

I will let you know if this is fixed either by the stealership or me.

Regards,
Mike

Houston

When you started noticing that it was sluggish, the day before that, did you maybe drive a faster car?

Have you used seafoam before?

05TL A-Spec SSM

Houston,

I have not used Sea Foam in the past.

I did take out one of my toys (428SCJ mustang) a few days prior to noticing the sluggish performance, and I did "Clean the carbon off of the Pistons" while drivng the car, but it was about 4 days later that I noticed the sluggish performance.

Mike

Houston

SeaFoam might help take some of that sluggish off. 01tl4tl, gives some good info here: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/my-seafoam-adventure-643684/

and here's the DIY: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...hlight=seafoam

Hope this helps. Don't give up on the TL.

I hate cars

Mine gets extremely sluggish in hot weather. I verified with a scanner that the computer was pulling timing due to detonation. Sometimes it was bad enough to hear with my ears but most of the time it was inaudible except to the knock sensor.

It sounds crazy but when you go to start the car, turn the key to on, pause for a second, then start it. I'm not sure if there's some zeroing of sensors such as the MAP sensor that has to go on before the engine is cranked but this got rid of my problems and has been 100% repeatable as verified with a scanner.

01tl4tl

try an auto parts store- ask them to check the car for any codes before you hit the dealer.
When you go to the dealer- expect them to fix it!
a negative belief will get those results~
they are not out to screw you out of warranty- they need to feel the prob to find it though

if you live where its hot- invest $100 in www.outlawengineering.com `thermoblock spacer` - goes under the intake manifold and stops heat soak of the manifold from below
Also has heat block plate to keep TB and manifold seperated
that will make a big differance-- especially in high heat conditions

Like having a bag of ice on the manifold~

05TL A-Spec SSM

Every time I start the car, I turn the key to the “On” position and wait until the fuel gauge needle moves prior to starting the car. I always listen to hear the fuel pump run prior to starting the engine.

I will go by an auto parts store and ask them to see if there are any codes so when I go to the stealership, I will see if they pull the same codes.

Thanks for every one’s inputs. I will let you know what the stealership tells me and how they react.

Going to be a nice weekend here, so I will be taking the 67 Camaro vert out for a drive and blow some carbon off of the pistons. I might have time to get the Mustang out too. There is a nice sounding modified 05 Z-06 Vette that I have wanted to play around with if I can find him.

Mike

01tl4tl

let me help you understand - carbon does not blow out by jumping on the throttle with normal gas in the tank
What both your cars need is: Seafoam in the gas tank, 2 ounces per gallon of gas and seafoam in the intake vac port- 16 ounces in at slow pace- sip sip- stabilize sip sip - 10 minutes to do
or thru the carb on the camero is fine too- same thing- drip drip
or buy seafoam in its aerosol spray can sold as DEEP CREEP
makes the process much easier for you, and cleans the TB plate/ air plate
Also can lube the throttle return springs! amazing stuff
Seafoam will soften the baked on carbon, and it is baked on!! so when you do a hot foot drive afterwards- it really is blowing out the crud

Otherwise you are just wasting gas and thinking its fixing the car
A TL never over 4000 rpm is going to be loaded up big time~
VTEC doesnt even kick in till 4700!

01tl4tl

I have a chevy small block with the heads off, total carbon buildup on pistons- have to use a scraper to get it off!!, no way a freeway blast would do anything for it.

Going to shoot some seafoam on one and show thew differance of just getting some cleaner on the piston- how much that does for it!

05TL A-Spec SSM

Blow the carbon off is a figure of speech that I have heard used for many years. It is a different way of saying I am going out and floor the gas pedal, shifting through all the gears and run wide open to about 125 or so. I know this does not clean any carbon off the pistons. It is something I have heard people say and it is something the gentlemen I work on cars with say to each other when we want to go out and run our cars hard.

Thanks for the inputs about seafoam, I have heard good things about it.

Mike

I hate cars

There is some truth to it. I run cold plugs in the GN since boost is rarely below 25psi. If I drive it normal for a day or two it does get a rougher idle and just doesn't drive as nice. A wot blast and it drives normal again. With stock heat range plugs it probably wouldn't make a difference.

Inaccurate

...... "Italian Tune-Up"

Rob08TL